SOUTH HILL — The North Kitsap basketball teams finally get to ride together to the Hardwood Classic at the Yakima SunDome.
The two teams played back-to-back games at the regional tournament at Rogers High School on Feb. 24, and it was a clean sweep for North Kitsap. For the first time since 1988, the girls are headed to the 2A state tournament after defeating Renton, 52-42. The boys clinched their second consecutive trip to Yakima with a 68-50 win over Cheney.
For the girls’ team, it was a cathartic victory. After losses in each of the past three years at regionals, this game represented the last chance for senior starters Olivia Selembo, Lauren Weins and Erin Pearson to take the trip to the SunDome.
Selembo summed up the team’s collective mindset before the game — that the seniors would not be denied a fourth time.
“Before the game, I just put my foot down, I was having a moment to myself,” Selembo said.
A Raelee Moore layup off a sweet dish from Selembo gave North Kitsap a 28-18 lead in the third quarter, but the Indians would not go away quietly. Moore led the team with a game-high 16 points.
“Just like the last time we played them, we knew that wasn’t going to be it,” Gienger said.
North Kitsap and Renton met up early in the district tournament, and the Indians had closed a 20-point gap down to a tie game in the late stages.
At regionals, it was a pair of three-pointers by Renton sophomore Solana Jackson that sparked a 10-4 run and cut the deficit down to just one heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Vikings regrouped. Though Renton had a distinct size advantage, North Kitsap’s quickness proved to be too much. Moore was able to get through the paint unscathed several times, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter, which helped open up one-on-one opportunities down low for post player Erin Pearson, who finished the game with 13 points. Point guard Lauren Weins also got some open looks late and knocked down all three of her jump shots, giving her six for the game.
“Because they were box-and-one on Viva [Selembo], Erin was open, Raelee got a lot of drives to the basket, so it opened it up,” Gienger said. “They were going to have to put a big girl on one of my guards and I knew they didn’t match up very well with me in that regard.”
A final layup by Pearson gave North Kitsap a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter, signaling it was finally time to celebrate.
“We started crying on the court with about 30 seconds left because we realized we were going,” Weins said. “It’s just unreal. We’ve been talking about it the whole year.”
North Kitsap gets an early wake-up call for its first game at the state tournament at 9 a.m. against Burlington-Edison Feb. 28, but no coffee will be needed for the players to get up for this one. The energy and excitement of playing in the state tournament should be more than enough.
“We’ll be ready to go at 9 a.m.,” Gienger said.
North Kitsap 52, Renton 42
Renton 10 5 16 11 — 42
North 13 9 10 20 — 52
Renton (42) — Herron 13, Thomas 12, Allen 9, Jackson 6, Benning 2.
North Kitsap (52) — Moore 16, Pearson 13, Barreith 9, Selembo 8, Weins 6.
North Kitsap 68, Cheney 50
SOUTH HILL — A 14-4 second-quarter run blew open the game for North Kitsap as they cruised to an 18-point victory over Cheney.
The Vikings advanced to the state tournament, where they will play William F. West in the first round at 9 p.m. on Feb. 28.
“Now it gets a little tougher,” head coach Scott Orness said.
“This next game, we can still prepare for it, but after that, it’s a quick walkthrough and you’re playing. So we’re going to do our homework the next few days, really getting to know 11 other teams and their tendencies and have a game plan for every single of them.”
It was another terrific night for senior point guard Zac Olmsted as he led all scorers with 24 points. But performances by Kai Warren and Shaa Humphrey has the team believing it can go far in the state tournament.
Warren scored 16 points, including an emphatic dunk in the middle of that fateful 14-4 run. Meanwhile, Humphrey added 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. He had been quiet in the district tournament, but with him firing on all cylinders, an extra dimension of athleticism on both ends of the court is added.
“I came into this game with the mentality that I had to be ready to go,” Humphrey said.
North Kitsap 68, Cheney 50
Cheney 11 11 14 14 — 50
North 14 17 20 17 — 68
Cheney (50) — Reiter 19, Cook 9, J. Berman 7, N. Berman 5, VerStrate 4, Baycroft 3, Custer 3.
North Kitsap (68) — Olmsted 24, Warren 16, Humphrey 12, King 6, Zinn 5, McMillian 3, Hecker 2.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.
Shaa Humphrey scored 12 points and added 12 rebounds in his team’s 68-50 over Cheney at regionals. North Kitsap will play in the state tournament for the second consecutive year. (Mark Krulish/Kitsap News Group)
