Wolves End With Victory

February 10, 2006 - Sequim

     After the barnburner against Chimacum the night before the Wolves took a workman like victory over North Mason in their final game by a score of 59-47.  The game was not as close as the score as Coach Rap got to use all 14 of his players.  Chris Consoliver had his best game of the season as he scored 19 points on a variety of shots.  Taylor Thorsen had 11, including a perfect 3 for 3 from the line.  Andrew Law continued to draw votes for the most improve player as he tossed in 8 points.  The game was relaxed enough that Reed Omdal even played a little dodgeball in the 4^th quarter.  Chris O’Brien hit 2 free throws and got a field goal for 4 points.  The team worked hard to get Ben Ohnstad a shot as the clock ran down.  Ben is another candidate for most improved and his teammates really wanted to see him score in the last game.

        It was a long season that went by too quickly.  Most of the team are freshmen and will come back this summer looking for spots on next year’s Varsity and JV teams.  Coaches Rapelje and Berg are extremely proud of the improvement that all the players showed this year.  With dedication, effort, and a lot of time in the gym, the coaches think that this group can get Sequim back to the State Tournament!

Cowboys Push Wolves to the Brink

February 9, 2006 - Chimacum

       The C-Wolves committed the cardinal sin of sports: taking your opponent too lightly.  The game against the Chimacum Cowboys got off to a blazing start as Sequim jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind Reed Omdal’s 8 points and Andrew Law’s swisher from the high post.  Coach R had been looking forward to playing everyone after the close game with South Kitsap, and put in his next 5 players with about 4 minutes left in the quarter.  Everyone on Sequim’s bench was joking and laughing, when the Cowboys said “Whoa, Nellie!”  They started hitting three’s and hustling on D, and went on a 19-8 run to end the quarter with a 21-18 lead.  Coach Rap was not happy.  The second quarter settled into a back and forth battle that saw the Wolves claw their way back into a 29-29 tie at halftime.  Omdal got another 5 points and Taylor Thorsen tossed in 4.  At halftime Coach R lit into his team for playing with a lack of intensity that he hadn’t seen since their first game.  He told them they were in for a war now, since instead of putting the Cowboys away, they had let them gain confidence.  Boy, was Rap right.  The second half continued to see-saw back and forth, with neither team being able to pull away.  The third quarter ended with the Wolves up by 3, 46-43.  In a classic 4^th quarter the lead changed hands several times.  Andrew Law made 4 free throws in a row, the last one pulling the Wolves into a tie at 56 with 46 seconds left.  The Cowboys scored again to take the lead, but with 20 seconds left Reed Omdal tied it again and the clock ran out in regulation with the score tied at 58.

        In the first overtime the Wolves got the lead on a free throw by Jaymes McClain.  The cowboys answered with a 2, then Thorsen put the Wolves ahead again.  With 22 seconds left Chimacum scored to take a 62-61 lead.  The Wolves brought the ball up and McClain was fouled again with 7 seconds left.  He drained the first free throw to tie the game, but the second one wouldn’t drop, and the first overtime ended in a 62-62 tie.

        As the second overtime started Coach Berg asked Rap about using Kenny Russell, who had been on the bench since picking up his 4^th foul in the third quarter.  Coach R said Kenny had told him he had 5 fouls; but one of those was just a violation for throwing elbows, not a foul.  Rap said Kenny get in there!  Russell responded immediately by hitting a tough put-back to give Sequim 66-63 lead.  But the Cowboys kept shooting, and with 40 seconds left in the game they reclaimed the lead 67 -66.  Reed answered again 10 seconds later to take the lead 68-67.  The Cowboys turned it over, and then fouled Ben Omdal with 9 seconds left.  Ben is the leading free throw shooter on the team, but this time he got rim 2 times in a row.  The Cowboys hustled the ball up the court, but as the point guard cut right, Russell was there ahead of him to take the biggest charge of the year.  Game over; 2 overtimes; Sequim wins 68-67!

       Reed ended up with a season high 21 points.  Thorsen tossed in 17, and Andrew Law got 10.
       And Coach R only got 10 pushups for talking to the ref!

Rapleje T'd Up, But Not Teed Off

 February 7, 2006 - S. Kitsap

      Once again the young Sequim Wolves showed how much they have improved by giving the South Kitsap Wolves, who won by 28 in the first match-up, all they could handle this time as they came up short by a much closer score of 36 to 44.  South plays an aggressive man to man, and led 22-17 at halftime.  But Sequim regrouped and came out with some stifling defense of their own, taking a lead of 26-24 with 2 minutes left in the third.  Taylor Thorsen had 5 of his 9 points in the quarter, and Kenny Russell had a great put-back for the lead.  Fighting hard against the SK Wolves and some questionable officiating, the Wolves lost Thorsen to fouls with 7 minutes left in the game.  In an uncharacteristic display of frustration, coach Rap got the first technical of his career after Reed Omdal was called for a very questionable charge for saying “Are you kidding me?” The referee said he wasn’t.  Sequim fought hard the rest of the way, but couldn’t close the gap.  Jaymes McClain got 4 of his 8 points in the fourth quarter.  Kenny Russell got 6 points and Andrew Law netted 5.

