South Sound district basketball roundup: Auburn boys, girls sweep Lincoln in opening round

Feb. 10—FRIDAY’S RESULTS (FEB. 9)

BOYS BASKETBALL

3A

District 3/4 Tournament — Opening Round

AUBURN 83, LINCOLN 70

Lincoln gave Auburn all it could handle in the 3A District 3/4 opening round game on Friday night, but Jaylen Petty wasn’t going to let the Trojans lose at home.

He drilled back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to give Auburn a 61-53 lead, six of his game-high 32 points in Auburn’s 83-70 win over the Abes.

The shots came just minutes after Auburn coach Ryan Hansen pulled his star guard aside after the third quarter ended. His message: take over.

“I just said, ‘Hey, listen Jaylen, you’re the best player on the floor. Go be that guy,'” Hansen said. “He had a great second half. They made things tough on him, but he gets loose, he gets going, he’s shown it all year. You can make things tough on him but he finds a way to get it going.”

It felt like Petty didn’t even play his best game, but he still ended up with 32 points. Junior guard Carter Hansen added 22 for the Trojans, including some threes down the stretch.

The biggest takeaway? Everyone at Auburn is thrilled to be playing some hard-fought, meaningful basketball games after steamrolling through the 3A North Puget Sound League schedule.

“This is fun,” Petty said. “This is what we wanted the whole season. We didn’t want none of them weak games. We really wanted to really fight and get bigger games to tell people who we are.”

Lincoln hung around for most of the game and a few times, it looked like the Abes could pull off the upset. Freshman guard Trey Collier poured in a career high 19 points to lead the Abes, 16 of which came in the first half when forward Omarion Boston went to the bench with foul trouble. Boston added 14 and senior guard LaVhanta Sandling-Green scored 15.

“It’s scary at times what we can do,” said Lincoln coach Ryan Rogers. “It can be anybody’s night anytime. For the most part, we stayed pretty composed. Our freshmen don’t play like freshmen. It’s been really helpful for us. They’re all about the team, they don’t care who scores the most or gets the most opportunities, they just want to win.”

For most of the first half, Lincoln out-worked Auburn’s group, notably on the glass.

“I thought the first half, we really got out-toughed,” Hansen said. “They came out and got up in us, were really physical with us, were kind of pushing us off our spots and took us out of some things we really wanted to do.”

But eventually, Petty and Hansen’s scoring ability was the difference.

“It’s really huge to have a guy like Carter out there who can take that pressure off of Jaylen,” Hansen said. “Teams focus a lot on stopping Jaylen, but Carter’s a guy who can really score the ball, he handles.”

4A

TAHOMA 60, EMERALD RIDGE 47

Senior forward Dalton Brown had a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Tahoma stormed back from an 11-point deficit in the second half, turning Friday night’s district opener upside down.

Brown took over in the fourth quarter and the Bears ended the contest on a 15-2 run, securing both the program’s fourth consecutive win and a state-tournament berth.

“The school isn’t really basketball-tradition-rich, and now this will be our third straight year at state. The school’s never done that,” Tahoma head coach Rick Tripp said. “We felt unsatisfied, I guess is the best word, when we got upset by Camas [in the first round] last year. This group has dedicated themselves, and like tonight, it was seven seniors that got the work done.”

Guided by Brown, Tahoma seniors carried the load. Bears forward Jayden Stephens dropped 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and forward Adam Davis tallied 11 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Parker Plowman dropped seven of his nine points in the fourth quarter.

Jaguars point guard Tony Harste dropped a game-high 15 points, but Tahoma held Emerald Ridge’s primary ball-handler to a single point in the final period.

“I’ve got to give Emerald Ridge a bunch of kudos,” Tripp said. “Pat Mullen’s a (state basketball) Hall-of-Fame coach, and they executed a really good game plan. We knew they would do what they did, but we didn’t do a very good job of countering that.

“In the fourth quarter, we started playing how we like to play.”

Tahoma advances to a District 3/4 semifinal — the Bears meet Saturday’s Federal Way-Puyallup winner — at Federal Way High School on Feb. 15. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

BOX SCORE

ER: 17-11-14-5 — 47

THS: 18-5-15-22 — 60

GIRLS BASKETBALL

4A

West Central District 3/4 Tournament — Opening Round

SUMNER 70, KENTRIDGE 39

Senior point guard Lainee Houillon had 20 points, and the Spartans punched a state-tournament ticket in Friday night’s district opener at Sumner High School.

Sumner feasted on a handful of early Kentridge turnovers, and Houillon dropped half of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter to extinguish a later Chargers rally.

“(State) is something we talk about all year,” Sumner head coach Katie Hyppa said. “It’s a goal from the start, for sure. … It’s one step in the right direction. It’s always one game at a time, but it’s definitely a step toward the end goal.”

