The boys and girls Wolverines basketball teams took on the Darrington Loggers on Friday night, Jan. 20 at home. Both teams won big by comfortable margins.
Boys
The boys’ team started the evening out, and as in the previous game, they took a good part of the first period to hit their stride. With two minutes left in the first quarter, the score was a low 6-6, but by the end of the quarter, the Wolverines were up 13-8. Senior John Gustafson who totaled nine points for the game, started the momentum swing in Friday Harbor’s favor with a three-point shot early in the second quarter. From there, Andy Stromberg and Jake Lowe were the high scorers in the period with six points each. Stromberg’s points came from two point shots — the last one sinking with just one minute to go in the half. The score at the break was 32-14, Friday Harbor.
The Wolverines came out to start the second half with a smothering defense on every Logger possession that started at half court. It wasn’t a high scoring period for Friday Harbor, but they managed to extend their lead to 47-16, holding Darrington to only two points in the quarter. The final quarter started strong for Friday Harbor, as senior Eli Cooper-West nailed two, three-point shots, and Jake Lowe sunk another three-pointer quickly. Cooper-West was the game’s highest scorer with 18 points, he also sunk three of four free-throws. The Wolverines held their lead and sophomore Chase Wilson sunk a clean three-point shot with four minutes left. The final score was 68-24 as Friday Harbor notched their fourth win in a row, and lead the conference, tied with rival Orcas Island with records of 7-1 in conference games.
Girls
The Wolverine girls came out strong on the back of two consecutive wins, after a tough loss at home last Thursday. Darrington started off with a three-point shot to get on the board first, but Ciera Bailey responded with a layup, and Leah Black kept up the heat with a steal and a layup with a few minutes left in the first quarter. Hannah Hopkins sunk a three-point shot with two minutes left in the quarter. Friday Harbor played tough defense under the basket which created plenty of turnovers and blocked Darrington shots.
In the second quarter, Friday Harbor kept up the pressure, and Hannah Hopkins hit another three-pointer with a few minutes to go in the quarter. The Wolverines strong defense was forcing the Loggers to shoot low percentage shots from the outside, most of which did not drop. The Friday Harbor girls were up 34-12 at the half, punctuated by two jump shots in a row by Junior Kiana Woods with a minute to go in the half. The girls kept up the pressure in the second half and started with Ciera Bailey weaving her way through the Logger defense and scoring a layup for two points. The rest of the third quarter saw Darrington upping their defensive play and both teams scored only eight points each in the quarter.
In the last quarter, Friday Harbor tightened their defensive play and looked more like they did in the first half. Kiana Woods scored again and seemed to reignite their momentum. The lady Wolverines carried their lead and finished the game with a win, the final score was 52-30.
The boys and girls will play conference rivals again on Jan. 26 at Orcas. At 4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 27 they host Concrete at home.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Eli Cooper-West, the game’s high scorer, passes the ball to teammate Joe Stewart in the first quarter.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin John Gustafson hits a two-point shot from under the basket under strong defense.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Jake Lowe scores on a breakaway layup in the first quarter.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Chase Wilson scores on a layup.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Lucas Chevalier scores on a breakaway layup in the fourth quarter.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Hannah Hopkins attempts a three-point shot in the first quarter.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Kiana Woods brings the ball down court.
Staff photo/Greg Sellentin Alexa Mora looks for an open shot from outside the 3 point line
