Black Hills hosts both their closest 2A boys basketball pursuers to highlight week’s action

A week that will go a long way toward deciding the Class 2A Evergreen Conference boys basketball championship began in exciting fashion Friday night when W.F. West High School ended Tumwater’s 12-game win streak with a 55-52 overtime victory.

The Bearcats’ triumph left both they and Tumwater with 3-1 league marks, a game behind Black Hills’ league-leading 4-0 record.

Guess who the Wolves play this week? Tuesday night they host W.F. West with the Thunderbirds crossing town for the latest renewal of their crosstown rivalry Friday night.

Three W.F. West players scored double figures in the win over Tumwater: senior point guard Kayden Kelly with 18, junior forward Carter McCoy with 15 and junior guard Cade Haller with 10. Tumwater’s Peyton Peterson scored a game-high 20, while Damon Gaither added 12.

While the Bearcats and Wolves clash Tuesday, Tumwater will try to start a new win streak, hosting Aberdeen.

The girls’ week in the 2A EvCo was similar, with Tumwater, which had been undefeated after 12 games, falling to W.F. West in overtime, 57-47, as the T-Birds did not score after regulation.

Again, Black Hills is in sole possession of first place with a 4-0 record with their two foes this week – W.F. West on the road Wednesday and Tumwater at home Friday – right behind.

Senior Taya McCallum led the Bearcats with 19 while Annika Waring added 14 for the Bearcats. Natalie Sumrok led Tumwater with 16 points while Lily McCauley added 11.

Meanwhile, Black Hills stayed perfect with a 52-44 win at Rochester as Addie Ainsworth led the way with 21 points and Megan River added 11. Lexie Sederberg-Jones and Kortney Kerbaugh led Rochester with 11 points and 10 rebounds each while Paige Winter added a third double-double at 10-10.

OLYMPIA LOSES, FALLS OUT OF 4A SPSL LEAD

The Olympia boys had their fate in their own hands until Friday night.

A 68-60 home loss to third-place Sumner dropped the Bears into second with an 8-3 league mark, a game behind now-league-leading Puyallup (9-2 in league) and one ahead of Sumner (7-4).

The Bears beat Tahoma on Monday at the Showare Center in Kent as part of a Martin Luther King Day showcase and have games at always-tough Curtis and home to Emerald Ridge before a January 31 showdown at Puyallup.

The Bears downed the Vikings, 87-61, at home earlier this month in a game that was decided quickly after the Bears jumped out to a 24-5 lead early.

CAPITAL TAKES CHARGE IN 3A SOUTH SOUND GIRLS, TIED IN BOYS

In a surprise turnaround from recent years, the Capital girls are unbeaten in league (8-0) and alone in first in the 3A South Sound Conference after an astonishing 68-63 victory over then second-place Yelm last Wednesday.

The Cougars trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter before charging back to win, led by 32 points and a school-record eight three-point baskets by senior Nicole Lindblom

Kyra Ashton added 14 against the Tornados. Capital then went on to blast Central Kitsap on Friday night, 73-33. The Cougars will meet Timberline and North Thurston this week before rematches with fourth-place Peninsula and second-place Gig Harbor the following week.

Capital is 11-3 overall under new coach Tiffany Twiddy after finishing 13-11 a year ago with losses in four of their final five league games.

Meanwhile, Capital’s boys started off on a similar run, but are holding onto a first-place tie with Gig Harbor at 6-2 after a 51-42 road loss to third place Central Kitsap on Friday.

TOUGH LOSS FOR RAINIER GIRLS SETS UP TOUGH TUESDAY TILT

Rainier’s girls were sailing early on and picked up a huge win over Mossyrock in a battle of Central 2B unbeatens last Tuesday only to see the Mountaineers fall to Adna on the road Friday, 46-41.

The loss sets up a huge home game Tuesday night with the league’s last unbeaten, Toledo (4-0 in league. Rainier and Mossyrock are both 4-1 in league while just a half game back at 3-1 is a logjam of Adna, Whakiakum and Napavine.

Kaeley Schultz led Rainier with 17 points against Adna and Sophie Beadle added 13.

ELEVEN LOCAL TEAMS IN TOP 16 of STATE RPI

With the WIAA’s Ratings Power Index used to seed the teams that make the field of 16 to each classification’s state tournament, here are local teams currently ranked among the top 16 in their division’s RPI:

Boys 4A: Olympia, 14th.

Boys 3A: Capital, 16th

Boys 2A: Tumwater, 7th; Black Hills, 12th; W.F. West, 16th.

Boys 2B: Northwest Christian, 6th

Girls 3A: Capital, 15th.

Girls 2A: Tumwater, 6th, W.F. West, 8th; Black Hills, 11th.

Girls 2B: Rainier, 13th.

HIGH-FLYING BEARCAT IS THE REAL MCCOY

He hasn’t exacting gone viral, but among the local prep hoop cognoscenti, W.F. West’s Carter McCoy is becoming something of a local internet sensation.

In the Bearcats victory last Wednesday against Rochester, McCoy took an off-the-backboard pass from point guard Kayden Kelly and dunked. Two nights later, he went baseline against Tumwater and dunked over a T-Bird defender.

Both clips from the @WFWBasketball account drew a flood of Twitter likes and retweets.