Black Hills turns up pressure to complete season sweep of Tumwater

Black Hills High School completed its season sweep of crosstown rival Tumwater in dominant fashion Friday night.

The sixth-ranked Wolves poured in 17 points apiece in two quarters, and limited host Tumwater to eight in the first half, as they ran away with a 60-21 win to wrap up 2A Evergreen Conference play.

Black Hills (16-4, 8-2) enters the district playoffs next week as the league’s No. 2 seed, and will look to defend its title from a season ago.

With junior forward Maisy Williams (jaw) back on the court, the Wolves showed glimpses Friday of the tireless, disciplined defense that carried them to a state-semifinal appearance last March.

Williams, who nearly averaged a double-double as a sophomore, has scored in double digits in each of her first three appearances this season.

She and junior Alexa Bovenkamp each scored 10 points Friday to lead the Wolves.

“It’s a huge difference,” senior Lindsey Nurmi said of Williams’ return. “Just her presence on the floor makes everybody that much better. On defense, offense, hustling — everything — she brings a great presence.”

The Wolves allowed just three Tumwater field goals in the first half — and limited the T-Birds to two points in the second quarter — with their consistent pressure.

The T-Birds never scored more than eight points in a quarter, and endured scoring droughts as long as 10 minutes.

“We try to create a lot of pressure up in their face,” Nurmi said. “We want to rattle them.”

Black Hills had a relatively cold shooting night, but went on several runs to blow the lead open.

Bovenkamp hit a pair of free throws with one minute, 10 seconds left in the first quarter for the Wolves to kick off a 23-0 run that lasted well into the second quarter.

The Wolves took a 34-8 lead into the half, and never let it dip below 20 points in the final two quarters.

“We try to focus on defense, because defense is the most important thing,” Nurmi said. “Our shots aren’t always going to fall, clearly, so if we play good defense, our offense is bound to come.”

Nurmi and sophomore Jordyn Bender each chipped in eight points for the Wolves, while Tumwater’s Sophia Koelsch led all scorers with 11.

Black Hills hosts the GSHL’s No. 3 seed next week in the first round of the district playoffs.

Tumwater (5-14, 4-6) hosts the No. 5 seed out of the GSHL in a play-in game Wednesday.

This story was originally published February 2, 2018 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Black Hills turns up pressure to complete season sweep of Tumwater."