HS Hoops: MLK Showcase at the ShoWare Center; 8 Games full coverage

1/15/2024

The annual MLK Showcase at the ShoWare center tipped off Monday morning with 8 games on the schedule. There were 5 boys games and 3 girls match-ups. 2 games had to be re-scheduled late due to 2 Oregon teams that had to cancel because of weather and road conditions. Below is a short re-cap of each game, postgame shows and video highlights.

Game 1 (Boys)

Kent-Meridian 15 20 32 34
Enumclaw 7 18 29 36

The Royals jumped out to a 15-7 lead after the 1st quarter but then saw their offense go cold as the Hornets closed the gap to just a 2 point game with Kent-Meridian leading 20-18. K-M’s Julius Graham knocked down 11 of the 20 1st half points with Joel Ramos adding 5 with the lone 3 ball for the Royals and Christian Mortimer scored the other 4. For the Hornets Wyatt Neu led the offense with 7 with 5 others chipping in with 2 and 3 points.

In the 3rd quarter Enumclaw took their 1st lead in the game late in the quarter 29-27 on a bucket by Wyatt Neu but the Royals countered with a 5-0 run with Christian Mortimer stealing the ball and laying it in with 7 seconds to play. This set up a tight 4th quarter with both teams unable to get much offense but Enumclaw scratched out just enough for the win.

Enumclaw improves to 8-5 on the season while K-M drops to 6-8. The MVP of the game went to the Hornets Wyatt Neu.

Scoring
Enumclaw: Wyatt Neu 16, Gavin Trachte 4, Karson Holt 4, Jason Feddema 3, Travis Leonard 3, Kannon Kazaro 2, Landon Brauer 2, Austin Pierce 2
Kent Meridian: Julius Graham 16, Christian Mortimer 9, Joel Remos 7, Alijah Townsel 2

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

Enumclaw takes their 1st lead

K-M fights back

The Hornets hit the score the winning points

Game 2 (Boys)

Puyallup 12 21 35 47
Auburn-Mountainview 19 31 45 59

The Auburn-Mountainview Lions came our shooting hot and edged to a 7 point lead in the 1st quarter then expanded it to 10 points by halftime with solid offense but also a smothering defense. The Lions offense was headed by the 15 points from Sebastian Arius going 4-5 from behind the arc. The scoring surge pushed their halftime lead to 10.

Puyallup would battle back in the 2nd half and at one point cut the lead to 7 led Will Nasinec’s work in the paint with 12 points and a team high 4 rebounds. But the Lions refused to let the Viks get closer than that getting a jolt of energy off the bench from Lucas McClendon scoring all 7 of his points in the 3rd quarter. Arius was shut out in the 3rd but dropped a 5th 3-pointer in the 4th and finished with 20 points with 7 boards and 4 assists. Mande Wanlemvo finished with 10 and 5 rebounds along with 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot to fill out the stat line.

Aub-Mtnview improves to 8-6 on the season while the Vikings dropped to 7-6. The MVP was Sebastian Arius.

Scoring
Aub-Mntview: Sebastian Arius 20, Mande Wanlemvo 10, Caleb Bowden 9, Lucas McClendon 7, Beckett Jones 5, Cody Bennion 4, Jaydon Jacobs 2, Spencer Evenson 2
Puyallup: Will Nasinec 12, Drew Jones 10, Mason Sonntag 8, Isaiah Sonntag 6, Carsen Lovett 4, Porter Richardson 4, Lawson Looker 3

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

Sebastian Arius drains a deep shot

Vikings pull within 7

The Lions seal it

Game 3 (Girls)

White River 12 30 43 45 49 (OT)
King’s 11 24 33 45 52

The King’s Knights simply locked down the Hornets in the 4th quarter holding them to just 2 points while closing the gap on a 10 point deficit heading into the final 8 minutes. With just a minute or so left to play Kaleo Anderson hit a 17-foot jump shot to tie the game and eventually went to overtime as King’s outscored the Hornets 12-2 in the final panel.

In OT as time was winding down Kaitlin Cramer hit a huge 3 point shot to push the Knights total to 48 and set up their final run to a 52-49 win in OT. King’s shot just 34% in the 1st half and picked it up to 40% in both the 2nd half and OT. The Hornets cooled off in the 2nd half shooting just 23%. Maggee Schmitz led the Hornets with 13 points with Ava Bright adding 10.

King’s improved to 7-0 on the year while the Hornets fell to 9-3. The ESN crew selected Kaleo Anderson the MVP of the game. Anderson had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Kaitloyn Cramer knocked down 17 with 5 rebounds and Cat Ellard had 8 and 8.

