The Prep Beat

The final softball leaders are in and we had nearly full participation this year.

South Kitsap’s Hannah Spohn came in as the area’s top hitter, averaging .620 during the regular season. She also led in RBIs with 26. Port Angeles’ Sarah Steinman had an ERA of 1.50 with 48 innings pitched while Katie Raben of Bainbridge pitched 70.33 innings and had an ERA of 1.69.

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There are several big track and field meets coming Saturday.
The state’s biggest invitational, the Pasco Invite, starts at 9 a.m. with a handful of locals heading over to test their skills against the state’s best.
At North Kitsap, the Lil’ Norway gets underway at 11 a.m. The Norway offers a few different events such as a sprint medley relay and a 4×800 relay.
Local teams such as Kingston, Klahowya, North Mason and Olympic will be at the 12-team meet.

Next Saturday (April 20), the inaugural Bremerton Invitational is at Memorial Stadium. Among the 11 teams competing are Crosspoint, Sequim and Bainbridge.
The meet, which begins at 9 a.m., will run the mile (instead of the 1,600) and the 1,500 steeplechase along with a coaches/throwers/co-ed 4×100 relay.

South Kitsap, Bainbridge and Sequim are ranked in the top 10 in the scoreczar.com softball rankings.

South (3-1) is ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, Bainbridge (7-0) is ranked sixth in 3A and Sequim (6-0) is third in 2A.

Scoreczar.com rankings go deeper than just the top 10. Central Kitsap comes in at 26th in 4A, with Port Angeles 14th in 2A and Kingston 18th.

Here’s the link to the rankings.

The 2A boys session is underway at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Klahowya finished eighth in the 200-yard medley relay while Thor Breitbarth, a freshman from North Kitsap won the consolation finals (ninth) of the 200 freestyle in one minute, 57.05 seconds.

For the first time in the 2A class, medals will be given to the top eight finishers.

Kellen Meyers finished third in the 50 freestyle, posting a personal-best time of 22.33 seconds. Meyers was also sixth in the 100 free. Teammate Quaid Williams finished seventh in the 100 with the 100 backstroke coming up.

Also, Austin Clement of Sequim, the defending state diving champ, finished a disappointing ninth.

In the consolation finals of 200 free relay, North Kitsap battled hard with Selah all four legs. The Vikings led by a small margin for three legs before Selah came from behind to out-touch NK at the wall. NK finished 10th. Great swim in 1:37.57. Selah was 1:36.98.

In the backstroke, Williams finished fifth with a best time of 56.85. It was a very fast race with the top three swimmers going 54 seconds or better.

The 2A session is over and Archbishop Murphy won the team title. Klahowya finished just out of the top 10 in 11th, its best finish.

UPDATE: The 3A session has started the Bainbridge 200 medley relay finished fifth in 1:39.73. Spencer Alpaugh, who has dropped an incredible amount of time from yesterday’s prelims and his entry time will be up next in the 200 IM.

Alpaugh finished fifth in 1:56.38 in the IM. He also placed seventh in the 500 free in 4:47.59.

The Spartans’ 200 free relay won the consolation finals in 1:31.08. CJ Waite also won the consol finals of the 100 breast in 1:00.93.

Bainbridge finished eighth in the team standings. Lakeside of Seattle beat Mercer Island 274-271 to end the Islanders six-year stranglehold on the championship.

The 4A session starts at 6:30 p.m.

UPDATE: In the 4A, South Kitsap’s Damien DeRego finished eighth in 22.57 in the 50 free.

In the 100 free, DeRego placed seventh in 49.22.

That’s it from Federal Way. Swimming is done for the year.

Klahowya’s Kellen Meyers is in the running for his first championship at the Class 2A boys state swimming and diving championships.

Meyers posted the third-fastest qualifying time in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.56 seconds Friday in the morning preliminaries at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Top seed Alec Banard of Arbhbishop Murphy touched the wall in 21.92, ahead of Will Burgett of Prosser in 22.23.

Meyers is also seeded seventh in the 100 free.

Saturday’s finals begin at 10 a.m.

