Sports

Tides dispatch Lincoln, advance in district boys basketball play

Scoring spurts to open the second and third quarters propelled Gig Harbor to a 92-75 defeat of visiting Lincoln in a District 3/4 3A boys basketball game Wednesday night.

After hurdling the loser-out contest, the 20-2 Tides must win one of their next two games to reach regionals. First up is Evergreen (Vancouver) at home on Friday. The Plainsmen downed Capital, 56-43, on Wednesday.

Asher Raquiza looks for the open man against Lincoln. Photo courtesy of Jerry Chunn

The 12-7 Abes, who finished third in the Pierce County League, led most of an unremarkable first quarter before Luke Browne and Parker Born popped in consecutive threes to lift the South Sound Conference co-champs in front for good, 17-14.

“We just came out one step too slow and doing things we don’t normally do,” said junior point guard Christian Parrish, the league’s defensive player of the year. “We tightened up, started moving the ball better and making our shots.”

Will Landram erupted for the Tides’ first 11 points of the second period to quickly bolt them to a 28-17 cushion. The 6-foot-5 junior slung in an underhanded banker while falling, sandwiched between a couple dunks. Gig Harbor failed to stretch the lead, however, as Lincoln relentlessly attacked the basket to remain within striking distance at the half, 42-33.

Luke Browne jumps over a defender on his way to 27 points. Photo courtesy of Jerry Chunn

“We were posting up, trying to take advantage of particular matchups,” said Tides Coach Billy Landram. “That got us going a little bit.”

Then came Browne’s turn. The 6-foot-6 junior canned a pair of threes around an Asher Raquiza putback during an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 50-33 just one minute into the third quarter. Browne finished with 10 points in the stanza that ended with the Tides on top, 72-58.

“We came out (in the third quarter) and wanted to go inside out,” Coach Landram said. “Luke Browne is the best shooter I’ve ever coached. He has the green light. We just made plays.”

If there was any doubt remaining, Ryan Pickles removed it early in the fourth. After a Landram breakaway slam and a Christian Parrish layup that capped a slick-passing fast break, the 6-foot-1 guard nailed a 3-pointer and took his own steal all the way back to bulge the deficit to 81-60 with 6 minutes to play.

Ryan Pickles glides to the hoop for two. Photo courtesy of Jerry Chunn

“We had a couple of bad spots, but we have a lot of experience, guys who have played a lot of basketball,” said Coach Landram. “You’ve got to be able to do it, but I’m confident our guys can do it. … The kids stepped up and made plays with the pressure on and that’s what we were going for.”

Browne and Landram, who earlier in the day learned they’d been named to the conference first team, scored 27 and 23 points, respectively. Born added 15. Coach Landram said Born and Asher Raquiza “were machines” on the glass.

The Abes were paced by Pierce County League first-team guards Parker Androy and Gabarri Johnson. Though just 5-foot-8 and 6 feet tall, the seniors would not be denied a path to the hoop, each scoring 22 points.