Scoring
King’s: Kaleo Anderson 20, Kaitlyn Cramer 17, Cat Ellard 8, Claire Helton 3, Bella Trias-Ruiz 2, Molly Kyler 1, Adeline Cox 1
White River: Maggee Smith 13, Ava Bright 10, Ally Green 8, Josie Jacobs 6, Dakota Sprouse 6, Malia Froemke 2, Sophie Ross-Soler 2, Lexie Banks 2

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

White River builds their 1st half lead

King’s ties it up late

The Knights drain a huge shot to nearly clinch the game

Game 4 (Boys)

Lynden 22 33 48 64
King’s 6 16 26 39

The Lynden Lions did not need anytime to adjust to playing in the ShoWare center hitting for 22 points in the 1st quarter against King’s. At the same time the Lions stifling defense kept the Knights in check surrendering only 6 points in the 1st and buidling a 33-16 halftime lead. A lead the knights would never drastically dig into for the remainder of the game. Although they did not allow the Lions another big quarter holding them to just 11 in the 2nd quarter.

Lynden was red hot from behind the arc shooting 10 of 19 for 53% from deep. Anthony Canales led the scoring with 22 going 2-4 from 3-point land and 4-4 from the free throw line. Canales added 6 rebunds, 3 assists a blocked shot and 4 steals. His effort made him the easy choice for MVP. Canales got help from Brant Heppner with 12 points and Ty Holleman with 10 and shared top rebounder with Canales with 6 boards.

King’s had just 4 get in the scorebook and were led by the 15 from Dylan Myers. Joining Myers in double figures was Nick Linhardt with 11 and Sebastian Cooper with 10. Lynden improves to 12-3 on the year and King’s falls to 9-5.

Scoring
Lynden: Anthony Canales 22, Brant Heppner 12, Ty Holleman 10, Dani Bowler 8, Weston VanDalen 6, Charlie Ayres 6
KIng’s: Dylan Myers 15, Nick Linhardt 11, Sebastian Cooper 10, Blake Needham 3

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

King’s stays close early

Lynden erupts for 8 straight

Game 5 (Girls)

Kennedy Catholic 9 24 30 35
Enumclaw 21 34 48 58

This game came together very late and was originally supposed to be Bonney Lake vs Clackamas (Oregon) but Clackamas couldn’t cvommit after the severe weather of ice and snow which was a lot more significant in the Portland area. Bonney Lake then decided they would bow out so Steve Turcotte, the Showcase organizer made some calls and got Kennedy Catholic and Enumclaw to take the spot. For the Lancers that also meant many of their players were not available as they hhad less than 24 hours notice and had made other plans.

The Hornets came out hot and never let up cruising to the win. 9 different Hornets got in the scorebook in a well spread out offensive attack with only one in double figures, Gracie Frinkoess with 11. Gracie added 3 rebounds and 3 steals to her stat line. Natalie DeMarco put in 9 with 5 rebounds and 5 steals.Camryn Thomas and Emma Holt each had 8.

For the Lancers Riley Burns led all scorers with 17 going 2 for 2 behind the arc and 5 of 8 from the field. The ESN crew could not separate the Hornetsn with how much of a team effort their win was that they gave Riley the MVP for scoring literally half of the Lancer’s points. Paige Madarski had a solid game for K-C with 7. The Lancers drop to 5-9 on the year while Enumclaw improves to 9-5.

Scoring
Kennedy Cath: Riley Burns 17, Paige Madarski 7, Gabriela King 4, Kathryn Schroeder 5, Raquel Thomas-Martinez 2, Addison McDonough 1
Enumclaw: Gracie Frinkoess 11, Natalie DeMarco 9, Emma Holt 8, Camryn Thomas 8, Kalee Swanson 7, Ava smith 6, Sydney VanHoof 5, Lillt Atkins 3, Halle Martel 1

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

Kennedy Catholic scores back-to-back

Enumclaw’s run seals the win

Game 6 (Boys)

Mt Si 19 36 54 63
Roosevelt 7 19 28 38

Mt Si was set to play Tualtin (Oregon) but Tualtin had to cancel due to the weather conditions and so 3A Roosevelt stepped in to take on the Wildcats. The Roughriders were 9-0 and the #6 RPI team in the 3A. Mt Si was 10-1 and the #6 RPI team in the 4A. When the dust settled it showed a huge difference in the #6 RPI teams with the Wildcats cruising to a huge win.