Quaid Williams of Klahowya is fifth in the 100 backstroke. He’s also seeded sixth in the 100 free.

Klahowya’s 200 medley relay also qualified for the finals.

UPDATE:

Bainbridge’s Spencer Alpaugh is seeded fourth in the 200 individual medley in the 3A session.

Also, former islander Todd McCarthy, who now swims for Bellevue, is the top seed in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. The 3A finals are at 2:30 p.m.

Bremerton survives first round of 2A districts, beating Linedbergh 42-28. The Knights will face White River on Thursday in a winner-to-regionals game.
Olympic also thrived, beating Fife 42-23. Olympic plays Washington at Lakes on Thursday in another winner-to-regional game.
North Kitsap gave the Olympic League a third win at the tournament. The Vikings beat Franklin Pierce 55-43. The will play Sumner at Lakes at 7:45 on Thursday.
Central Kitsap loses to Puyallup 50-37 in the 4A opener. CK plays Kentridge on Friday at Puyallup at 6 p.m. in a loser-out game.
In another 2A game, Renton eliminated Kingston 53-26.
In the Class 1A Tri-Districts, the Port Townsend boys beat Blaine 43-42 and will move on. They play Mount Baker at Mountlake Terrace on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
In the Class 2A Bi-District, Crosspoint beat Auburn Adventist 33-32. The Warriors are at Darrington on Thursday in a winner-to-regional game.

The girls basketball playoffs began Saturday with Bainbridge losing a tough one against Juanita, 53-47, at home at the Class 3A SeaKing District tournament. It was a loser-out game.

Bainbridge’s Grace Kenyon scored 34 points. She was 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and 11 of 20 from the field.

The Spartans finished the season 13-10.

Port Townsend won its Class 1A Tri-District play-in game, 52-49 over Charles Wright in overtime. Jewel Johnson and Codi Hallinan scored 20 of PT’s 21 points. The Redskins will take on Overlake Wednesday and must win three loser-out games to advance to regionals.

What to watch for:

Tuesday: Several area teams begin their playoff runs notably five 2A teams and Central Kitsap in 4A. CK will be at Puyallup, but a time has not been announced for the West Central/Southwest Bi-District. That tournament is double elimination. At the 2A, North Kitsap takes on Franklin Pierce at 7:45 p.m. at Lakes. Bremerton takes on Lindbergh at Foss, at 6 p.m. Kingston takes on Renton at 7:45 p.m. at Foss, and Olympic plays Fife at Lakes at 6 p.m. Port Angeles has a first-round bye, but will take on the winner of Kingston/Renton.

The peninsula will be well represented at the Class 2A West Central District boys swimming and diving championships at Hazen High (Renton) Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s finals are at 11 a.m.

Olympic’s Craig Boekenoogen (200-yard individual medley), Klahowya’s Kellen Meyers (50 free) and North Kitsap’s Yorick Aban (100 butterfly) are all seeded first in their respective events.

Klahowya’s Quaid Williams is seeded second in the 100 free and 100 backstroke. Among other top three seeds, NK’s Ian Christen and Thor Breitbarth are second and third in the 500 free; Breitbarth is seeded seed in the 200 free; Meyers is also seeded third in the 100 free; and Sequim’s Austin Clement, the defending 2A diving champion, is the top seed. Klahowya’s 200 free relay and NK’s 400 free relay are seeded first and second, respectively.

The top six placers advance to the state meet Feb. 15-16 in Federal Way.

Bainbridge will be at the 3A SeaKing District meet Friday and Saturday as well. The swim meet is at Mary Wayte (Mercer Island) and the diving is at Juanita (Kirkland).

The top six also qualify for state.

NOTE: The post was updated to reflect a change in the venues for 2A and 3A due to a reporting error.

In a pre-season coaches poll, Olympic League coaches predicted Port Angeles would win the league title, North Kitsap would finish a close second, followed by Kingston, Olympic and Sequim.

Turns out league coaches aren’t that far off.

