Battle of the Birds held
Last Wednesday night, Jan. 19, Snoqualmie Middle School hosted
the annual “Battle of the Birds” seventh and eighth-grade basketball
showdown between the SMS Eagles and Chief Kanim Hawks. Full details
of the contests will appear in next week’s edition of the Valley Record.
Eagles clobber Maywood
The eighth-grade Eagles took care of business Monday, Jan. 10,
defeating the Maywood Chargers, 40-25. Everyone on the Eagles’ squad
contributed to the decisive victory.
Snoqualmie jumped out to an early 9-0 lead with Ariel Waddell
contributing a basket and two steals. Zoe Nelson and Kristen Vanderford
executed the defensive plan to perfection on the taller Charger players
in the middle; they combined for 14 rebounds. Rachel Davis led all
scorers with 16 points, followed by the 10 points of Kristen Behrndt.
Sabrina Porterfield, Amy Keogh and Tiffany Rustad kept the
Chargers’ all-star point guard in check all afternoon. Rona Isaac played strong in
the paint while Elizabeth Briskey had a strong game, running the show
until the final buzzer. Tennyson Salopek gave her normal 100 percent and
finished with two steals.
Lady Hawks tackle Tolt …
The Chief Kanim Hawks eighth-grade girls basketball team lost a
close one to their neighbors from Tolt on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Tolt led all the
way, ultimately winning the contest 50-38.
Scoring for the Hawks were Landa Pastrana, 15 points; Rachel
Perrell, eight; Erin Hart, seven; Christie Leatiota, six; and Martina Lynch,
two. Hart led the team in steals with five and jump balls with three,
while Leatiota led in rebounds with seven. Kate Rempfer, Jenna
Maloney, Amanda Lyons and Aubrey Lequia also saw action for the Hawks.
Pastrana was selected best offensive player, Leatiota and Hart
were selected best on defense and Lyons and Rempfer were best off the bench.
… and the T-birds prevail
The Tolt eighth-grade girls basketball team visited Chief Kanim
last Wednesday and came away with a nice win. Early in the season the
Hawks handed the Thunderbirds a loss, but Tolt bounced back with a strong
game in the rematch of the two lower-Valley rivals.
Tolt held a slim 8-7 lead after the first quarter, but then scored 17 in
the second quarter to build a 25-19 halftime advantage. Some aggressive
defense and strong post play on the offensive end triggered the spurt.
The T-Birds tried to build the lead in the third quarter, but the
well-coached Hawks would not let Tolt widen the game. Tolt led 35-27
after three quarters. In the fourth, the visitors utilized a few steals, fast
breaks and some solid offense to stretch the advantage. Tolt went home with a
50-38 victory.
“The team has cut down on turnovers, played solid defense and
used a patient offensive attack to get back on the winning track,” said coach
Vern Hough. “It’s all the result of a lot of hard work put in by these
motivated girls.”
Hough added Jayme Busser was outstanding, with 16 points on 7
for 10 from the field. She added nine rebounds, three assists and three
blocks. Tricia Neilson scored six and dished out six assists, while Jenny
Hamilton had five steals and six points.
Katy Dern scored 10, Sofia Foster had eight and Heather Ekstrom
pulled down six rebounds. Marcie McCoy, Abby Allen and Ali Hull
provided some great pressure defense, and Valerie Martin, Kaitlin Worden
and Jenna Jennings worked hard on the boards and sparked the team
with some tough “D” as well.
It was a very good effort by the entire team said Hough, with the
team shooting 40 percent from the field for the second consecutive game.
Lady Hawks go 1-1
The Chief Kanim seventh-grade girls basketball team scored a
smashing 24-7 victory over Tolt on Wednesday, Jan. 5, but followed the
blowout with a close, 24-18 loss to Pine Lake on Jan. 10.
In the game with the T-Birds Chief Kanim came out of the gate strong
and continued with an intense defense, holding Tolt to only two points in
the first three quarters. Lauren McConkey did an outstanding job running
the offense, while she, Shannon Posey, Brittany Heaps, Emilee Aaltonen
and Marie Will combined for 22 rebounds.
The other stats included McConkey, 10 points, five steals,
three assists and three jump balls; Heaps, five points and five jump balls;
Posey, four points; Maleah Johnson, four points and two steals; Aaltonen,
two points; and Randall Hawk, two points. Coach Theresa Benning also
highlighted the super efforts of Emily White, Michele Avery and
Carly Moorehead.
The following game against Pine Lake didn’t go quite as well; the
Lady Hawks started slow but finished strong, out-pointing the opposition
14-0 in the fourth quarter.
The stat leaders were Heaps, four points, six rebounds and three
jump balls; Posey, four points, three rebounds and two jump balls;
Johnson, four points, two jump balls and two steals; McConkey, two points,
three assists, five steals, four rebounds and three jump balls; White, two
points and three jump balls; and Hill, two points and one steal. Aaltonen,
Will and Holmes also contributed to the near-successful effort.
The 5-3 Lady Hawks finished regular season play on Jan. 12 with
a game at Issaquah.
SMS grapplers wrap season
The Snoqualmie Middle School wrestling squad continued its
winning streak on Thursday, Jan. 6, beating Islander of Mercer Island by one
point, with the final match determining the outcome. Kyle Davis, in true
form, pinned his opponent in 25 seconds to secure the win for the Eagles’
grapplers. Other wins in the match came from Michael Montgomery,
Alex Haas, Trevor Louviere and Curt Davis.
In head-to-head competition against undefeated Maywood on
Monday, Jan. 10, the Eagles battled hard but came up short by only six
points. Montgomery, Haas, Curt Davis and Kyle Davis delivered key wins in
the contest.
On Thursday, Jan. 13, Snoqualmie concluded the regular season with
a home meet against Beaver Lake. The match marked the final middle
school appearance of three-year wrestlers Russell Botulinski, Justin Wright
and Curt and Kyle Davis.