Mt Si jumped on the Roughriders from the start extending their lead to 17 at the break. That would be pushed to 26 through 3 quarters before the Wildcats took their foot off the gas pedal and Roosevelt actually outscored Mt Si 10-9 in the 4th.

Mt Si had 9 get in the scorebook with a pair of 20 pointers. Latt Ford hit for 21 while Trevor Hennig scored 20 going 3 for 9 behind the acr and grabbing 8 boards added 3 assists and had a blocked shot. This was enough for the ESN crew to name Hennig the MVP.

Roosevelt had 2 players with 8 points, Jackson Huntington and Anthony Washington both led the Roughriders in scoring and Washington grabbed 5 rebounds to lead in that category as well. Mt Si is now 11-1 overall and Roosevelt suffered their 1st defeat dropping to 9-1.

Scoring
Roosevelt: Jackson Huntington 8, Anthony Washington 8, Jacob Sprangers 7, Caden Young 6, Jalen Dollar 5, Lawrence Bailey 4
Mt Si: Latt Ford 21, Trevor Hennig 20, Jack Taylor 6, Brady Hennig 6, Marshall Smith 3, Blake Forrest 2, Marcus Heide 2, Hudson Moscrip 2, Jake Bonnofsky 1

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

Roosevelt hits a deep 3

Mt Si answers from behind the line

The Wildcats close it out

Game 7 (Boys)

Tahoma 18 32 54 71
Olympia 3 22 34 43

It was a battle of the Bears in this 4A showdown between the top NPSL 4A Tahoma Bears and the SPSL 4A Olympia Bears and it shook out to Tahoma. Tahoma was red hot right from the start taking an 18-3 1st quarter lead. Olympia would bounce back and cut to the lead to 7 with just seconds to go in the 1st half when Parker Plowman drained a 3-ball as time expired pushing it back to a 10 point lead.

Tahoma re-ignited their offense in the 3rd and stifled Olympia defensivelu outscoring Olympia 22-12 in the 3rd. The domination continued as Tahoma would seal it with a 17-9 run in the final quarter finishing with a 2nd 39-21 advantage for the easy win. Tahoma had 4 in twin figures led by Dalton Brown with 21, Plowman added 16, Carter Stonerock hit for 14 and Adam Davis hit a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebouonds. Davis 3 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot and was named the MVP of the game.

Olympia had 10 players score but none in double figures. Matt Lindbloom led with 8 and picked off 9 rebounds, Drew Carlson, Julian Zapata and Blake Peterson each had 6. Olympia drops to 9-3 overall and Tahoma is now 10-3.

Scoring
Tahoma: Dalton Brown 21, Parker Plowman 16, Carter Stonerock 14, Adam Davis 10, Jayden Stephens 6, Cameron Talbert 4
Olympia: Matt Lindbloom 8, Drew Carlson 6, Julian Zapata 6, Blake Peterson 6, Elijah Buol 5, Sam Schilter 3, Tucker Downing 3, Carson Godfrey 2, Kingston Stanciu 2, Brian Stevenson 2

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show

Video Highlights

Olympia makes a run

Parker Plowman with the buzzer beater

Tahoma puts it away

Game 8 (Girls)

Tahoma 21 32 54 72
Liberty 13 21 35 48

Out of all 8 ngames played on Monday at the MLK Showcase no one player girl or boy scored more than Liberty’s Ella Whitaker who splashed down for 24 points going 9 of 18 from the field and 4 of 6 from the line, grabbing 6 rebounds dishing off an assist and comingup with a pair of steals. Despite that bimpressive stat line that was all the Patriots could really come up with as Tahoma’s well spread offense with 12 players scoring overwhelmed Liberty with a big 24 point win.

Brooke Deyak was the lone Bear in double digits with 15. Kylie Robertson led in rebounding with 6 and added 5 points while Kate Wootgen and Lily Cavanaugh each had 9. Deyak was selected as the MVP of the game. Tahoma improves to 8-1 on the year and Liberty drops to 11-6.

Scoring
Tahoma: Brooke Deyak 15, Kate Wooten 9, Lily Cavanaugh 9, Bailey Nettleton 8, Maryn King 7, Gracyn Meyer 6, Kylie Robertson 5, Hannah Huff 4, Rylee Jacox 3, Adalynn Busch 3, Jacee Harrison 2, Addie Sinclair 1
Liberty: Ella Whitaker 24, Addison Tran 12, Annabelle Le 7, Mallory Leavitt 2, Chelsea Irvine 2, Eva Krell 1

Watch the full game replay on the NFHS Network (subscription required) by clicking this link

ESN Post Game Show