Community Sports

Sports Beat | Gig Harbor clinches league swimming title with win over Peninsula

We have reached the midway point of the winter high school sports season. Athletes and coaches have returned from their holiday breaks and are back to competing with an aim toward conference titles and the postseason.

A showdown between boys swimming conference leaders at the newly refurbished Peninsula High School pool didn’t disappoint on Jan. 9. Gig Harbor and Peninsula waged a furious back-and-forth battle, with the Tides clinching the Puget Sound League title with their 100-86 win.

Both teams entered the meet undefeated in the Puget Sound League.

Drama in the pool

The event — called the Real Fish Bowl by some — was very close heading into the 12th and final race. Then an Aiden Hammer-led Gig Harbor team touched the wall first in the 400 freestyle relay, earning eight points and sealing the victory for the Tides.

Aiden Hammer of Gig Harbor begins his leg of the 400 freestyle relay during a meet against Peninsula. Photo by Michael Kelly

Peninsula grabbed a lead after the first event of the day, a win by the Seahawks’ 200 medley relay team of Jonah Bergerson, Tyler Givot, Owen Moore and Aidan Miller.

Bergerson has elite speed and gave his team the lead in the opener with an impressive backstroke leg. He later went on to break the Peninsula school record in the 100 butterfly with a blistering time of 57.81.

It was Hammer Time in the second event. The Tide junior with Olympic aspirations ripped down his lane with a vengeance, combining perfect technique and raw power. He won the 200 freestyle by 24 seconds. Hammer is clearly on a different level and is on pace to defend his two state titles that he won as a freshman.

Next up it was the Tides’ versatile Travis Scott, who leaped off the blocks and glided to a 200 meter individual medley win in 2:20.6.

Michael Yevstifieiev of Gig Harbor won the 50 freestyle over teammate Joel Carpmail by 3/10ths of a second, giving the Tides a somewhat comfortable lead before the swimmers cleared the pool for the diving competition.

Deep dive

Gig Harbor’s Max Ferrier executed several high-degree-of-difficulty dives that resulted in clean entries to beat Seahawk diver Zachary Ruckle, 189.25 to 141.35. Ferrier reclaimed his position as this area’s best diver, but watch out for another Ruckle comeback. He surprised last year and finished fourth at the state championships.

Gig Harbor diver Max Ferrier. Photo by Michael Kelly

Despite Bergerson’s dominant win in the butterfly and Scott’s win in the 100 freestyle, the overall score tightened. Several Peninsula swimmers placed third, fourth and fifth, securing valuable points towards their team’s total.

Hammer won the 400 freestyle race by almost a full minute. That is not a misprint, he clocked in 57 seconds faster than the next swimmer.

Peninsula clawed back though in the ninth and 10th events. The Seahawks’ 200 freestyle team of seniors Bergerson, Givot, Aidan Miller and freshman Owen Moore won their 200 freestyle relay by four seconds to give the Seahawks two out of three relay wins. Then Bergerson swam a beautiful backstroke race, winning by eight seconds to even the event score.

The tension was high ahead of the 11th event. The Seahawks could smell an upset brewing.

But Davis Horton of Gig Harbor came up big in the breaststroke with an 1:11.96, out-touching Peninsula’s Miller, who finished in 1:13.74.

Then Hammer, Horton, Scott and Jace Garre won the final 400 freestyle relay to secure the Tides’ win.

Peninsula coach Athena Petterson was encouraged with the Seahawks’ effort in defeat. “I think this meet was huge for our team. Nothing is impossible and my hope as a coach is this motivated them even more. We had a really, really tough winter training, and the boys are rising to the occasion.”

Jonah Bergerson of Peninsula swims the 100 fly during the meet against Gig Harbor. Photo by Michael Kelly

Girls basketball teams in playoff races

Both local teams are in the thick of the girls basketball playoff race. Each is in second place of their respective divisions of the PSL.

Gig Harbor (7-4, 5-3 Puget Sound League) went 1-2 on a recent trip to a tournament in Palm Beach, Florida, against tough teams from Florida and Tennessee. Tides coach Tim Olson felt the trip toughened his team and it showed as they unloaded on their first PSL opponent since returning: A 68-24 win against Mount Tahoma on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

Silky junior guard Kaliyah Miller leads the balanced Tides in scoring with 13.6 points and 2.3 steals per game. Sophomore Willow Bonnici has returned from a breakout freshman season to average 9.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. She has her sights set on all of the school’s rebounding records.

The Gig Harbor girls basketball team huddles during a recent game.

Gig Harbor is a young group that has the length needed to make life tough on opposing teams. They don’t often allow second shots to their opponents. Junior Beverly Dover (6-foot-2) averages 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and has three-point range. Freshman forward Anika Jones (6-foot) has introduced herself by chipping in with a solid 5.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per outing.

Sophomore Ashlyn Peirce handles the ball-handling duties for the Tides and can get to the hoop. She adds toughness and leads the team with 3.5 assists per game.

Gig Harbor has just two seniors: 5-foot-11 forward Finley Wyman, who averages 7.9 rebounds per game, and guard Gracie Carey, who turns up the heat defensively when Olson calls her name.

