1/20/16
North Thurston 56, Capital 53
(Olympia, WA) The top 5 advance to the district tournament and coming into this game the North Thurston Rams were in that 5th and final position. The Cougars in the basement and looking to keep their hopes alive. The Rams followed a similar pattern throughout the game of jumping out to leads and then holding off late runs by the Cougars. This occurred in each quarter.
The Rams took a 7-0 lead in the first 1:14 and then up 9-2 but at the end of the quarter they held just a 4-point 14-10 advantage. In the 2nd quarter the Rams again would extend their lead this time to double digits but once again here came the Cougars to make it close at the break trailing 28-23. Darren Sroor led the Rams at the break with 9, Kyle Stone had 6 with 2 long balls and both times he hit those shots were at just the right time to curb a Cougar run. Travis Miller and Chris Penner combined for 15 points pacing the Cougs and keeping them within reach.
North Thurston would again stretch their lead in the 3rd quarter back to 11 but the pesky Cougars would simply not give in and kept the deficit to 9 at the end of the 24th minute. The 4th quarter ended up coming down to the final shot. North Thurston would score 15 4th quarter points but left a ton on the court from the free throw line that opened the door for Capital to have a chance with 7-seconds to play.
The Rams had a chance to close out the Cougars as they were forced to foul and sent the Rams to the foul line time and again. The North Thurston shooters were dismal missing at least 7 freebies where hitting any one of them would have locked the game down for the Rams.
The Cougars took advantage as they came storming back scoring 21 in the 4th quarter. Miller and Penner continued to have hot hands and were helped by Connor Hayden off the bench with 5 and a big 3 from Jake Crawford. Despite the furious comeback the Rams could have clinched it with 7-seconds to go and Aaron Stone at the line. Stone missed both shots that would have pushed it to a 2-score game and Capital got the ball down to Crawford who had a straight on shot for the tie but bounced off the rim straight up and then rolled off giving the win to North Thurston.
The Rams are now 4-5 in league play and 7-8 overall while Capital falls to 1-8 and 4-11. Our Tommy Lowe of Greene Realty Players of the Game were Kyle Stone for North Thurston and Travis Miller for Capital. Our Proactive Physical Therapy Play of the Game went to the Rams Zack Sibley and Darren Sroor. Sibley with a pinpoint laser pass to Sroor who took it and slammed it home.
Scoring:
North Thurston: Sroor 14, K Stone 12, Sibley 11, Reynolds 9, A Stone 6, Spencer 4
Capital: Miller 19, Penner 17, Crawford 9, Hayden 5, Schnellman 2, Collard 1
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