Houillon, the 4A SPSL North co-MVP, did it all Friday night: 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

“(Lainee) played both sides of the ball tonight,” Hyppa said. “She did a good job distributing the ball and commanding her presence on the floor.”

Sumner now visits Federal Way High School for a tournament semifinal Feb. 14 with an opportunity to capture a district championship before state competition begins.

Four Spartans tallied double-digit scoring performances Friday. Freshman Kawehi Borden provided an early spark with 10 points in the first quarter and finished with a dozen. Sophomore guard Olivia Collins and senior forward Adriana Perez scored 11 points each.

“You want to start playing some of your best basketball here in the next couple games, obviously,” Hyppa said. “Just trying to fine-tune what we do. It’s no secret on our end, the type of basketball we play.”

Kentridge’s Jayla Keowla paced the Chargers with 13 points (all in the third quarter).

BOX SCORE

KR: 10-7-16-6 — 39

SHS: 20-14-20-16 — 70

CAMAS 70, EMERALD RIDGE 29

Camas, last season’s 4A runner-up, is back in the state bracket.

Senior forward Addison Harris dropped a game-high 21 points, and the Papermakers silenced Emerald Ridge in the second half to clinch a state berth and breeze through the first round of the district tournament Friday night.

Camas remains undefeated against in-state opponents. Friday was no different, when Harris sank three triples and the Papermakers pulled starters after three quarters.

Emerald Ridge proved stubborn in the opening minutes, able to score in transition off a pair of Camas misses: “They hit a couple of buckets and then they slowed us down with their length,” Jaguars head coach Arvin Mosley Jr. said.

“Then we got in foul trouble… and they blew the doors open.”

Camas guard Sophie Buzzard scored 10 points (two three-pointers). Guards Riley Sanz (sr.) and Keirra Thompson (jr.) added eight apiece, and senior forward Reagan Jamison tallied seven points.

Emerald Ridge seniors Naomi Senato (guard) and Divina Williams (forward) co-led the Jaguars with seven points.

Camas meets Sumner in a district semifinal next Wednesday at Federal Way High School. Both programs are off to state.

Emerald Ridge, now in the lower bracket, remains in contention and would clinch a state berth with consecutive wins on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15.

BOX SCORE

ER: 12-9-4-4 — 29

CHS: 21-19-17-13 — 70

UNION 65, OLYMPIA 37

Union’s backcourt caught fire from downtown, and the Titans rolled through a loser-out contest Friday night in Vancouver.

Titans guards Rowyn Riley (sr.) and Brooklynn Haywood (so.) were unstoppable from three-point range: Riley drained six treys en route to a game-high 24 points, and Haywood hit five triples and scored 19.

Senior guard Ava Smith added a dozen points with three treys, and Union sharpshooters sank 16 total three-pointers in a lopsided district opener.

Olympia freshman Brooke Juergens paced the Bears with 15 points, all on five three-pointers. Freshman shooting guard Sawyer Schaff scored eight points in the loss. Junior guards Lauren Juergens and Lauren Wolin added six points each.

It was a three-point frenzy at Union High School. The Titans and Bears combined for 23 total three-pointers made (Union 16, Olympia 7), meaning 69 of the 102 total points (roughly 68 percent) came from downtown.

BOX SCORE

O: 7-9-7-14 — 37

U: 16-12-18-19 — 65

BELLARMINE PREP 66, KENTWOOD 43

Lions guard Jada Travis erupted for 32 points, and Bellarmine Prep clinched a trip to the state tournament in Friday night’s district opener.

Travis (9-21 FG) sank three triples, adding 11-of-13 free-throw attempts in a 66-43 win over Kentwood at Bellarmine Prep. The senior point guard sparked the Lions with nine points in each of the first and third quarters, later pushing Bellarmine’s lead beyond 20.

Lions center Keira Leingang (sr.) was Travis’ complement in the post, adding eight points in the first quarter and finishing with 14.

Freshman forward Kyla Frazier scored 10 points (6-8 FT).

The victory secured a top-four district finish and state-tournament allocation. First, Bellarmine Prep meets Tahoma in a District 3/4 semifinal at Federal Way High School on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.

Conquerors junior Jessica Ajayi dropped a team-high 26 points, including all of Kentwood’s 13 points in the third quarter.

BOX SCORE

KW: 10-10-13-10 — 43

BP: 19-10-19-18 — 66

MORE SCORES

Tahoma 57, Bethel 41

Decatur 51, Rogers (Puyallup) 29

Skyview 47, Puyallup 45

3A

AUBURN 65, LINCOLN 53

There’s a common thread between all the Hansen kids who have gone or are going through Auburn’s basketball programs: they can all put the ball in the hoop.

