The Friday Harbor boys basketball team took a quick turn into post-season play with a two-game win streak and a league title in tow, but minus not just one, but two key contributors from the starting rotation.
Good news first.
In his final game on the Wolverines home court, senior Donald Galt tossed in a game-high 17 points and Otis Cooper-West tallied 16 as Friday Harbor put the finishing touch on claiming the Northwest 1A/2B League championship in a 64-30 runaway win over 2B Shoreline Christian (1-19) Thursday, Jan. 31, in Turnbull Gym. They knocked off three-time defending league champ La Conner in a 64-52 upset the previous week, at home.
The Wolverines (7-0 league, 12-8 overall) jumped out in front early, led 33-15 at the half and then outscored the Crusaders 31-15 after the break to seal the win and the league title in their regular-season finale. Levi Demaris and Sergio Trujillo added 10 points apiece.
Coupled with a 62-46 win over 2B Cedar Park Christian (5-2 league, 19-2 overall) earlier in the week, which would prove costly for the Wolverines, Friday Harbor clinched its first outright league title in four years.
The Wolverines open post-season play on the road, Tuesday, on the home floor of Cascade Conference champion Kings High School (12-2 league, 15-5 overall). And they took the court for the District 1 double-elimination tournament opener without junior point-guard C.J. Woods in the lineup.
In the win at Cedar Park Christian, Woods, Friday Harbor’s playmaker and one of the team’s top scorers, suffered a season-ending fracture in his left hand nearly one week to the day after leading scorer and rebounder Collin Williamson’s season came to a screeching halt because of a broken right hand.
Seeded No. 7 in the 8-team District 1 tournament, the Wolverines will play on the road, Wednesday, with either a win or loss at Kings. With a victory, they advance into the winners bracket and would face Mount Baker or Blaine and, with a loss, they fall into the consolation bracket to square off against the loser of that Baker-Blaine opening round match up.
(Check back at www.sanjuanjournal.com for post-season results)
