Phil Pugh is returning as football coach at North Mason High School.

It’ll be the third stint as coach and he’ll be coaching at the stadium named after him.

He’s a member of the Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame.

Pugh was 162-107 in 27 years at North Mason and he led the Bulldogs to the Class A state title in 1982. He coached from 1974 to 1994 before retiring. He returned and coached from 2004-09.

Pugh’s replacement, Jeff Bevers, stepped down following the season after six years and a 22-38 record. Bevers is the track and field coach at North Mason.

North Mason is searching a head football coach after Jeff Bevers stepped down after six seasons with the Bulldogs.

Bevers, who lives in Bremerton, decided a couple months ago that he wanted to spend more time with his family. Bevers is the father of two children, a 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son.

“It’s so hard being the head coach of two sports,” said Bevers, who will remain North Mason’s track and field coach and keep teaching physical education at the Belfair school. “I was having trouble making any of the kids’ stuff.”

Bevers finishes with a career record of 22-38. The Bulldogs went 1-9 last season as the team struggled with injuries.

The 45-year-old said it won’t be easy stepping away from the sidelines.

“I’ve been coaching since I was 18 years old,” he said.

Bevers said his favorite part of coaching football at North Mason was the relationships formed with players.

“Honestly, I’ve been really blessed down there,” Bevers said. “I’ve been appreciated by those kids.”

North Kitsap senior guard Cole Rabedeaux was named the Class 2A All-Olympic League MVP on Tuesday.

Rabedeaux, a 6-foot-1 senior, averaged 22.4 points per game and helped the Vikings earn a spot at regionals. North Kitsap coach Scott Orness was named the coach of the year. The Sequim Wolves won the sportsmanship award.

In 1A, Port Townsend’s Detrius Kelsall, a 6-0 sophomore guard/forward, was tabbed as the MVP while the sportsmanship award went to Klahowya. Chimacum coach Jim Eldridge was named the coach of the year.

All-Olympic League 2A

MVP—Cole Rabedeaux, North Kitsap

Coach of the year—Scott Orness, North Kitsap

Sportsmanship award—Sequim Wolves

First team—Jumier Johnson, sr., F, Olympic; Lambros Rogers, sr., F, Port Angeles; Atyus Powell, sr., G, Bremerton; Liam Young, jr. G, Kingston; Jaiden Mosley, so., G, Olympic.

Second team—Joshua Benson, sr., G, North Kitsap; Tyler Yost, jr., F, Olympic; Japrea Pedesclaux, jr., G, Bremerton; Zac Olmstead, so., G, North Kitsap; Gabe Gregory, jr., G, Kingston.

All-Olympic League 1A

MVP—Detrius Kelsall, Port Townsend

Coach of the year—Jim Eldridge, Chimacum

Sportsmanship award—Klahowya Eagles

First team—James Porter, sr., F, Chimacum; Payton Ryen, sr., G, Klahowya; Kaiden Parcher, so., F, Port Townsend; Jacob Ralls, sr., G, Port Townsend; Christopher Bainbridge, sr., G, Chimacum; Wiley Hesselgrave, sr., G, Coupeville; Matthew Koenig, sr., G, Chimacum.

Olympic guard Danielle Monzon and Port Angeles center/forward Nizhoni Wheeler were named co-MVPs for the 2A All-Olympic League girls basketball teams.

Monzon, a 5-foot-2 junior, helped lead the Trojans to the West Central District tournament and Wheeler, a 6-1 junior, guided the Roughriders to a regional berth.

North Kitsap coach Penny Ginger was named the 2A coach of the year and North Mason won the sportsmanship award.

In 1A, Makana Stone of Coupeville was tabbed as the MVP while Scott Wilson of Port Townsend was named the coach of the year. Coupeville also won the sportsmanship award.

All-Olympic League 2A

MVP—Danielle Monzon, Olympic; Nizhoni Wheeler, Port Angeles

Sportsmanship—North Mason

Coach of the year—Penny Gienger, North Kitsap

First team—Katie Campana, jr., G, Olympic; Lily Eckert, sr., C/PF, Kingston; Aileen Kaye, sr., G, Kingston; Molly Lemmon, sr., F, North Kitsap; Olivia Selembo, so., G, North Kitsap.

