Thunderbirds Clinch League Crown Over Bearcats

Posted

Tumwater pounced on W.F. West early, racing out to an 18-4 lead to start the game and played lockdown defense the rest of the way to secure a 56-24 victory and clinch the 2A Evergreen Conference title.

“I’m really proud of the girls and I think they earned it,” Tumwater coach Robin Johnson said. “It’s a goal we’ve been working for. Any time we play Chehalis it’s an emotional game. So it’s nice to see the girls settle down and play well.”

Natalie Sumrok led the charge for the T-Birds, scoring a game-high 22 points, while Isabella Lund added some offensive firepower with 14 points and Kylie Waltermeyer chipped in eight.

But it was the Thunderbirds’ defense that did the Bearcats in as Tumwater held them to just nine points at the half to lead 22-9 heading into the locker room. 

“Right from the start, to be put in the hole against a good team, it’s hard to claw your way out,” W.F. West coach Kyle Karnofski said. “Tumwater did a good job controlling the pace.”

The Bearcats were held without any double-digit scorers as Olivia Remund and Julia Dalan both led the way offensively with six points each. Drea Brumfield and Mak Mencke each added five points.

“I liked what Dalan gave us off the bench defensively and scoring six points,” Karnofski said. “That’s a big game for a freshman.

Karnofski said this loss helps his team pinpoint what they need to improve on heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

“We need to be crisper with our execution and we need to take care of the little things and what we can control,” Karnofski said.

W.F. West (13-3, 6-2 EvCo) hosts Black Hills on Friday. Tumwater (16-1, 9-0 EvCo) heads to Centralia on Friday.