Auburn freshman Avery Hansen, the third of four Hansen kids — and the only girl — between Auburn boys basketball coach Ryan Hansen and Auburn girls basketball coach Jessica Hansen, is the latest to reach the high school.

She scored a game-high 22 points in Auburn’s opening round district win over Lincoln on Friday.

“We were ready for them,” Hansen said. “We’ve been preparing for them all week. We just came out hot and knew what they were gonna do. We just came out attacking, being aggressive on defense.”

Lincoln held a lead midway through the first half, but Auburn clawed back. Freshman guard Keleesa Howard scored 14, Emmalee Secrest added 10, Bella Titialii added nine and senior Jayla Brown scored seven in the win.

“We really haven’t been tested for a month and a half, since (a tournament in) Arizona, really, over Christmas break,” said Jessica Hansen. “I was really proud of us getting down five or seven, that adversity and our girls just keeping it together.”

Auburn tossed a bunch of different defensive looks at Lincoln, including a full-court 2-2-1 press and an active 2-3 zone, forcing the Abes into mistakes.

“They have some quick players,” Jessica Hansen said. ” They like to run on people. I did feel like watching film, we could still run on them. … We’re quick, we condition well. We like to mix it up, keep them guessing.”

This Auburn group may be flying under the radar statewide just weeks before the Hardwood Classic 3A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome. That’s fine by them.

“I’m not really worried about that,” Avery Hansen said. “It’s whatever. … We’ve been ready, man. Last season, they weren’t that good. We had four new freshmen come in and we’ve got six great seniors. We’re ready to come for this, man. We’ve been working all season.”

Lincoln guard Ciona Wells scored a team-high 17 points in the loss. Forward De’Andrea Woods added 11 and guard Savannah So scored 10.

BONNEY LAKE 57, AUBURN MOUNTAINVIEW 33

The Panthers dominated the first half and cruised to victory on Friday night, an opening-round statement in the District 3/4 tournament that locks Bonney Lake into the upcoming state bracket.

Freshman forward Azy Jackson had nine points, all in the first quarter, and senior forward Jazmyn Shipp dropped a game-high 16 points in Bonney Lake’s 11th consecutive win.

The Panthers haven’t lost a game since a narrow, four-point defeat at 4A-contender Sumner on Dec. 28.

Shipp’s 16 points led a group of six Panthers to manage at least seven points Friday night. Senior center Ava Rice scored eight points; Evin Elias, Sophia Mackay, and Izzy Meki added seven apiece.

State allocations for both programs already in tow, Bonney Lake meets Auburn in a District 3/4 semifinal at Mount Tahoma on Feb. 14. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.

Auburn Mountainview falls to the lower bracket for a Feb. 13 matchup with Kelso and would be eliminated from state contention with a loss.

BOX SCORE

AMV: 10-2-10-11 — 33

BL: 21-11-10-15 — 57

NORTH THURSTON 76, PENINSULA 48

18-0: North Thurston’s perfect season continues.

Star guard Soraya Ogaldez had 32 points, and the Rams exploded in the second quarter (28 points) in a runaway district-tournament win at North Thurston High School.

Better yet — Friday night’s rout in the opening round punched North Thurston’s state-tournament ticket.

“It’s fun to see a bunch of girls that were young playing together, and now have a lot of maturity underneath them,” Rams head coach Jackie Meyer said. “We’re finally clicking and playing on all levels.

“This will be our third year in a row [going to state], which is fun, because a couple of years ago was the first time our program had gone in 30 years. It’s been fun to see us make this run for three years.”

Ogaldez held a game-long scoring clinic, but erupted for 17 points in the second quarter where the 5-foot-7 junior drained three triples and outscored Peninsula on her own.

“She does a really good job leading our team, giving other people looks,” Meyer said. “It allows her to get looks. … She answered everything that Peninsula threw up.”

Rams junior Kaylin Henderson delivered a dozen points and was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Seahawks seniors Kaylia Heidelberg and Daisy Peay, both guards, co-led Peninsula with nine points.

North Thurston meets Evergreen of Vancouver in a District 3/4 semifinal at Mount Tahoma High School on Feb. 14. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.

Peninsula hosts Mountain View in a loser-out contest Feb. 13, and needs two consecutive wins to clinch a state berth.

BOX SCORE

PHS: 6-14-12-16 — 48

NT: 18-28-16-14 — 76

MORE SCORES

Evergreen (Vancouver) 73, Timberline 62

Lakes 74, Kent-Meridian 34

Kelso 54, Kentlake 34

Gig Harbor 50, Bainbridge 40

Mountain View 62, Capital 38

This story was originally published February 9, 2024, 11:40 PM.

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