The Prep Beat

Crosspoint Academy’s Grace Garguile, a senior, and Cailyn Cattell, a sophomore, were both named to the first team for the Sea-Tac League on Wednesday.

Crosspoint girls coach Bryan Hanley was named the coach of the year. Crosspoint (13-11) qualified for the Class 2B regional for the second year in a row.

For the boys, Crosspoint’s Michael Cooper, a senior, was named to the honorable mention. The Warriors were awarded the team sportsmanship along with Seattle Lutheran.

Sea-Tac League

Boys

MVP—Bryce Morgan, sr., Seattle Lutheran.

Coach of the year—Scott Moe, Bear Creek; Eric Sivertson, Tacoma Baptist

Team sportsmanship—Crosspoint Academy, Seattle Lutheran

First team—Collin Feight, jr., Bear Creek; Luke Blankenblecker, jr., Bear Creek; Brandon Stoehr, so., Tacoma Baptist; Dayton Pascua, so., Tacoma Baptist; Abijah Smith, jr., Seattle Lutheran.

Honorable mention—Blake Denniston, jr., Bear Creek; Karsten Rodgers, sr., Crosspoint Academy.

Girls

MVP—Kristina Engelstone, jr., Bear Creek.

Coach of the year—Bryan Hanley, Crosspoint Academy.

Team sportsmanship—Tacoma Baptist.

First team—Grace Garguile, sr., Crosspoint Academy; Sarah Zeitler, jr., Tacoma Baptist; Heather Coon, sr., Auburn Adventist; Hailey Meyer, jr., Seattle Lutheran; Cailyn Cattell, so., Crosspoit Academy.

Honorable mention—Naomi Prasad, sr., Auburn Adventst; Catherine Fernandez, jr., Bear Creek; Lanae Salway, jr., Chief Leschi.

The West Central District tournaments wrap up on Monday as teams play for seeds into this weekend’s regional tournaments.
In the Class 4A, South Kitsap plays Stadium at Mount Tahoma at 4 p.m. If the Wolves win, they will be the fifth seed and play Garfield at Jackson (Mill Creek) on Saturday at 4 p.m. A loss means South goes to Wenatchee to play Richland at 4 p.m.
Sequim plays in the Class 2A district title game at the ShoWare Center in Kent at noon. A win would put the Wolves at Kent-Meridian on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Olympic. A loss still sends them to Kent-Meridian, but they would play either Hockinson or Washougal (who play Tuesday) at 4 p.m.
In the girls Class 2A tournament, Olympic plays Port Angeles at Foss at 4 p.m. in the third/fourth-place game. Both teams are headed to Lynden on Friday for regionals. The winner plays either Archbishop Murphy or Cedarcrest (they play Monday night) at 6 p.m. The loser plays Burlington-Edison at 8 p.m.
Kitsap’s other regional qualifier, Crosspoint, plays at Mark Morris on Friday. They will play either Pe Ell or Morton-White Pass. Those teams play Monday.
To see the regional brackets, click here.

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.

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.

The Olympic League standings are coming into order with Port Angeles the only remaining unbeaten team.

PA (10-0) is trailed by Bremerton (9-1), Olympic (7-3), North Kitsap (5-3) and Kingston (4-5) in the top five spots.

Top performers:

Jewel Johnson had a game-high 26 points in Port Townsend’s loss to Olympic. … Oly’s Ashli Payne had 25 points and Olivia Wiliams chipped in 19. … Bainbridge’s Grace Kenyon had 25 points in the Spartans win over Nathan Hale. … Eboni Harpes had a double-double, 12 points and 13 rebounds, in Bremerton’s win over North Mason. Sawyer Kluge had 19 points in the win… NK’s Kristin Brown also had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Vikings win over Klahowya. Rebekah Baugh had eight assists and 18 points for NK. … Maddie White led CK with 20 points and Taylor Krouse had 19 in the Cougars overtime loss to Olympia.

What to watch for:

Thursday: The annual tilt between rivals Evergreen Lutheran and Crosspoint takes place at 6 p.m. in a Sea-Tac League game at the Chico school.