The Tides are in second place in the Narrows Division behind Bellarmine Prep. They play at Peninsula (7-4, 6-2) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Grace Richardson leading Peninsula

The Seahawks drubbed Lakes, 53-28, on Jan. 8, when Peninsula allowed only 10 points in the second half.

Grace Richardson led the Seahawks with 16 points. Maci Miller added 11, Julia Warfield nine points and freshman Gracie Robinson 7 in the win over the Lancers.

Bishop Blanchet tested Peninsula on Dec. 27, with the Seahawks dropping a 48-32 decision. Peninsula bounced back to beat Kentlake, 52-32, the following day.

Richardson leads the Seahawks in almost every statistical category: scoring (18.4 points per game), rebounding (8.3 per game), assists (4.3 per game), steals (4.9 per game) and blocked shots (2.6 per game).

She also takes tickets at the door, makes the popcorn and sings the national anthem. I’m kidding but you get the point, she does it all for the Seahawks.

First year coach Nelson Garbutt also gets consistent efforts from senior forwards Katelyn Lea and Kenyon Ballard as well as senior guard Maci Miller, who is the Seahawks’ best outside shooter.

Garbutt has some young talent in freshmen Paige Jones and Izzy Michaels.

Peninsula employs an aggressive man-to-man defense and press and can beat any PSL team if Richardson gets hot. But they may need some extra practice time on the free throw line as just two players are shooting above 50% from the charity stripe.

Peninsula will need every point it can get to overtake division-leading North Thurston, ranked seventh in the state with a perfect 7-0 record in divisional play.

Gig Harbor boys have won six out of seven

The Gig Harbor Tides (8-4, 5-3) boys basketball team traveled to Hawaii over the break. The Tides won three games to get to the finals of the Punahou Invitational, where they lost to a talented Punahou team 52-47 on Dec. 30.

Gig Harbor’s Michael Masini, a 6-foot-8 forward, poured in over 20 points per game in every contest at the tournament. The Tides have reeled off six wins in their last seven games.

Gig Harbor came back to the mainland and edged Mount Tahoma, 65-63, on Jan. 8 to stay within striking distance of the Narrows-leading Lincoln Abes, who have yet to be defeated in conference play.

Masini led the way again with 21 points and 11 rebounds while senior guard Cole Browne contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Mount Tahoma was on fire from three point land and kept the score close. But Tide guard Jack Brown came off the bench to score 15 points, all from long distance. It looked like he was playing on a pop-a-shot machine, draining 5 of 6 to keep the Tides ahead until late in the fourth quarter.

The Thunderbirds kept the pressure on and took a lead into the final minute. After big baskets by Masini and pressure free throws by Browne, the Tides led 65-63 with 12 seconds to go.

Mount Tahoma needed a two pointer to tie or a three pointer to win. But the Tides had only committed one team foul in the fourth quarter and had four to give before free throw attempts would be awarded.

Gig Harbor fouled the T-Birds three straight times while dribbling, to drain 10 seconds off the game clock. With 2.1 seconds remaining, Mount Tahoma could manage only a contested corner three that was off the mark.

The Tides host Peninsula at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15.

Breaks go against the Seahawks

The Seahawk (4-9, 2-6) boys basketball team pushed Timberline to the brink on Jan. 4 in Purdy before losing 64-59.

Peninsula was assessed a technical foul and gave up two points for what was thought to be a dunk in pre-game warm ups. They also allowed a last-second 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter and a long two-pointer with a second to go on the clock before halftime. Otherwise coach Sean Muilenburg’s team may have pulled off the upset. Those seven points were two more than the five point final difference.

Senior Isaac Schultz-Tait, a 6-foot-6 senior jumping jack, led Peninsula in scoring with 18 points. Schultz-Tait did a little bit of everything in the game, from hitting a 3-pointer, to draining pull-up jump shots and finishing athletic drives.

Isaac Schultz-Tait of Peninsula.

The Seahawks also got a solid efforts from 6-foot-4 junior AJ Alexeev, who displayed his versatility with several long jump shots and solid post up moves. Aidan Muilenburg, a 6-foot-5 junior, contributed three buckets down low and a couple of blocked shots to keep the game close.

Peninsula handled the Blazers’ full court press efficiently with senior point guard Carson Zimmerman getting through double teams and finding cutters for baskets.

The Seahawks were also effective against the Blazer zone at times. They quickly reversed the ball on the perimeter before hitting the high post and a short corner diver for inside points and were efficient on their out-of-bounds plays with senior guard Wyatt Abrigo benefiting from a couple of inside hoops.

The game turned when Schultz-Tait complained about an uncalled foul in the fourth quarter and received a technical foul. The play turned out to be a big one as he fouled out a couple minutes later.

Peninsula turned to Alexeev for scoring, and he answered with two buckets, but he also fouled out a few minutes later. Junior guard Isaac Smith was up next, and he came through with a clutch 3-pointer and an inside bucket late. But the Blazers got loose for transition buckets to seal the victory.

The Seahawks fell to Lakes at home Jan. 8, 93-66. Former Peninsula coach Matt Robles’s Lancers scored early and often, racing out to a 54-33 lead at halftime before securing the victory.