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Lady Owls 2-0
in first week
By EMILY HANSON
emily masoncoun corn
A third-quarter scoring
surge propelled the Mary
M. Knight girls basketball
team to victory in its first
game of the season.
On Dec. 10, the Lady
Owls defeated Muckle-
shoot 56-23 after scoring 22
points in the third quarter.
'~e had a half-court
trapping defense in the
third quarter and we caused
a lot of turnovers," head
coach Lance Valley said.
"We also had five 3-point
shots in that quarter."
Although the team nor-
mally has slow third quar-
ters, Valley said using the
trap defense got the girls
more in the flow of the
game.
"We will use the half-
court trap more this sea-
son," he added.
Senior Miranda Sowle
led the team, putting up 18
points, collecting four steals
and handing out five as-
sists.
Junior Emily Ackley
scored 12 points, while se-
nior Lauren Dierkop con-
tributed 10 points and ju-
nior Jaycee Valley added
seven points. Dierkop led
the team with 10 rebounds.
"Normally, I like to run
man-to-man defense, but
with this group, the zone will
work better," Valley said.
This season, the team
has four returning play-
ers: Sowle, Ackley, Dierkop
and Valley. The remain-
ing three players -- Wil-
low Boothe, Mary Koonrad
and Kaylee Sowle -- are in
eighth grade.
"With the zone, there's
less risk of foul trouble and
with a small bench, we need
to stay out of foul trouble,"
the coach said.
The team followed the
victory with a 60-18 victory
Saturday at Clallam Bay.
"We started a little
sluggish early in the first
quarter, afLer a long bus
ride," Valley said. "We then
switched to the half-court
trap on defense and started
forcing turnovers, which led
to many fastbreak layins.
Defensively, we are being
very active with our hands
getting a lot of deflections."
Miranda Sowle led the
team again, this time with
20 points, eight rebounds,
eight steals, four a§sists
and five blocks.
Jaycee Valley put up 10
points and grabbed seven
reboundS, while Kaylee
Sowle had 10 points, six re-
bounds, six steals and five
assists:
The Lady Owls (2-0) play
against Quinault at 5:45
p.m. tomorrow at Quinault.
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 - Mason County Journal - Page B-7
Journal photos by Emily Hanson
Shelton junior Ella Pinter drives toward the hoop Dec. 10 during the Lady Highclimbers' home game against Wilson.
By EMILY HANSON
emi/y@masoncoun com
The Shelton girls had a rough week.
In three games from Dec. 8 to Dec. 12,
the Lady Highclimbers lost in total points
190-97.
It started with a 52-23 loss to Bremerton
on Dec. 8.
"We came out and were not ready to
play," head coach Aaron Leth said. "We did
not get back in transition on the defensive
end. Our shooting percentage was the low-
est it has been in a year. We didn't shoot
well as a team at all."
He said Bremerton did a good job of hav-
ing hands in the passing lanes.
"We telegraphed a lot of our passes,
which ended in turnovers," Leth said.
Junior Kiara Budge led Shelton with five
points, three assists, three steals and four
rebounds.
Sophomore Palge Johnson, senior Kiana
Wily, sophomore Morgan Leach and fresh-
man Jazmine Griffin scored four points each.
Shelton then opened its 3A Narrows
Shelton freshman Jazmine Griffin lines
up a free throw attempt.
League scheduled with a 75-15 loss to Wil-
son on Dec. 10 at home.
"This was a tough game for us, playing
against last year's fii~-place team in state,"
Leth said. "Wilson returned everyone but
one from last year's team. We had our work
cut out for us. They are extremely fast and
react to every pass."
Wilson was too fast for Shelton and the
Lady Highclimbers didn't do a good job of
protecting their end of the floor, Leth said.
"We cannot cont'mue to dribble into dou-
ble teams," he added.
Johnson led the Lady Highclimbers with
nine points, while Griffin scored three and
junior Aurora Gouley scored two points.
Finally, Capital defeated Shelton 63-39
Friday night in Olympia.
"We just didn't execute our game," Leth
said. "Paige Johnson had a good game on
the board, but we were without Budge,
who had been sick two days leading up to
the game, and Wily rolled her ankle in the
fourth quarter and had to sit. She is out for
us the next couple of games."
Johnson led the team with 18 points,
while Leach scored seven po'mts. Gouley
and Griffin put up four points each.
The Lady Highclimbers (0-5) play at 7
p.m. tomorrow at Central Kitsap.
By EMILY HANSON
emily@masoncounty.com
The Mary M. Knight boys
basketball team secured its
first victory of the season last
week.
On Saturday, the Owls de-
feated Clallam Bay 40-36.
"It was a great win," head
coach Joclin Julmist said. "The
seniors played well and so did
the eighth-graders."
Senior Austin Renecker
led the team with 12 points
and 12 rebounds, while se-
nior James Anderson scored
10 points and grabbed eight
rebounds.
Eighth-grader Jason Ken-
yon contributed nine points
and grabbed six rebounds,
while eighth-grader Adam
Goldsby had five points and
two rebounds.
Freshman Jason Shaw add-
ed four points and had two re-
bounds.
This was the team's third
game of the season and its
first victory.
On Dec. 10, Muckleshoot
beat the Owls 49-33.
"We did a lot better job of
rebounding compared to our
previous game, but still are
very stagnant on offense,"
assistant coach Cory O'Neil
said. "It was very encouraging
seeing the young eighth-grad-
ers step up, especially (Zack)
Thompson's rebounding abil-
ity and Goldsby's craftiness
on offense."
Shaw led the team with 16
points, three rebounds, two
steals and one block.
Anderson put up six points,
while Goldsby had four.
"There is still room for
much improvement in every
area, but we are young and
will learn what it takes to win
over time."
The Owls (1-2) play against
Twin Valley tomorrow night at
Lake Quinault.
The boys game will start
after the girls' 5:45 p.m. game
ends.
first
continued from page B-1
Shelton also switched from
man-to-man defense to zone,
which Pringle said caught
Bremerton off guard.
Speaks led the team with
28 points, 10 rebounds and
one block while Woodard and
DeAndre scored eight points
apiece.
Pringle said the High-
climbers' rebounding and
defense were the key to vic-
tory.
"We were forcing them to
throw the ball and getting a
couple of steals in key mo-
ments," he added. "This was
a total team victory."
The Highclimbers lost 85-
43 on Dec. 10 to Wilson in
Tacoma.
"We came-out real tight
and nervous in the first half,"
Pringle said of the team's
first 3A Narrows League con-
test of the season. "Wilson
jumped out to a big lead. We
settled in the second quarter,
but Wilson couldn't miss any
shots."
In the second half, Shel-
ton began forcing turnovers
and capitalizing on them,
but it wasn't enough to take
the lead.
"The highlight was Drew
Cruse," Pringle said. "He got
two clutch 3-point shots to
get us back in the game in the
second quarter."
Shelton (1-5) plays against
Central Kitsap at 7 p.m. to-
morrow in the Mini Dome.