Second team—Raelee Moore, fr., G, North Kitsap; Adrienne Haggerty, jr., P, Sequim; Maddie Boe, jr., G, Port Angeles; Elysabeth Lamoureux, jr., SF, Bremerton; Michaela Derda, jr., W, Bremerton.

All-Olympic League 1A

MVP—Makana Stone, sr., Coupeville

Sportsmanship—Coupeville

Coach of the year—Scott Wilson, Port Townsend

First team—Kaitlyn Meek, so., G, Port Townsend; Mechelle Nisbit, jr., G, Chimacum; Maya Ladner, jr., G, Klahowya; Mia Littlejohn, so., SG/PG, Coupeville; Kailey Kellner, jr., SG/SF, Coupeville.

As we start off the second-half of the girls basketball season I thought I’d take a look at some upcoming games that seem to be interesting for our local teams — at least on paper.

First up is Narrows League. In 4A, the Olympia Bears (7-3, 3-0) head to Port Orchard to face the South Kitsap Wolves (7-2, 2-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Bears are led by senior guards Jenna Randich and Moriah Luthy and senior forward Sophie Wood. They have a couple 6-footers, junior center Lilly Anne Landers and freshman post Emily Church, but it appears the ball goes through Randich’s hands first.

South Kitsap is buoyed by senior guard Libby Borgonia, a definite playmaker and returning all-leaguer, Vanessa Davis, a 5-9 senior guard and Amanda Lind, a  6-1 post. It will be interesting to see if SK coach Mike Allen puts Lind or Davis on Randich. Maybe both?

We’ll find out Wednesday, and I’ll be there to see it.

In 3A Narrows, Central Kitsap (5-4, 2-1) heads to Tacoma to play Mount Tahoma (2-5, 1-3), also Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Bainbridge (0-2, 1-5) is at 0-5 Franklin in Seattle (0-9 overall) in a 3A Metro League game Wednesday as well. The Spartans will be looking to pick up its first league win. It’s a little early to talk about it, but there are nine berths into the SeaKing District tourney next month, and if Bainbridge wants to go those Spartans need to start winning.

In the Olympic League 2A, a good early season contest revisits what turned out to be last year’s league title game. Kingston heads to Olympic Friday at 7 p.m. That game last year was a humdinger. Lots of changes for both teams this go around, but I suspect that the 2016 version will be just as good. I’ll be there too.

Other notable games this week include North Mason at Bremerton (NM looking to get first win, but I suspect the Knights will win this one), South Kitsap at Gig Harbor and Capital at CK.

I’ll check back next week with a rundown of more games.

Our Week 3 Top Performers turned out to be a tougher choice, so thank you to all the coaches who submitted their athletes.

This week I’m also posting what some of the area coaches wrote about their nominees. Good stuff here folks. Enjoy.

Week 3

Kira Crane, Klahowya swimming: The sophomore is well on her way to earning her second Ironman status. Crane has five out of the eight state-qualifying times; 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 200 individual medley.

Claire Henninger, Sequim girls soccer: The Wolves goalkeeper was named team MVP in their scoreless draw with Olympic on Wednesday. Henninger made 10 saves in the first half and 15 in the second half. On one play she came out to block a shot, then blocked a second and finally chased down the ball outside the box to keep Sequim in the game.

Cecilia Teston/Katie Downey, Central Kitsap volleyball: Teston and Downey helped lead the Cougars to victory in two matches this week, both 3-1 wins over Narrows League 3A opponents Lincoln and Capital. Teston finished with 11 aces, 20 digs and 36 assists while Downey had 13 kills, 18 digs and 26 assists.

Who’s who among nominees

Corinne Pierson, Port Townsend swimming: Broke the school record in the 100 butterfly

Kalie Nation, Crosspoint volleyball/soccer: Nation was 19 of 21 serving with five aces, 9 kills and 10 kills in two matches as well as helping the Warriors soccer team to a win.

Katie Campana, Olympic girls soccer: Campana stepped in to play goalie for the first time after an injury to the Trojans starter and also played defender this week. Campana made 10 saves against NK, two saves in a penalty-kick shoot out and also had the game-winning PK against Sequim.

Autumn Johnson, North Kitsap volleyball: In wins over Olympic and Kingston, setter Johnson had 36 assists, 10 digs, 7 kills and was 23 of 24 serving with four aces.

