Prep roundup: Chris Penner’s late 3-pointer helps lift Capital over Peninsula
Boys basketball
Top performer: Chris Penner, Capital
Scored eight points in a 50-48 win over Peninsula, including the 3-pointer that put the Cougars up with 11 seconds left.
Capital 50, Peninsula 48: The Cougars got their first taste of what playoff basketball would be like in their win on the road over the Seahawks on Wednesday.
“In this league, it’s tough to get any road win. It’s competitive top to bottom,” said Capital coach Brian Vandiver. “They’ve been playing well and they were on a roll, but our defense played well.”
The Cougars defense stepped up in the final three minutes when the Seahawks held a six-point lead. Switching to a full-court press, the Cougars were able to force turnovers that put them within a score.
Chris Penner then hit a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up with 11 seconds left, and they forced a Seahawks miss after that.
“Both teams played incredible defense tonight,” Vandiver said. “Neither team backed down. It was that type of game.”
Penner finished with eight points. Leading the Cougars in scoring was T.J. Mickelson with 17.
The Seahawks were led by Seth Kasteler’s 14 points, and Cade McGill chipped in 13.
Vashon 54, Cascade Christian 48 (OT): Casper Forest scored 22 points in a hard-fought road win over the Cougars.
“We dug ourselves a hole, but fought back to get it to overtime,” said Cascade Christian assistant coach Garth Greiner. “We had some days off, and I think that kind of hurt us in term of how we played.”
Vashon’s Forest was part of the outside shooting group that did damage against the Cougars. Helping do some of that damage was Noah Edmonds, who had 13 points.
The Cougars were led by Corbin Nohr’s 15 points.
Lincoln 82, Stadium 74: Despite Jacee Hughes scoring 23 points, the Tigers couldn’t keep up with Abes at home.
The Abes were led by Trevante Anderson’s 20 points, and Emmett Linton added 15.
Timberline 61, Yelm 50: The Blazers had three players reach double-digit scoring as they nabbed the win on the road against the Tornados.
Tariq Romain scored 16 points, Erik Stevenson added 13 and Jaelen Bush had 11 for Timberline.
Lane Lasher was the game-high scorer for the Tornados with 19 points.
Spanaway Lake 61, Mount Tahoma 46: The second quarter has been a struggle for the T-Birds all season, and the Sentinels took advantage.
Spanaway Lake outscored its opponent, 27-12, in the second quarter.
The Sentinels were led by Isiah Turner and Jordan Garner, who both scored 15 points. The T-Birds’ Jalil Massesy scored 16 points.
Girls basketball
Top performer: Brynna Maxwell, Gig Harbor
Scored 25 points in a 77-40 win over Central Kitsap.
Mount Tahoma 54, Spanaway Lake 51 (OT): Four quarters were not enough to decide a winner between the T-Birds and the Sentinels, so they played some bonus basketball on Wednesday.
“We let down on defense, then we couldn’t score,” said Spanaway Lake coach Rob Morrison. “(Nini) Figuracion just ate us up as their first lead of the game came in the third quarter.”
The Sentinels’ shooting woes were evident when they attempted 12 field goals in overtime, but none of them fell. All three of their overtime points came from free throws.
Figuracion led all scorers with 16 points. Leading the Sentinels was Chinedu Nnadi, who had 12.
Bethel 39, Lakes 35: Despite neither team shooting the ball well, the Braves were able to stave off the Lancers to earn the win at home.
“Down the stretch, we hit some key shots and drew fouls,” said Bethel coach John Ainslie. “Tianna Brown hit a three with about three minutes to go and we went up by one.”
From there, the Braves got a defensive stop and Ghionna Porecca put them up for good. Leading the Braves were Tianna Brown, who had 13 points, and her sister, Tiarra, who had six.
The Lancers were led by Mallory LaPoole with 13 points.
Shelton 45, North Thurston 41: The Highclimbers were able to top the Rams with strong defense and great performances from Jasmine Griffin and Paige Johnson.
“Our teams are pretty evenly matched, size-wise and all,” said North Thurston coach Ed McClanahan. “They buckled down on defense, getting key rebounds when they needed to.”
Griffin scored 17 points and Johnson added 15.
Quinlan Christian had 16 points for the Rams.
Gig Harbor 77, Central Kitsap 40: Even without Brynna Maxwell’s 25 points, the Tides would have held on over the Cougars.
Maxwell easily led all scorers, but Maddie Willett came close to matching her teammate with 17 points.
Kailey Badarra led the Cougars with 13 points.
This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Chris Penner’s late 3-pointer helps lift Capital over Peninsula."