Middle School Sports

Published 8:14 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

agles earn narrow win

The Eagle’s nest was in for a show when the Snoqualmie Middle School seventh-grade varsity boys basketball team met the Bulldogs from Beaver Lake recently. Jordin Kinnune opened the scoring as he darted past Bulldog defenders to the hoop for a quick layup. The two teams traded baskets in the first stanza much like two prizefighters exchanging blows in the center of the ring. The first quarter was knotted at 10 when the buzzer sounded.

Trey Botten found the mark early in the second quarter to give the Eagles an early two-point advantage. After good defensive pressure from Chaz Blair and a rebound by Zac Pearlstein, Brett Duncan found an open Dillon Shaine at the top of the key. Shaine aligned his feet beyond the three-point line and pitched a dart into the net to widen the lead. Zander Nelson cleaned the defensive glass and took his game to the air with three consecutive driving layups to stretch the Eagle lead to 12 points. As the Bulldogs prepared to look for one last shot before the half, the cat-quick hands of Kinnune pilfered the ball from the Beaver Lake point guard and launched a buzzer-beating three from just past half court that found its way into the nylon to give SMS a 15-point lead at intermission.

The Bulldogs would not give up, however, and they slowly began to chip away at the Eagles’ lead, closing to within two points with seconds left in the game. A desperation shot missed but the put back was good and the game was sent into overtime. The momentum had switched and the Bulldogs built a six-point lead with one minute left in overtime. A rebound shot by Code Blair and two free throws by Nelson trimmed the advantage to two with 15 seconds remaining. The Eagles looked down in the post for the big target of Taylor Campbell. Campbell made the shot and was fouled. He drained the ensuing free throw and the Eagles earned a narrow 49-48 victory. Nelson finished with 20 points while Campbell pitched in nine and Kinnune and Shaine each added seven.

Seventh-grade pounds Pine Lake

The Snoqualmie Middle School seventh-grade boys varsity basketball team flew to the Plateau to square off against the Wolverines from Pine Lake on the hardwood. The two teams matched each other’s defensive intensity in a low-scoring first half. The Eagle defensive pressure was applied by Code Blair, Trey Botten and Brett Duncan. Taylor Campbell was a force inside, cleaning the defensive glass and limiting the Wolverines to only one shot. The Eagles found themselves trailing by a point, 10-9, at halftime.

Despite the physical play under the boards and in the paint, Zander Nelson began to find his rhythm in the third quarter and dropped in eight points to provide the Eagles with a slim three-point lead after three quarters. Dillon Shaine opened the fourth quarter with a long distance call that stretched the nylon from beyond the three-point arc. The Wolverines clawed back to make it a two-point game but a steal and bucket by Jordin Kinnune, as well as a clutch hoop by Zac Pearlstein, opened the lead back up for the Eagles.

SMS swarmed the ball and earned a stop on the defensive end followed by a slashing move to the rack that resulted in two points for Nelson and the Eagles. The closing moments of the contest saw the Eagle ballhandlers milk the clock and Botten’s clutch free-throw shooting put the game out of distance. Nelson finished with a game-high 18 points and the Eagles earned a hard-fought 37-22 victory.

Eagles win rematch

The Snoqualmie Middle School seventh-grade boys basketball team looked to avenge their only defeat this season as they hosted the undefeated Issaquah Panthers recently. Both teams came out quickly, yet found it difficult to get good looks at the basket. The defenses dominated the first quarter, ending in a 6-6 tie. While the Panthers looked for an advantage using their height, the Eagles took advantage of their quickness as Jordin Kinnune picked the pockets of taller guards and converted two break-away layups.

Trey Botten and Code Blair shut down the Issaquah perimeter by using their quick feet to rob the passing lanes and create turnovers. Offensively, Zander Nelson broke down his opponent with a slashing move to the basket for a bucket, a foul and converted the free throw for a three-point play. Nelson continued to punish the Panthers inside and hit three of his next four attempts from the charity stripe. As Issaquah began to focus on Nelson’s inside game, he found an open Kinnune on the perimeter who dropped a three-point bomb on the Panther parade.

A rebound and quick outlet pass from Taylor Campbell caught Kinnune in stride as he pushed the fast break and found an open Zac Pearlstein for the easy deuce. The offensive surge gave the Eagles a 21-12 halftime lead. Issaquah remained patient and continued to look for the advantage in size to pay off with 13 points in the third quarter. Refusing to relinquish the lead, Nelson scored all nine of the Eagle points in the third quarter to keep SMS up 30-25.

Relentless defensive pressure from the smaller, quicker Eagle defenders kept Issaquah from establishing an offensive threat and created opportunities for SMS. Breakaway layups by Kinnune and Dillon Shaine, a rebound putback by Campbell, along with nine more points from Nelson in the last quarter, proved to be too much for Issaquah. The Eagles widened their advantage and finished with a 45-32 win. Nelson finished with 29 points and numerous rebounds while Kinnune added nine points to go along with his several steals. The win pushes the Eagles record to 8-1 with a first-place tie in the league.

Red team drops game

The seventh-grade boys JV basketball “Red” team traveled to Snoqualmie Middle School for their final game of the season recently. They put up a valiant effort but came away with a 23-19 loss. The team came out flat in the first half then got things going by the middle of the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Hawks thump Pine Lake

The Chief Kanim Middle School seventh-grade boys varsity basketball team defeated a tough Pine Lake team 34-29 recently. The Hawks made it a close game in the end, but finally secured the win with free throws. Lucas Zupan led the effort with 11 points and 12 rebounds followed by Tanner Riley, who kicked in 12 points. Drew Handy added two steals, Rosco Castagno had two points, Gehrig Uhles pulled down three rebounds, Aaron Moetului added nine points, Josh Murphy had three rebounds, Edgar Tarp had two points and four rebounds and Brian Guse had two rebounds.

Varsity falls to Pine Lake

Despite 14 points and 10 rebounds from Joey Evans, the Chief Kanim Middle School eighth-grade boys varsity basketball team lost a 65-67 heartbreaker to Pine Lake recently. The Hawks tried to make up for a sluggish first half of basketball by playing strong in the third and fourth quarters. But in the end, they came up just short. In addition to Evans, Tyson Riley had 14 points and six assists. Chad Billings kicked in seven points, Zach Brevick had four points, Spencer MacEwan had two points, Brian Johnson had six points, Alex Heibert had 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds and Zach Kirchmeyer had two points.