Warriors outpace Rangers in varsity matchup

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Outside, inside: Crosspoint Academy had answers on offense everywhere as the Warriors upended the Rangers 82-62 late last week in boys varsity basketball.

The Warriors started the game with a nothing-but-net shot from downtown and added two more crucial three-pointers to forge a 23-15 first-quarter lead.

The second broke open a 7-7 tie at the 5:13 mark of the first quarter, while the third strengthened a nine-point run with two minutes and change left in the quarter that put the Warriors in front 23-12 before a Ranger trey cut the score to 23-15.

Crosspoint started the second quarter with an eight-point run, leading 31-17 at the midpoint of the quarter.

With the score 33-24 with 1:56 before halftime, the Warriors scored nine unanswered points to head to the locker room with a 44-26 advantage at the half.

“I told them at halftime they did a good job on 10 but they forgot about 5,” Quilcene Coach Eddie Ware said, recalling his team talk at the break that focused on Crosspoint’s Ross Wohlert and Sam Dykstra.

“[Dykstra] killed us in the first three minutes. [Wohlert] knew what we were doing; he was getting frustrated. He didn’t have a big night,” he continued. “But 5 did. 5 was the one who set the tone early and we just could not get it.”

The Rangers rallied in the third, outscoring Crosspoint Academy 22-20.

Then came the fateful fourth.

Quilcene was able to chip away at the Warriors’ lead, cutting the gap to 10 points to trail 70-60 with 4:33 left to play.

But the Warriors outscored the Rangers 12-2 in the last half of the quarter to preserve the win.

Ware said his takeaway from the game was simple: “To get better, to keep fighting.”

“You get to a point to where we get a little bit stagnant on offense and you want to go away from what’s working. We are attacking and we are getting back in the game, and then, boom!” Ware added.

The solution isn’t especially complex.

“We got back in the game by attacking. Once you pull the shot, you kill the momentum,” he said. 

Isaiah Reimann led the Rangers with 20 points and went four-of-seven from the free-throw line. He also contributed six rebounds.

Taylor Boling added 19 points for the Rangers and went one-for-four at the line. Boling also pulled in 16 rebounds.

The loss leveled Quilcene’s conference record to 2-2 (4-4 overall).

The Rangers will face the next week on the road, with away games at Muckleshoot Tribal School, Sound Christian Academy, and Puget Sound Adventist Academy. 

The next home game is Thursday, Jan. 19 against the Lions of Northwest Yeshiva High School.

“We’re going to have to be road warriors,” Ware said.

But that may come easier, he added. “For some odd reason, they seem to wake up when we’re on the road. And I don’t get it.”

“You would think they would be more enthused and ready to play at home than on the road. But it’s like, we get up more for road games than we do our home games,” Ware said.

“But they’re young, they are still learning how to play the game of basketball,” he added. “And we just won’t quit fighting. And that’s all I ask. Effort. That plays a huge role.”