Community Sports
Sports Beat: Tides win on Parrish’s late shot
The 10-1 Gig Harbor boys basketball team came home from a successful holiday trip to south Florida (the Tides won two games on their trip) to face the tough Capital Cougars on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Behind 32 points and eight rebounds by senior shooting guard Luke Browne, Gig Harbor (10-1, 4-1 South Sound Conference) secured a 66-65 overtime victory.
The red-hot Cougars (4-7, 1-4 SSC) enjoyed the new lighting in the Tides gym and shot over 60 percent from 3-point range. But the Tides pulled through with help from KeVaughn Harvey (14 points) and Christian Parrish (12 points, including the game-winner).
Browne torched the Cougars on an array of long threes, pull up jumpers and driving layups.
Gig Harbors Luke Browne gets by a defender on his way to scoring 32 points against Capital in the Tides 66-65 victory. Photo by Christi Adams Photo by Christi Adams
“It’s always a great feeling to watch the ball go in the hoop. I feel like that fuels me and my team to keep our energy and effort up on offense and defense,” Browne said.
Second-leading scorer Will Landram was in foul trouble early and scored 6 points before fouling out in the middle of the fourth quarter. Then Browne, who played all of regulation, cramped up late in overtime and had to leave the game to stretch.
The Cougars led by one with 12 seconds left when Tide coach Billy Landram called time out to design a play. Browne returned to the court and the lightning-quick Parrish used a killer crossover to gain space and hit a soft, high-arching shot to put Gig Harbor up, 66-65.
“The last play was for me to have a one-on-one with Luke in the corner, and if his guy came to help I’d have him open,” Parrish said. “He didn’t help, so I had to get to the bucket. When I hit it we were only up one so I just was thinking of getting a stop to get the W.”
The Cougars missed at the buzzer, enabling the Tides to stay in the thick of the SSC race. The Tides played at league-leading North Thurston (9-2, 5-0) on Friday night.
Big matchups for local schools
Other local high school basketball teams also had big match-ups Friday night.
The Gig Harbor girls hosted North Thurston (9-1, 5-0) at 7 p.m. The two teams shared the 2022 league crown. The Rams are lead by guard Soraya Ogaldez, who the Tides head coach Mike Guinasso called a “special talent.” The Tides have been led by junior guard Taylor Schwab and senior forward Riley Peschek.
The Peninsula girls (8-1, 4-1) played at Timberline (7-4, 4-1) Friday. Timberline was nipped by Gig Harbor by one point earlier this season and are also a threat to win the conference crown. Peninsula and Gig Harbor square off at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Gig Harbor.
The Peninsula (5-4, 3-2) boys won two of three games in Arizona over the holiday break, then pounded River Ridge 81-33 on Jan. 4.
Leading scorer Isiah Brown injured his wrist against River Ridge and sat out Friday’s game against Timberline. The Seahawks were already missing talented junior Cole Muilenburg with a broken leg.
If coach Muilenburg hasn’t had enough bad luck, Timberline features the leading scorer in the state’s Class 3A Division: Brooklyn Hicks, who averages 32 points per game.
Wrestlers off to strong starts
Wrestling teams from Peninsula and Gig Harbor are both off to fine starts.
Gig Harbor (1-1 SSC) won at Timberline, 42-36, on Jan. 5. The Tides, coached by Blake Mosure, pinned four Blazer opponents in the first round and one each in the second and third round. Unfortunately the short-handed Tides had to forfeit four matches, but still had enough points to beat the Blazers.
A Peninsula wrestler battles against a W. F. West wrestler in a tournament earlier this season. Bryce Carithers
Gig Harbor winners against Timberline included Keola Taylor, Issac Edmund, Jonah Edmund, Riley Hester, Liam McDermott, Jacob Wilsie and Ian Westscott.
Peninsula (1-1 SSC) won at North Thurston, 42-38, on Jan. 5. The Seahawks return two wrestlers who placed at state last year — junior Justin Phipps and senior Emmett Casey. Coach Gary Griffin’s Seahawks will host the Tides at 7 p.m. Jan. 26.
GH bowling improving
The Gig Harbor bowling team is improving rapidly under first-year coach Lillian Amrine. They are 4-6 on the season, already an improvement over the 2022 campaign.
Gig Harbor’s Natalie Flick averages 153 over 10 frames with a season high of 211. Mackenzie Olesen averages 139 with a high score of 170 and Maddy DeClements averages 135 with a high game of 172. Rachel Hileman averages 130 with a high of 177 and Carly Ikei rounds out the Tides top 5 with a 128 average and a top game of 174.
The Gig Harbor Tides bowling team are all smiles after a victory at Tower Lanes in Tacoma. Lillian Amrine