      After the game Coach R apologized to the team for getting a T, but told them that it was frustrating to see them play so hard and have so many calls go against them. He vowed to do 10 pushups for every comment he made to the officials in the next game against Chimacum.

Sweepers Get Swept

February 2, 2006 - Sequim

      The Wolves may have lost to PA again, but the difference between this game and the first one back in November was enormous.  The Riders got the victory by a score of 46-31, but they’re lucky that it wasn’t a double-header.  As the game wore on, the Wolves got closer and closer.  They were outscored in the first quarter by 6 points; in the second by 4; in the third by 3; and in the fourth by 2.  If you graph that out Sequim would win the second game by 4!  Just wait until these guys are juniors and they are playing with fellow freshmen Ary Webb, Nic Thatcher, and Matt Bedinger who played varsity and JV this year!

      Kenny Russell led the Wolves with 8 points.  Taylor Thorsen hit a nice 3 in the first quarter.  Kevin Beck had a nice defensive game, and scored 4 points. Ryan Skerbeck got 2 points on a nice finish underneath.

      Heading into the final week of the season the young Wolves have games with South Kitsap, Chimacum and North Mason.  Coach R is looking for a strong finish to what has been a good season with tons of improvement.

Bring Out The Brooms

February 1, 2006 - Pt. Townsend H.S.

      The third time was not the charm for the Redskins as the C-Wolves swept the season series by a score of 42-25.  Sequim got off to a slower start this time as they adjusted to the tight quarters in PT’s gym, but the end result was the same.  Sean McCreary led the scoring with 10 points.  John Berkes had a break-out second quarter as he got two field goals, went 2 for 2 from the line, and got a defensive turnover on a 5 second call.  The Wolves led 21-10 at halftime.  In the third quarter things got a little messy as Jaymes McClain got the inbound pass in the front court and promptly turned and dribbled towards the Port Townsend basket.  Luckily it was over-and-back before he could jam it.  Eric Faulk showed some nice ball handling in the 4^th quarter, one time putting his defender on the floor as he “broke his ankle” with a nifty cross-over move.  Eric was 2 for 4 from the line in the fourth.

      It was Taylor Thorsen’s birthday and he was hoping to celebrate with a big night, but he found out the basketball gods just don’t care about birthdays.  He did get a free throw to drop.

      Even with the victory Coach Rap was not satisfied with the effort, and he told the team they better bring their A-game to the rematch with PA tomorrow.

Pirates’ Blunder

 January 24, 2006 - Sequim H.S.

     On January 24 the Pirates from Vashon sailed into town.  Coach Rapelje teaches tough, intense, in-your-mug defense every practice, and the Pirates got a boatload as they went down by a score of 43-29.  The C-Wolves jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first quarter, helped by Andrew Law’s rebounding, and 4 of his 8 points.  In the second quarter the Wolves pushed the lead out to double digits, but the Pirates got 5 in the last minute and trailed 18-10 going into the half.  Coach R was not pleased with the letdown and he gave a good motivational speech at half time.  The team responded well, and came out firing.  Taylor Thorsen got 6 of his 8 points on some nice baby-hooks, which Coach R told him he liked a lot more than those errant three’s.  Sequim took a 29-16 lead into the 4^th quarter, and then the Pirates drew their swords and started slashing away.  Reed Omdal was the main victim, but he thwarted their hopes by sinking 6 of 8 free-throws and getting another bucket on one of his trademark anticipation steals.  Reed finished with a game high 13 points.

     Coach R was pleased with the way the team played when they were ahead.

     Next week is a trip to PT and the much anticipated third game with the ‘Riders from PA.  That will be a good measure of how much our team has improved since the first game back on November 30.

Wolves Thump Townsend Again

 January 19, 2006 - Pt. Townsend H.S.

     Coach Rap called up the reserves for a rematch with the overmatched Redskins from Port Townsend on January 19, and the result was pretty much the same, as Sequim claimed a 42-28 victory.  The Wolves jumped all over PT in the first quarter as they raced to a 14-2 lead.  Kenny Russell got 7 of his 10 points in the period.  In the second quarter Taylor Thorsen took over the scoring, tossing in 8 of his game high 12.  Then Rap started to use the reserves; the guys who came out in November when we had 28 players in the gym; the guys who kept coming to practice everyday even when they didn’t get one of the 15 game uniforms.  All the hard work for Chris O’Brien, Eric Faulk, Ben Ohnstad, John Berkes, and Steven Moore paid off as they finally got a chance to shoe their stuff.  Ohnstad had 3 tough rebounds, and a couple of put-backs that just rimmed out as the fans moaned.  Faulk got a bucket on a fast break, and O’Brien scored from inside.  Berkes was all over on defense, and Moore did a nice job passing out of a double-team.  The whole team was rooting hard for these guys as a tribute to their perseverance.

