Bears work for their win

Olympia's balanced attack makes night tough for visiting North Thurston

By Meg Wochnick | The Olympian • Published January 13, 2009

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OLYMPIA – It was Back to Basics night for the Olympia Bears.

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Olympia defeats North Thurston 56-48

Coming off a three-point victory over Shelton on Friday where the Bears shot just 25 percent, Bears coach Luke Salme tried something different in his pregame talk prior to Olympia's game with North Thurston.

He drew a picture of basketball, a hoop, and an arrow going through it on the whiteboard.

"I tried to make light of it, so they didn't feel the pressure," Salme said. "I told them to calm down and play with confidence."

The Bears responded, leading from start to finish while shooting close to 50 percent for a 56-48 nonleague victory over the Rams on Monday night at Olympia High School.

The game was originally supposed to be played Dec. 22, but was postponed until Monday night because of the inclement weather that hit South Sound a few weeks ago. It was the first game of a doubleheader at Olympia.

Olympia won Friday's Narrows League game on a last-second 3-pointer by Numia Magalei. Monday's game proved to be balanced scoring all around, in which six players score more than six points. Magalei was one of two Bears in double figures with 12 points, followed by Alex Weber-Brader with 10.

The Bears (5-6) had the hot hand early on. They got out to a quick, 11-6 lead on the Rams, thanks to Sherman's three-point play with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left in the first quarter. Olympia's 18 points in the first quarter was one of its highest scoring quarters this season, and it led North Thurston 18-11 after the first quarter. Olympia led at halftime, 30-21.

"We got some good looks and we played with some patience," Salme said.

"That first quarter sparked us and it convinced us that we can knock down shots. I'm a firm believer that scoring is contagious. Once somebody gets us out of that state of being passive, all of a sudden guys can say, 'Hey we can hit shots, too.' "

North Thurston (8-3), which has lost its last two games, threw different defensive sets at Olympia all game, ranging from 1-3-1 and 2-3 zones to a man-to-man defense. Olympia's red-shot start could've been attributed to the man defense being thrown at them, but the Rams also went back to that same man-to-man defense in the fourth quarter when they got to within five. Patrick McMeel hit won of two free throws to pull the Rams within 44-39 with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter.

"I thought our effort was much better in the second half," North Thurston coach Tim Brown said. "We came out with a lot more intensity. We talked about an edge on talking, so I said, 'We're going to switch defenses.' "

North Thurston's deficit was in single digits for the majority of the second half, and after Weber-Brader made a 3-pointer for Olympia, that gave the Bears a 49-41 with a little less than three minutes left. But once again, the Rams pulled within six following Erik Henly's free throws. Henly led all scorers with a game-high 19 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

Both teams are in action again Wednesday. North Thurston hosts an Australian traveling team, while Olympia resumes Narrows League play against Wilson.