Prep roundup: P.J. Talen is clutch down the stretch for Tacoma Baptist
Boys basketball
Top performer: Luke Lovelady, Life Christian
19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists in a 90-41 win over Raymond
Tacoma Baptist 43, Shoreline Christian 36: In a down-to-the-wire, late fourth-quarter rally, the Crusaders edged out the Chargers on Thursday night.
Coach Rich Hamlin said P.J. Talen “got some big points down the stretch” as “he scored six of his 14 in the fourth quarter, all of them within the last two minutes.”
This was huge for Tacoma Baptist, which entered the fourth quarter tied with its opponent. Shoreline Christian had put pressure on Talen throughout the game.
“Talen is averaging 22 points a game,” Hamlin said, which drew the pressure on him “so he had to work really hard on the offensive end to see the ball.”
This was in the face of Shoreline Christian’s Nate Monillas, who put up a game-high 21 points.
Talen was a force off the glass, getting 18 rebounds to help keep the Crusaders in the game before the winning run.
Hamlin praised this huge final performance, saying: “We scored the last eight points to close it out, with P.J. scoring six of those.”
Tacoma Baptist will play on the road against the Northwest Yeshiva 613s at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Foss 89, White River 46: In a game that saw Foss player Berto Gittens get his first career triple-double, the Falcons pulled far away from the Hornets.
Gittens had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Also putting up a strong performance was Demetrius Crosby, who had 20 points in the third quarter and a game-high 22.
Foss coach Mike Cocke said of his team’s performance that “obviously you have a great all-around game with the triple-double, which is not an easy thing to do.”
Foss will play at Foster at 7 p.m. Friday.
Life Christian 90, Raymond 41: The Eagles secured a big win against the Seagulls, scoring 36 points in the first quarter.
“We definitely started strong in the first quarter,” said Life Christian coach Mark Lovelady. “We had seven players score in that first quarter.”
Among those players was Luke Lovelady, who had 10 points in the first quarter and finished with 19. Luke Lovelady had 12 rebounds and 10 assists to complete the triple-double.
“Really the key was just a great first half,” said coach Lovelady. “Scoring 51 in the first half, the game was really over at that point.”
Life Christian will play at North Beach at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Girls basketball
Top performer: Averie Stock, Olympia
Scored 20 points in a 60-34 win over Emerald Ridge.
Tumwater 54, Aberdeen 39: The Thunderbirds shocked the Bobcats in a Thursday game that saw Tumwater step up to prove true an old saying about defense.
“What won it for us was our defense,” said Tumwater coach Alyssa Vogt. “Holding them to 14 points in the first half was one of the things we were focusing on.”
Leading the way for Tumwater was Sierra Snyder, who had a game-high 18 points. Vogt called Snyder “just such a natural scorer.”
Also putting up an impressive performance was Brooke Hare, who scored 11 points and was a force on defense, consistently blocking shots for Tumwater.
“What helped, too, was our free throws,” said Vogt. “We’re 7 for 8 for free throws.”
Tumwater will host Centralia at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Tacoma Baptist 39, Shoreline Christian 17: The Crusaders, with Brooklyn Pascua scoring a game-high 13 points, held off the Chargers.
Tacoma Baptist held Shoreline Christian to single-digit scoring in all four quarters. The Crusaders scored 14 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second, eight in the third and five in the fourth.
Tacoma Baptist will play on the road against the Northwest Yeshiva 613s at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.
Olympia 60, Emerald Ridge 34: The Bears tamed the Jaguars in a strong showing that saw junior Averie Stock score a game-high 20 points
Close behind her was Olympia senior Amelia Ack, who had 17 points.
Olympia will host Graham-Kapowsin at 7 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: P.J. Talen is clutch down the stretch for Tacoma Baptist."