TUMWATER — On nearly every inbound on Monday night in Tumwater, the Shelton Highclimbers were instantly and constantly harassed by an unrelenting Thunderbird press.
On three separate occasions, they were called for a 10-second violation, and on several more, they turned the ball over before making it past the half-court line.
“I didn’t know the press would be that effective, necessarily, but it worked well tonight,” Tumwater coach Josh Wilson said. “I like to throw that in every now and then depending on who we’re playing, and it looked good tonight.”
Those extra possessions went a long way for Tumwater, which went on to win 57-49 for its fifth-straight victory. With the win, the Thunderbirds (9-6, 6-1 2A EvCo) are now in sole possession of first place in the 2A EvCo standings.
The press caught Shelton off guard early, as the Highclimbers were quickly called for their first 10-second violation and scored just seven points in the first half. Six different T-Birds scored in the opening frame, and Tumwater opened up a 10-point lead.
Shelton was able to work around the press better in the second quarter, but they weren’t able to make a dent into the deficit.
“In the first half, our defense looked awesome,” Wilson said. “In spurts, we looked really good tonight.”
While Shelton didn’t get closer before the break, they were able to stick around, a trend that carried over into the second half.
After a 10-2 Tumwater lead pushed its lead to 15, Omar Zepada-Soto hit back-to-back shots, including a long three to get the Highclimbers back within 10 before the fourth. Shelton then opened the fourth with two straight buckets to cut the lead to six.
Later in the quarter, after Jake Dillon drilled two 3-pointers to push the lead back to 12, Matt Carleton hit from underneath and Weetly Cordova drilled a three to get the Highclimbers back within seven. Cordova and Zepada-Soto combined for 38 points, including seven 3-pointers.
“They’re tough,” Wilson said. “I think they made big outside shots and threes when it counted for them to stay around.”
While they kept it interesting, the Thunderbirds never wavered, and Shelton didn’t get closer than five points at any point in the second half.
Sahara Anthony III and Henry Wilson hit back-to-back shots at two different points in the third. Jake Dillon opened the fourth by scoring the T-Birds’ first eight points of the quarter, including two threes.
“He’s a good shooter,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to have an outside threat like that. It opens up the game for guys that want to drive. We need that for sure.”
Clay Morgan took advantage of the open lanes in the game’s final minutes, hitting one lay-in before getting to the line twice more to ice the game.
At 6-1 in 2A league play, the Thunderbirds are now a half-game ahead of 5-1 W.F. West and 6-2 Black Hills. Things can change quickly for the Thunderbirds, however, as Monday’s game was the first of five games in six days to wrap up the regular season.
They’ll face the Highclimbers again on Tuesday, albeit this time in Shelton, and they’ll head to Centralia on Wednesday. After a day off, they’ll head to Chehalis for another matchup with W.F. West before wrapping up on Saturday against Rochester.
“Just a monster of a week for us,” Wilson said. “Hopefully, we can keep our legs underneath us and finish the league (season) strong … It’s going to be really important for us to stay fresh and figure out how to get these wins.”