     After the game Coach Rap complimented everyone for their hard play, especially the reserves.

Wolf bites Wolf

 January 17, 2006 - Sequim H.S.

     The Wolves won, but not the ones from Sequim.  The bigger, older Wolves from South Kitsap came in to Sequim on January 17 and gave the younger Sequim Wolves a lesson on pressure defense, beating them by a score of 53-25.  South Kitsap has only grades 10-12, so their C-team is all sophomores, and the year’s difference in age made a difference.  Sequim made too many turnovers against the full court pressure, and too many of them were from sloppy passing.  The C-wolves did a good job rebounding, but just didn’t get enough shots to keep the game close.  Leading the scoring was Reed Omdal with 6 points and Taylor Thorsen with 4.

     Coach Rap missed the game because of teaching responsibilities, and his mid-game adjustments were missed.  After the game the players said they definitely want another chance at the SK Wolves, and they’ll get it on February 7.

'Nique Nails Nets for Nice 30

Jan 13, 2006 - Foster HS

     Sometimes one player can single-handedly change the game.  The C-Wolves went into Friday night’s game at Foster, the 4^th in 5 days, ready to win.  The Bulldogs weren’t the best team they have faced, but they were maybe the quickest.  For the first half the Bulldogs played a tight man defense with full court pressure, but the young Wolves kept their composure and fought back from an 8-14 deficit to tie the game at half 27-27.  Coach Rap encouraged the boys at halftime to keep up the great effort; that if we could stick with them into the 4^th quarter they would start to get after each other and the momentum would swing our way.  And it might have gone that way, except for #22.  Dominique.  Remember the name sports fans, because this kid will make some noise in the Nisqually League in the next couple of years.  He came out of the locker room and dropped 15 in the 3^rd quarter, on his way to 30 for the game.  Everything he threw up found the net.  Sequim still played well but Dominique was too much, and Foster took the game by a final score of 64-58.

     Josh Fodge had his best offensive game with 13 points, 10 of them in the 4^th quarter.  He picked up a lot of slack for the Wolves as two of our post players were missing; Sean McCreary with injuries too numerous to list, and Chris Consoliver with a ‘miss the bus’ violation.  Ben Omdal had a great night on the free-throw line, going 4 for 4. Reed Omdal had 11 points, and Kyle Brenske tossed in 10.  Taylor Thorsen scored 6 points.

After the game Coach Rap commended the boys for playing hard all week.  He told them he can hardly believe the improvement he has seen since we started in November.

     Next up for the Wolves is a home game with 4A South Kitsap on January 17.

Wolves Smooth Out Rough Patches Against 'Riders

January 11, 2006 - Port Angeles

     Well, the ‘Riders beat the C-Wolves again in a rematch at Port Angeles on Wednesday, but it was nothing like the first game. The defensive effort was magnificent, as the PA boys never got more than 9 points in any quarter, but the Wolves lost leading scorer Sean McCreary early to a knee injury and struggled at the offensive end as well.  The final score of 34-20 shows how much the Wolves have improved since November, and has them looking forward to the third game against PA on February 2.  Scoring leaders were Taylor Thorsen and Josh Fodge with 6 a piece.  A highlight was Chris Consoliver’s twisting, spinning, how-did-he-do-it-without-traveling finish on a fast break.  The Wolves also dominated the boards.  Coach Rap was pleased with the improvement he saw, and is anxious to get back to the gym to make a few adjustments.

     Thursday is a much needed practice day, then it’s on to Foster Friday night for a Nisqually League match-up.

Redskins Embarrassed By Harassing Wolves

January 10, 2005 - Sequim   

     An old coach once said that sometimes a team can play so well that the other team just disappears.  Tuesday afternoon the C-Wolves made the Redskins disappear, blowing them out by a score of 73-21.  It was never a contest, as Sequim raced to a 20-2 lead after the first quarter.  PT tried to stop the bleeding by putting in some JV players, but the slaughter continued and the Wolves led 39-5 at the half.  In the second half coach Rap divided the team into two groups, and told them to run the offense for lay-ins only.  Which they did, and pushed the score out to 59-11.  The Redskins were so discombobulated that they even scored a basket for Sequim on a breakaway going the wrong way!

Sean McCreary led the scoring for the second game in a row, upping his season high to 20 points. Reed Omdal had some great anticipation steals, and got 11 points.  Kyle Brenske was all over the court as usual, creating havoc and scoring his season best 9 points.  Taylor Thorsen had 8, with a bucket in each quarter.  Andrew Law and Josh Fodge both had 6, with some nifty shooting around the basket.  Ben Omdal had 6 points and another superb defensive game.

The young Wolves are off to PA Wednesday as the game-a-day schedule continues.