HS Basketball: Michael Masini's 25 Carries Gig Harbor Over Mt. Tahoma

1/8/2025

(Tacoma, WA)

Michael Masini’s go ahead bucket in the closing seconds, proved to be the difference maker, as Gig Harbor escaped with a 65-63 win over a tough Mount Tahoma team. The win pads Gig Harbor’s record in the Puget Sound Narrows Division to 5-3, Mount Tahoma falls to 2-6.

Gig Harbor came into the night coming off of a two game winning streak in the Puget Sound League with wins over Bellarmine and Central Kitsap to close out the calendar year, but having not played since December 21. Mt. Tahoma won their most recent encounter against Bothell last Thursday 75-71. The overarching question coming into the night was whether Gig Harbor could shake off the rust after not playing for 18 days.

The game was a matchup of contrasting styles, the speed and tempo of Mount Tahoma against the height of a methodical Gig Harbor side. In the first quarter, it was a tale of two separate halves. Mount Tahoma jumped out to a 12-7 lead. The Tides answered thanks to Jack Brown heating up from 3, making a pair of triples in the opening quarter. Gig Harbor answered going on a 10-0 run. Gig Harbor eventually led at the end of the first quarter 20-14.

Quarter number two saw both offenses starting to click. Gig Harbor is a well balanced team, where any one of the starting five can shine on any given night. In the second quarter, Jack Brown continued to light it up. Brown made another pair of threes to pace the Tide lead. Mount Tahoma did not go away, though. Junior guard Zane Cordero scored a baker’s dozen in the second quarter. Gig Harbor led at the half, 37-34.

The second half began with Gig Harbor continuing to pace their lead. In the third quarter, Cole Browne scored 6 of Gig Harbor’s 14 to keep the Tides in front. However, the Thunderbirds relied on their standby combination of Cordero brothers to keep them in the game. Zane and Mikkah combined for 7 points each in the 3rd, including Mikkah’s buzzer beater trey to close out the third quarter. That triple tied the game at 51 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter witnessed Mt. Tahoma score with three different players, highlighted by Amaar Coleman scoring 8 in the period. However, the star of the night was Gig Harbor’s Michael Masini. When the Tides needed their star junior the most, Masini scored over half of his team high 25 points in the final quarter, including the decisive go ahead bucket in the final minute. In the end, Gig Harbor’s defense survived to come away with a 65-63 win over Mount Tahoma.

Here is the scoring recap for both teams.

Gig Harbor Scoring:

Michael Masini 25; Jack Brown 15; Cole Browne 14; WIlliam Cody 5; Quentin Bockhorn 3; DJ Darling 2;

Mount Tahoma Scoring:

Zane Cordero 28; Mikkah Cordero 13; Amaar Coleman 10; Peter Pilcher 8; Terrance Macke 2;

Our Eli Sports Network MVP of the game was Michael Masini, who scored all of Gig Harbor’s 13 points in the 4th quarter, finishing the game with 25.

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Here are highlights of the game.

Mt. Tahoma Speedy Transition with Zane Cordero