But heading into play Friday, the Rams were tied with two other teams – River Ridge and Tumwater – in the conference standings’ loss column. That is until North Thurston took care of the Blazers at home Friday night.
Landon Rushton scored 38 points to lead the Rams to an 86-69 victory in a scrappy contest that had rival-game intensity and the feel of late-season urgency.
Rushton, a versatile 5-foot-11 senior, scored North Thurston’s first nine points, then scored eight of Thurston’s first 10 points in the third period as the Rams built a 22-point lead. If only it were that easy.
Tumwater, despite double-digit deficits, never abandoned an in-your-face defensive mentality, and knocked the lead down to 12 twice in the third period.
“Tumwater doesn’t let off you for one second,” North Thurston coach Tim Brown said. “We weathered a lot of storms tonight.”
Rushton had help from his athletic Ram teammates. Ben Broeker turned in a steady 15 points. Ande Grantham brought huge energy and added 10 more, and Matt Reid, Rushton’s running buddy, contributed eight points and a steady floor presence.
Rushton was 13-for-20 from the field, including three 3-pointers. He punctuated his performance with a long trey just before the final buzzer.
Zack Boede led Tumwater with 16 points. David Cooper and Daniel Hinkle added 10 points each, and Brennen Hinkle, Jaimie Bryant and Connor Smith scored eight apiece.
Evergreen Conference teams can lay claim to five berths in the Class 2A District IV tournament. North Thurston (13-4 overall, 7-2 in conference) appears in prime position to take one of the top two spots and host a first-round district game.
But the Rams still have work to do, Brown said, beginning with a home game against Black Hills on Tuesday (5:45 p.m. start). That’s followed by a visit to River Ridge on Thursday, then a makeup of a snowed-out game against Aberdeen on Feb. 4 (4 p.m. start).
An EvCo title was one of his team’s goals to start the season, but Brown isn’t worrying about it yet.
“Black Hills Tuesday,” he said. “That’s all we can think about.”
Tumwater (9-7 overall, 5-3 EvCo) is well-placed, too, for making the postseason. The Thunderbirds visit River Ridge on Jan. 31, host crosstown rival Black Hills on Feb. 3, host W.F. West on Feb. 7 and make up their canceled game against Centralia at home Feb. 8.
