HS Hoops: Tumwater and Black Hills split boys/girls Twin Bill

1/31/2025

(Tumwater, WA) Twice a year the Wolves and T-Birds get together for a good old fashioned crosstown rivalry in basketball and host a double-header with both girls and boys varsity teams playing back-to-back games. The 1st go round was at Black Hills on January 14. The Tumwater T-Bird ladies pulled off a big OT win over the Wolves while the Black Hills Wolves boys knocked off the T-Birds.

Friday night’s 2nd round was revenge night as the Black Hills girls and Tumwater boys both got the win and in the end each of the 4 teams posted 1 victory for a stalemate in 2025.

Our coverage is below of both games. We also wanted to report that our broadcasts suffered some issue with the wifi and in the girls game did not get the full game up. The Boys game we had to reduce our resolution to stream and it impacted the quality of the picture.

We are working with Tumwater I-T folks to hopefully figure out a solution. The biggest issue was the gym was packed to the rafters with fans and with many people on the wifi drains the strength of the signal. We have a hot spot back-up that also did not work as well as it usually does. Again, we’re hopeful we can figure out a permanent fix. We’ll keep you updated.

Girls First

Black Hills 57, Tumwater 36

To say the Black Hills Wolves came out with the hot hand would be a huge under statement as they ran off to a 20-2 lead after the 1st quarter. That would end up being way too much for the T-Birds to try and dig out of and were trying to play catch up from literally the beginning.

The Wolves’ Tyler Venable drained a 3 to get things started she and Natalie Buchanan would rain 3’s in the 1st quarter with Venable hitting 3 long balls and Buchanan adding 2 and they combined for 17 of the 20 points.

The Tumwater defense held the Wolves to just 8 points in the 2nd quarter but were unable to really make any headway as they were limited to 9. The T-Birds kept scrapping and had their best offensive quarter in the 3rd and pulled a little closer picking up another 3 points with a 17-14 quarter over the Wolves but still trailed by 14 after 3 down 42-28.

Tumwater had to press in the 4th to make a big run to try and get back in the game but the Wolves found their offense and stiffened the defense to pull away to the comfortable 57-36 win so there would be no miraculous comeback win this time. Black Hills was also 18-20 from the line shooting a blazing 90% from the charity stripe.

The Wolves got 17 each from Buchanan and Venable with Buchanan adding 12 rebounds for the double-double and her effort earned her our Thorbeckes MVP of the game with Venable a close 2nd. Kiley McMahon had a big 2nde half scoring 11 of her 13 with 3 shots from behind the arc. Ellie Johnson grabbed a dozen boards and Cassidy O’Reilly had a solid game with 7 points and 7 boards.

Anden Demaris was the bright spot for the T-Birds with a game high 19 points with 4 from deep. Demaris scored 13 of the 19 in the 2nd half. Sydney Sumrok was next with 7 as she picked it up in the 3rd where she scored all of her points. Dakota Cahill led Tumwater on the boards with 7 rebounds and multiple blocked shots.

Black Hills is now 4-4 in EVCO 2A play and 11-7 overall while Tumwater falls to 4-4 in league play and 6-12 for the season. The Wolves wrap up league next week with a game at Centralia on Tuesday and then hosting Aberdeen on Thursday. Tumwater has a pair of home games against Aberdeen on Tuesday and Shelton on Thursday.

Scoring
Black Hills: Natalie Buchanan 17, Tyler Venable 17, Kiley McMahon 13, Cassidy O’Reilly 7, Ellie Johnson 3
Tumwater: Anden Demaris 19, Sydney Sumrok 7, Kamryn Wilson 5, Raygen Cooper 3, Dakota Cahill 2

Video Highlights

Black Hills Tyler Venable leads the Wolves big 1st quarter outburst

Black Hills’ Natalie Buchanan buries a 3 to add to a big early lead

Tumwater’s Anden Demaris with a long ball

Boys Game

Tumwater 65, Black Hills 55

The game began a lot like the girls game with the Wolves jumping out to a 9-2 lead over the host T-Birds. However, the Tumwater boys did not let the 1st quarter get out of hand and battled back by shutting down the Wolves and getting their offense going and trailed just 13-10 after 1 quarter. The T-Birds kept the momentum rolling in the 2nd quarter on both offense and defense outscoring Black Hills 18-7 for a 28-20 halftime lead.

6 T-Birds had scored by halftime and 8 would eventually get in the book by the end of the game with a well shared offensive output. Sophomore Julien Balsley led the charge after 16 minutes of play with 8 and Jake Dillon had 6.

7 had scored for the Wolves also sharing the offensive load with Talon Morrill leading with 7 points and none of the other had more than 3 as the Wolves did have multiple scorers but they cooled off quite a bit going into the break.

In the 2nd half Beckett Wall just got stronger and stronger for Tumwater and would finish with 19 points, scoring 7 in the 3rd and 4th quarters while pulling down 6 rebounds. Sahara Anthony III had a tremendous game handling the ball with multiple dishes while scoring 6 of his 9 points in the 2nd half. 3 Birds with finish with 87 including Dillon, Balsley and Luke Overbay who also had 6 rebounds.

Black Hills would trail by 6 after 3 quarters and were ready to make a run chipping away to pull within 4 points in the 4th. But the T-Bird stepped in and closed the door while the offense would re-engage and pulled away for the 10 point win.

The big Wolf run was led by Peyton Faught who led Black Hills with 16 hitting 14 in the 3rd with 4 shots behind the arc. Faught’s hot streak would run out though as he was held scoreless in the final quarter. Quinton Morrill had a good effort from start to finish with 10 points and Tristan DeVille added 7 points with 11 rebounds.

Beckett Wall’s effort made him the easy choice as our Thorbeckes MVP of the game. Wall was the only one in double figures for Tumwater with his relentless defense and 6 boards shined on this big night. It was the perfect night for Wall’s biggest game not only against their crosstown rival but it was also Tumwater’s Senior night.

The bad news for the Black Hills Wolves is they will not finish the season undefeated in EVCO 2A play with their 1st loss as they drop to 7-1 in league play and 12-6 for the year. But the good news is they are still in command of the league and can clinch the Championship with wins over Centralia and Aberdeen next week. They host the Tigers on Wednesday and travel to Aberdeen on Friday. They beat Centralia by 26 the 1st go-round and topped Aberdeen by 27.

Tumwater can still tie Black Hills for the league Championship with wins over Aberdeen on the road Wednesday and at Shelton on Friday. The T-Birds beat the Bobcats by 12 in their 1st match-up and knocked off Shelton by 25 earlier this season. Tumwater would need to win both and hope the Wolves stumble in at least one of their final 2 games.

Scoring
Tumwater: Beckett Wall 19, Sahara Anthony III 9, Julian Balsley 8, Luke Overbay 8, Jake Dillon 8, Bryce Morgan 6, Landon Anchors 5, Braeden Konrad 2
Black Hills: Peyton Faught 16, Quinton Morrill 10, Talon Morrill 9, Tristan DeVille 7, Jaxsen Beck 3, Kendell Roberson 2, Kenneth Bell 1