HS Basketball: Sumner Defeats Emerald Ridge on Senior Night

1/30/2025

(Sumner, WA)

Senior night is always an emotional time for players, friends, and families. The body of work that spans a totality of four years of high school leads to nights to celebrate such was the case Thursday evening. On a night dedicated to their seniors, their upperclassmen tallied 36 of Sumner’s 59 points in a 59-49 win over Emerald Ridge. The win placed Sumner in a tie in the standings with Emerald Ridge for the second spot in the SPSL North Standings.

Emerald Ridge came into the evening with a chance to tie Puyallup in the SPSL Standings for the Division Title. A win over Sumner and a Puyallup loss to Curtis would cause a deadlock for the top spot. Sumner with a win would tie ER in the SPSL North Standings.

The game began with Sumner relying on Jalen Hyppa heavily. The senior’s 7 first quarter points helped build a Spartan lead to 15-9 at the end of the first quarter. Jamaize McGriff led ER in scoring at the end of the quarter with 6pts.

Sumner continued to pace Emerald Ridge in the second period. Owen Liedtke and Colten Kelley carried the scoring weight for Sumner. Sumner’s defense however, made a statement in the 2nd quarter. The lockdown defense limited Emerald Ridge to 5 points in the second quarter. The Spartans led at the half, 30-14.

The second half contrasted from its predecessor with a display of scoring. Jamaize McGriff put on a show in the second half, with 19 points for Emerald Ridge. Jordan Bennett wound up finishing with double figures in the end for ER. On the other side, Sumner saw 10 fourth quarter points from Jalen Hyppa to finish tied with McGriff for a game high 19 points. Goose Frederick put 8 points on the board for the Spartans in the post. Carson Schmidt finished the game with 10 points with important play on the defensive glass.

In the end, Sumner won the game 59-49, with Carson Schmidt earning our Elisportsnetwork.com MVP of the game.

Here are the scorers for the game.

Emerald Ridge:

Jamaize McGriff 19; Jordan Bennett 10; Mychal Turner 7; Isaac Norris 6; Calvontre White 4; Dominique Pace 3

Sumner:

Jalen Hyppa 19; Goose Frederick 12; Carson Schmidt 10; Colton Kelley 7; Owen Liedtke 6; Austin Collins 2; Gavin Lee 2;

Although Sumner won the game, Emerald Ridge was awarded the RPI tiebreaker for the 2nd placed spot in the SPSL North, which ends the opportunity for Sumner to defend last year’s SPSL Title. Sumner will play Graham Kapowsin in a girls/boys basketball doubleheader on Wednesday (5:30/7), with the girls hosting Bonney Lake in the early game. Emerald Ridge will play in the SPSL Semifinals against Olympia on Wednesday.

Here is our postgame interview with Game MVP Carson Schmidt and Head Coach Bill Liley followed by highlights of the game.

ESN Talks with Game MVP Carson Schmidt