Taylar Clark, Port Angeles girls soccer: Helped lead the Roughriders to a win over Klahowya, their first in 15 seasons, with three goals, including two PKs.

Daryn O’Dell-Dee, Kingston volleyball: O’Dell-Dee had a passing rating of 2.3 with 25 digs, 18 kills and 14 aces as the Buccaneers went 2-1 this week to keep themselves in the hunt for a possible playoff berth.

Matt Becker, Olympic football: The quarterback for the seventh-ranked Trojans was 13 of 19 for 138 yards and scored five touchdowns (two rushing) in their win over Kingston.

Riley Cowan, Sequim football: The freshman quarterback passed for four TDs and was 17 of 28 for 284 yards in the Wolves victory over North Mason.

We’re introducing a new feature to the blog this week, and now each Saturday during the fall, winter and spring sports seasons.

It’s our Top Performers of the Week where we will highlight three athletes from various sports who made a significant impact for their teams.

Whether it’s making a game-saving defensive tackle in the final minute of a football game, or coming up with 12 straight service aces in volleyball, or maybe it’s setting a personal record and helping a local cross country team win a league race, we hope to bring you the best of the best each week.

So without further ado, here’s our inagaural performers for this week:

Jake Taylor, QB, South Kitsap: The senior finished 27 of 45 passing for 376 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Wolves loss to Yelm. Kralik’s performance was the most passing yards in school history.

Tegan Daviscourt, F, North Mason: Daviscourt scored both goals in the Bulldogs’ win over the defending Olympic League 2A champions 2-1 in Belfair. NM was trailing 1-0 before the senior scored twice to put the Bulldogs in front.

Molly Lemmon, L, North Kitsap: The senior had 36 total digs as the Vikings claimed wins against Port Angeles and North Mason to help NK remain unbeaten in Olympic League 2A volleyball at 3-0 (3-1 overall).

The Booster Club for North Mason is introducing a Wall of Honor during a banquet and tour of its new high school on Saturday, Oct. 3.

The first inductees will be former football coach Phil Pugh, who the stadium is named after, as well as wrestling coach Ed Amick and the 1982 state champion football team.

Nearly a dozen local high school baseball players were named to the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association’s All-State teams on Thursday.

Pitcher/third baseman Mac McCarty received first team Class 4A honors and infielder Cooper Canton made the second team to represent South Kitsap, the 4A state champion.

For 3A, Central Kitsap first baseman and pitcher Collin Palau received first team honors while Bainbridge Island standouts Trent Schulte (P/INF) and Max Thomas (C/1B) were named to the second team.

North Kitsap duo Andrew Hecker (P) and TJ Jensen (OF) and North Mason’s Daniel Burggraaf (P/INF) were named to 2A first team. Connor Green (C) of North Kitsap and Tanner Rhodefer (P) of Sequim received second team honors as did Bremerton’s Anthony Amicangelo (INF). Klahowya pitcher Jacob Gotchall was named to the 1A/B first team.

And so it begins.

West Sound softball teams will be putting it all on the line this week as they either vie for a playoff spot or will wrap up seeds into the postseason.

A couple key games happen Tuesday in the Olympic League.

In 2A, Port Angeles, Sequim and Olympic are the top three seeds but the final two spots are still up for grabs. Kingston (4-5), Bremerton (4-6) and North Mason (3-8) are still alive with Kingston taking on North Mason in Belfair. A win by the Buccaneers would eliminate North Mason. Bremerton plays Olympic and still has a shot at the fourth seed, as Kingston has two games left against PA and Sequim.

In 1A, the league title will come down to Klahowya and Chimacum. Both teams are 6-2. That game is in Chimacum. Coupeville has wrapped up the third seed.

The South Kitsap Wolves play a loser-out game against Timberline in the Narrows League 4A tourney Wednesday at the RAC in Lacey. A win would put them into a seeding game Thursday.

Central Kitsap has already locked up a playoff berth and will either be the No. 1 or 2 seed to district in Narrows 3A.

Bainbridge opened the Metro League 3A tournament with a 12-0 win over Roosevelt. The Spartans will play Tuesday against Ballard at 5 p.m. at SWAC for a shot to play in the championship game. The win guaranteed them a berth to the SeaKing District.