Tumwater girls pull away from Black Hills, 64-44

TUMWATER - The Tumwater Thunderbirds got the running game going in the second half and pulled away from Black Hills to earn a 64-44 victory in a Class 2A Evergreen Conference girls basketball game Thursday night.

It was a foul-filled game as the teams combined for 55 fouls – including 32 (21 in the second half) by Black Hills.

“It was very physical,” Tumwater coach Dave Littleton said. “Both teams fought very hard.”

Tayler Weiks led Tumwater with 14 points, and Mackenzie Cooper and Emily Moore had 12 and 10 points, respectively. Haley Vandenhazel had 10 rebounds to go along with seven points. As a team, Tumwater had 11 steals, including four from point guard Katie Bergquist.

Fourth-ranked Tumwater (11-1 overall, 4-1 EvCo) built a 27-19 halftime lead, then picked up the offense in the third quarter to grab a double-digit lead, taking a 43-28 lead into the fourth quarter.

“We refocused after halftime,” Littleton said. “I talked to them about being more efficient, and they settled down.”

Black Hills (2-8, 1-3) was led by Taylor Pottschmidt’s 11 points.

River Ridge 70, North Thurston 40: The second-ranked Hawks (11-3) hit 40 percent of their shots (26 of 64), and had 24 steals to remain in first place in the Evergreen Conference.

Kelsey Russell led the way for River Ridge with a game-high 20 points, including nailing 3 of 6 from 3-point range. She was one of five players who scored in double figures – Jasmine McDonald and Necy Wade had 11 points apiece, and Rebecca Stevenson and Jennifer Cole each had 10. Cole also had 13 rebounds.

Chelsea Kindle and Catie Mets had 10 points apiece and combined for 11 rebounds.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Tumwater 71, Black Hills 57: The Thunderbirds built a 27-point early in the fourth quarter and coasted to remain tied for first place in the EvCo.

Daniel Hinkle had a season-high 28 points for the Thunderbirds, who improve to 5-1 in league and have won nine of their past 10 games.

Tumwater committed 14 turnovers – seven in each half. Black Hills trailed 33-32 at halftime after shooting 8-of-22 from the foul line, and finished 12-of-28. Tumwater shot 70 percent form the line (24 of 34).

Black Hills (5-8) was led by Anye Turner’s 21 points.

BOYS SWIMMING

Olympia sweeps Lincoln, Mount Tahoma: The Bears had 31 season-best performances and beat the Abes (140-33) and Thunderbirds (114-41).

Olympia’s Alex Jones, a senior co-captain, won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:31.7, a district-qualifying time. Clayton Middleton won the 200 freestyle in 2:03.2, also a district qualifying time.

“Having 31 season-best times means everyone is cranking up at the right time,” Olympia coach Mel Smith said.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Olympia will host the South Sound Invitational Relays at The Evergreen State College. River Ridge, North Thurston, Capital, Shelton and Olympia will compete.

BOYS WRESTLING

Timberline, Yelm beat Capital, Lincoln: The Blazers competed in three matches that weren’t won by forfeit against Capital, winning two by pins – Dean Reginio (112 pounds) and Cole Stephens (285) for a 72-6 victory. Timberline had eight pins in a 59-15 win over the Abes. Yelm had 11 pins and defeated Lincoln, 66-18.

This story was originally published January 14, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Tumwater girls pull away from Black Hills, 64-44."