Port Angeles (13-1) is in control of the No. 1 seed, and league championship, with two games remaining in the regular season. Olympic and Bremerton are now tied at 11-3, thanks to Oly’s win over Bremerton Friday night, and one of those two teams will wind up with the two seed.

North Kitsap (9-5) is two games behind with two games left. Kingston (6-8) is hanging onto the fifth seed, despite losing to NK. NK can still claim the third seed, but would need some help.

What to watch for:

Tuesday: The game of the night will be North Kitsap at Olympic. NK needs to beat Oly if it wants to gain that third seed. The Vikings would also have to beat NM and need Oly to lose to PA Friday. … Kingston (6-8) will help itself if it can keep winning. The Buccaneers face Klahowya. … Port Townsend (6-8) is still in the hunt for a 1A district berth, but faces a tough task in playing PA.

Wednesday: Central Kitsap (6-4) hosts Gig Harbor (5-5) in a Narrows League game that could affect seeding into the 4A district. CK is currently third and GH fourth. The top four seeds are in.

Friday: The key game will be Port Angeles at Olympic, but again it depends on what happens Tuesday. Olympic could be looking at a two seed, but more than likely are going to wind up as the third seed. …  Bremerton has the inside track for the second seed with a win against Kingston.

As the end of January draws near that only means one thing around here.

Playoffs.

There are some clear leaders in regard to our local teams and there they stand in their respective playoffs. There are some that hold their fate in their own hands and others that need some help.

I’m going to break it down a bit to see where our local teams stand as February is right around the corner.

Here’s a look at the 2A Olympic League:

Port Angeles (12-1) has a one-game lead over Bremerton (11-2), followed by Olympic (10-3) and North Kitsap (8-5). All four teams are on the verge of clinching playoff spots with three games left.

It’s rivalry Friday as PA hosts Sequim (5-8) while Olympic is at Bremerton and North Kitsap hosts Kingston (6-7).

Teams on the bubble are Kingston and Sequim. Kingston had some help when NK beat Sequim Tuesday. The top five teams clinch berths to the West Central District tourney in February.

Also, 1A Port Townsend (10-8 overall, 6-8 OL) can certainly continue to help itself by winning as many games as it can. The Redskins have a bye Friday, then host PA Tuesday, Feb. 5 before finishing the season at Sequim, Feb. 8.

In the 3A Metro League, Bainbridge (7-6) is still fighting for a top four berth and are in second place in the Sound Division behind West Seattle (8-5).

As far as the two 4A Narrows League schools, Central Kitsap is controlling its destiny at 6-3, good enough for third place, while South Kitsap (1-7) won’t make the top four spots into the district tournament. CK is at Bellarmine Prep (7-1) Wednesday before hosting 3A Henry Foss Friday, Gig Harbor (5-4) Feb. 4 and Olympia (4-4) Feb. 6.

For Crosspoint Academy, the 2B Warriors took a hit with their loss to Auburn Adventist Tuesday. CPA (4-4) should still manage a third or fourth seed into the Bi-District tourney with two games left, vs. Bear Creek Saturday and then at Seattle Lutheran Tuesday.

Top performers:

West Sound-leading scorer Sawyer Kluge scored 27 points in Bremerton’s win over Port Townsend. She also had 13 rebounds and eight steals (just two swipes shy of her first triple-double this season). Eboni Harpes also had 13 rebounds for the Knights. … Olympic’s Ashli Payne had 23 points and teammate Olivia Williams had 19. … Crosspoint’s Grace Garguile led the Warriors, scoring 21 of her team’s 39 points. … North Kitsap’s Rebekah Baugh had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the Vikings win over Sequim.

 What to watch for:

Friday: It’s Rivalry Day! OK, not officially, but that’s how the schedule came out so I’m going with it. Up first is Olympic at Bremerton. Oly lost to B-Town 61-48 in their last meeting. If Oly were to beat Bremerton, both teams would be tied at 11-3 with two games left. … Port Angeles takes on Sequim in the Clallam County clash. If PA holds on to the No. 1 seed, the Roughriders would get a first-round bye at district. … North Kitsap plays Kingston, which is still trying to secure that fifth-seed.