Friday: The big OL match of the night will be between North Kitsap and Bremerton. Both teams are coming off convincing wins and NK remembers losing at home to the Knights earlier in the season. … CK (3-2) will look to rebound from its overtime loss to Olympia but will travel to Yelm (4-2) to take on the Tornados. … Bainbridge (6-4) continues the tough portion of its schedule when it takes on Holy Names (10-2).

Crosspoint girls basketball coach Bryan Hanley has 199 wins and three chances next week to get that 200th career win.

Hanley is in his second stint coaching at Crosspoint. He previously coached at the private school in Chico from 2003-09 when he led the Warriors to the Class 2B state tournament every year but one. They finished fourth in 2008.

Crosspoint will play at 2A North Kitsap Wednesday, at Chief Leschi Friday and are home against 3A Peninsula Jan. 5.

It’s been an interesting past couple of days in girls basketball.

Bremerton came from behind to beat North Kitsap on the road, then had a clunker against 3A SPSL Peninsula Wednesday. Meanwhile, NK traveled up to Port Angeles and lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.

That sets up a prime early-season showdown between Port Angeles (5-0) and Bremerton (4-0 at Bremerton Friday.

Olympic picked up its third win in a row to improve to 3-1 and is in third-place, followed by 3-2 Port Townsend (1A) and 2-2 North Kitsap.

Top performers:

Port Townsend’s senior Codi Hallinan had 18 blocks, 16 points and 11 rebounds in the Redskins win over Klahowya. … CK’s Taylor Krouse had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while teammate Maddie White had 21 points in the Cougars win over Yelm. … PA’s Maddie Hinrichs finished with 25 points in a win over NK. … Ashli Payne led Olympic with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Trojans beat Kingston and Sequim’s Alexas Besand 12 points and 12 rebounds as the Wolves defeated NM. … Bainbridge’s Grace Kenyon led the Spartans with 16 points in a tough loss to West Seattle.

What to watch for:

Friday: The two remaining undefeated teams in the OL face off when Port Angeles travels to Bremerton. .. Central Kitsap is at Gig Harbor in what has been a good rivalry game for both teams in the Narrows. … Franklin is at Bainbridge in a Metro League counter and Crosspoint hosts Chief Leschi in its Sea-Tac League opener.

If you saw our livestreaming of the North Kitsap vs Bremerton game, what you saw was Bremerton’s come-from-behind win over the Vikings, 64-52. The showdown between two of the top three teams lived up to the billing as Bremerton’s Sawyer Kluge (30 points) and NK’s Rebekah Baugh (17) led their teams in scoring.

With PA’s 51-25 win over Klahowya, the No. 1 spot in league will come down to Friday’s game with PA traveling to Bremerton.

Top performers:

 Sawyer Kluge led Bremerton with 30 points in a win over North Kitsap. NK’s Rebekah Baugh had 17 and sister Leah Baugh chipped in 16. … Kingston’s Savannah Turrieta had a solid night, scoring 17 points in the Bucs win over Sequim. Sequim’s Alexas Besand had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 steals. … North Mason’s Julie Johnson had 10 points in a loss to Port Townsend. PT’s Jewel Johnson added 10 points.

What to watch for:

Tuesday: Crosspoint continues its non-league play with a home game against Shoreline Christian (Northwest 1A/2B/1B Conference).

Wednesday: North Kitsap at Port Angeles is the game of the night. NK is coming off a loss to Bremerton but will have to head to Port Angeles. Both teams have a high-powered offense. … Both South Kitsap and Central Kitsap face NL 4A division opponents as the Wolves take on Stadium and CK faces Yelm.

Friday: The No. 1 spot in the OL is on the line when Bremerton and Port Angeles meet. .. Central Kitsap is at Gig Harbor in what has been a good rivalry game for both teams. … Franklin is at Bainbridge in a Metro League counter and Crosspoint hosts Chief Leschi in its Sea-Tac League opener.

For some of our local girls basketball teams, offense won’t be an issue. For others, each bucket will come at a premium.

That was the case Friday.

North Kitsap scored 71 points in a win over Klahowya, Central Kitsap had 74 in its victory over Shelton while Bainbridge, South Kitsap topped out at 60 or close to it.

