The girls basketball teams at North Kitsap and Kingston are peaking just at the right time.
No. 6 seed NK beat No. 15 seed Bremerton, and No. 10 seed Kingston beat No. 8 seed Franklin Pierce to advance in the 2A District 2/3 tournament.
North Kitsap will play No. 7 seed Renton and Kingston will play No. 4 seed Enumclaw Feb. 19.
In boys basketball, NK had a tougher time at home than expected Wednesday, but the Vikings still won their first-round playoff game against Clover Park 81-72, clinching a trip to regionals.
The No. 2 seed will now play No. 6 seed Enumclaw at Sammamish High School Feb. 18. Enumclaw upset third-seeded Renton in an away game Wednesday 57-50.
Meanwhile, the Kingston boys had their season end with a 63-50 loss at home against Foss Wednesday. The Bucs were seeded 12th and Foss 13th.
North Kitsap lost, but Kingston won their first round games in girls basketball Tuesday night.
The Vikings, seeded sixth, fell to No. 3 seed Sammamish 40-34 in an away game.
Kingston, seeded No. 10, demolished No. 16 seed Highline 76-19 at home.
Bainbridge
Both the boys and girls basketball teams have ended their seasons.
They did not qualify for play-in games because the 3A squads didn’t finish third or better in the 2A league.
The boys were fourth with a record of 8-6 in league, 10-7 overall. The girls were fifth with a 6-8 record in league play, 7-9 overall.
North Kitsap
Seventh-ranked Port Angeles shocked No. 1 ranked North Kitsap in boys basketball last week in the final Olympic League game of the season at home 80-63.
They tied for the league title with 13-1 records. The Vikings are 18-3 overall while PA is 16-4. NK beat the Roughriders by two points at home earlier in the season.
The Vikings also beat Kingston last week 94-45 and also ran away from the league’s third-place team, Bremerton, 90-55.
Against Port Angeles, the game was tied 36-36 at halftime. But the Roughriders defense toughened in the second half, rebounding better against the shorter Vikings and limiting their second-chance points, which is critical to their normally potent running game.
The home team hit four 3-pointers in the third period to take a lead then hit free throws at the end when NK was forced to foul.
Harry Davies and Jonas La Tour each had 17 points. Cade Orness added 13 for the Vikings.
In girls basketball, NK lost to PA last week 62-42. They also lost a heart-breaker to league-leading Sequim 38-37. The Viking girls rebounded to beat North Mason 50-42.
NK clinched third place in the league with its record of 10-4, 13-5 overall.
Kingston
The Kingston High School girls basketball team fell to league-leading Sequim last week 45-41 after dropping a game to Klahowya 60-41.
The Bucs finished 7-7 in league and 9-9 on the season, prior to the playoffs.
The Kingston boys team finished its regular season with a 61-53 win over Olympic. The teams tied near the bottom of the standings with 4-10 records, 8-12 overall.
Buc Caden Krantz (2) goes up for a layup against North Kitsap’s Cade Orness (10). The Kingston boys had a home playoff game Feb. 16, after deadline. Steve Powell/File photo
Though her team didn’t make the playoffs, Ghadir Ramadan will get another shot next year when she’s a senior. Steve Powell/File Photo
North Kitsap’s Johny Olmsted (0) gets the Viking fastbreak started against Port Angeles last Thursday night. PA, however, was able to slow down NK to get the win. Keith Thorpe/For the Herald
