Sequim’s girls basketball team continued their undefeated (5-0) start to the season, capping off last week with an 81-40 win over the North Mason Bulldogs on Dec. 13 that included a record-setting performance from junior Kalli Wiker.
Wiker scored a season-high 26 points on the night, setting a new Sequim High School girls record for 3-pointers made in a single game for the girls team with eight.
The performance also tied Art Green’s SHS boys school record.
“I had no idea Kalli had done that when I took her off the court (in the fourth quarter),” Sequim High head coach Linsay Rapelje said. “I wanted to give some of our other girls time on the court with the game fairly secure.
“I wish I knew before the game ended because I would have put her out there to get another three.”
Wiker wasn’t the only Wolves player with a strong performance on the night, however, with both Hope Glasser and Jayla Julmist registering double-doubles on the night. Glasser scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, adding seven assists and two steals for good measure. Julmist, a junior post player, had 13 points and 16 rebounds.
“Jayla is someone who always gets shots,” Rapelje said. “But she gets hacked at a lot, and because she’s so big and so strong, she doesn’t always react to it the same and it doesn’t get called (as a foul), but she can’t really control that.
“She got in foul trouble early herself and got frustrated about it, but focused on her game in the second half and really finished the game strong.”
Rapelje said that when it comes to the parts of Julmist’s game that she can control — getting rebounds, playing with high effort and being in the right places on defense — she’s has been impressive all season long.
Rapelje also said that she was impressed with her team’s play as a unit, with scoring coming from all over the court and great passing and movement from her team.
“They’ve been playing really well on the fast break, too,” she added. “That’s been key to our play. And they’ve done really well with a new defense that they never played last season, they’ve taken to it really well.”
Tidy start to league schedule
The Wolves handled their business well against the Kingston Buccaneers on Dec. 11, coming away with a 58-44 win against a high-speed Buccaneers attack in the first Olympic League game of the season.
“This was a fast-paced game,” Rapelje said, “with Kingston shooting a lot of 3-point shots, but we but we came out strong in the third quarter and pulled a solid lead.”
That second half started with the Wolves holding onto a fairly narrow 27-23 lead, but ended with them scoring 19 points in the third quarter to take full control of the game.
Sequim’s defense took over from there, allowing Kingston to score just seven points in the fourth quarter as the Wolves put the game away.
“I’m proud of my team for making adjustments and finishing strong,” Rapelje said.
Jessica Dietzman led the scoring with 13 points, while Melissa Porter added 10 points and Hope Glasser had nine, along with four assists, two steals and two blocks.
Rapelje gave the Buccaneers credit for a strong performance, and called them a “team to watch” going forward in the Olympic League this season.
Looking ahead
Sequim was set to play on the road against the Bremerton Knights on Dec. 17. Results were not available at press time.
After that, the holidays have the Wolves on a break until after Christmas, when they head to Lynden to participate in the annual Cloud 9 Classic tournament. They’ll play Sehome at 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 27, then face Lynden Christian at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 28.
In the new year, the Wolves will play a pair of non-league games on the road, first against Edmonds-Woodway on Jan. 2, then visiting Tumwater on Jan. 4 before resuming their Olympic League schedule with a game away to North Kingston on Jan. 7.
Olympic League standings
(as of Dec. 16)
Team Lg. Over
Sequim 2-0 5-0
North Kitsap 1-0 3-2
Port Angeles 1-0 3-2
Olympic 1-1 4-1
North Mason 1-1 3-3
Kingston 0-2 1-3
Bremerton 0-2 2-4