I haven’t been out to see North Kitsap, yet, so I’d like to hold off on saying whether or not their offense is for real, but Klahowya coach Dave Sturgeon had nothing but praise for the Vikings after his Eagles lost Friday.

Sturgeon had scouted NK a couple of times trying to find a weakness, and felt his zone defense could keep the Viking somewhat contained. But that wasn’t the case.

“They’re better in person,” he said, adding their long bodies (and an even height distribution throughout the lineup) make them difficult to defend.

An added note, Klahowya starting post/forward Annie Lever has been out since suffering a concussion in the second quarter of the Eagles’ game against Chimacum on Nov. 27. Sturgeon hopes to have Lever back by Wednesday.

On the other end of the spectrum was an overtime thriller between Sequim and Crosspoint Academy. Sequim (2A) beat the Warriors (2B) 38-34 in a hotly-contested battle.

Another tough game was Olympic’s win over a much-improved Port Townsend team. The Trojans beat PT 42-38 and are in fourth place. Both Bremerton and Port Angeles won so they are tied atop the OL with 3-0 records. NK is at 2-0, followed by Oly (2-1), PT and Kingston (both at 1-2).

Top performers:

North Kitsap sophomore Rebekah Baugh had 28 points, 7 assists and 6 steals in the Vikings win. Teammate Molly Lemmon had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. … Klahowya’s Kori Holt had a game-high 22 points and she led with 8 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and a block. … Crosspoint guard Desere’e Doty led the Warriors with 20 points in an overtime loss. … Olympic senior Ashli Payne scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and had five steals in a win over PT. … Sequim’s Alexas Besand led the Wolves with 19 rebounds and 17 points. … Kaylee Yergeau had 15 points and 15 rebounds as SK won its first game. Teammate Gabrielle Stewart chipped in 15 points and 8 assists. … Grace Kenyon had 16 points in Bainbridge’s win over Chief Sealth.

What to watch for: 

Monday: A big early season matchup has 3-0 Bremerton at 2-0 North Kitsap. Will the Knights defense be able to stop Rebekah Baugh?

Wednesday: NK could be coming off a big win or a tough loss, either way the Vikings head to Port Angeles for what’s always been an entertaining game. Klahowya is at Port Townsend  and Kingston is at Olympic.

Friday: Bainbridge hosts Franklin, last season’s Class 3A runner-up in Metro League game. Central Kitsap is at Gig Harbor in the Narrows, which has been a good rivalry game the last several years.

Of the three teams at the top of the Olympic League right now, two of them are not a surprise. But that third one is.

Port Angeles and North Kitsap were among the pre-season favorites by OL coaches. Bremerton was picked to finish seventh. With their win over Klahowya Tuesday, the Knights are tied with PA for first as both are 2-0. North Kitsap is right behind at 1-0.

Olympic, Port Townsend and Kingston are all tied at 1-1, followed by Klahowya (0-1), North Mason (0-2) and Sequim (0-2).

Top performers:

Sequim’s Caitlin Stossvrahn scored 26 points in loss to Olympic. Stossvrahn had 7 3-pointers. … Ashli Payne of Olympic led the Trojans with 26 points in a win over Sequim. … Maddy Hinrichs of Port Angeles finished with 25 points while Macy Walker also had 15 points in a win over North Mason. … Skyler Bakken added 18 points for Kingston in its win over Port Townsend. … Eboni Harpes grabbed 18 rebounds for Bremerton. Teammate Asja Jackson also had 14 boards.

What to watch for:

Wednesday: Three interesting non-league games include Bremerton at Capital in Olympia, Central Kitsap at Bainbridge and Woodinville at South Kitsap. CK and Bainbridge are both 3-0. Woodinville, out of the KingCo, is 2-0 while South is looking for its first win (0-2).

Friday: 2B Crosspoint, coming off two very close losses to 2A Klahowya and 3A Kennedy, take on Sequim. Port Angeles is at Kingston. Those two teams have had a good rivalry going the last few years thanks to each team battling it out for a league title. PA has some injuries and Kingston doesn’t have the firepower it’s had in the past, so this game could go either way.

*This story was updated to reflect Ashli Payne’s scoring total