Cougar seniors take care of Olympic

A message on a white board just inside the Central Kitsap’s boys locker room Wednesday night showed just how fired up the Cougars were to play their rivals from Olympic.

Scrawled in orange and black ink were the words “Seniors, let’s kick butt tonight. No one comes in our house and contends with a Cougar. Energy + Pride + Teamwork = A win.” And true to the prophecy, that’s what the Cougs did as they ran away in the game to a 57-35 victory.

In the teams’ first meeting Jan. 10, the Trojans dominated 59-45. But the Cougars, who honored six seniors and their parents before the game as part of Senior Night, were determined not to let that happen again.

“They beat us the first time,” senior Lukas Henne said. “So coming back and beating Oly in our last home game has meant everything to us.”

“It was our last home game so we wanted to come out and win,” senior guard Dwayne Thibodeaux said. “We had something to prove tonight against Oly since they beat us before.”

Besides getting past Olympic, the Cougars also had to get past themselves.

Lukas was sick yesterday, Brice (Brooks) is coming off a back injury he got against Gig Harbor and Sam (Weller) broke his nose Monday in P.E. class,” CK coach Al Gleich said.

The CK seniors got it done as Henne, Thibodeaux, Aaron Brien, Nick Hoisington and Marcus McKay combined for 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. Despite their injuries, Brooks scored nine points and four rebounds and Weller poured in a team-high 13 points.

“Everybody contributed tonight — all 10 players,” Gleich said, noting his team played completely different against Olympic the second time around. “We came out with no intensity at Olympic and they had some guys step up and make some big shots. We didn’t do too much in that game. But this is the fourth game in a row where we played solid basketball, especially on defense.”

The Trojans struggled against the Cougars’ zone defense, shooting 14-for-29 inside the 3-point line and 0-for-7 outside.

“Central Kitsap extended their zone on us so they took away the inside and put extra pressure on our shooters,” Oly coach Robert them up as quick as they could and that wasn’t happening.”

The Cougars found their groove in the second half, outscoring the Trojans 33-8 on the way to a 48-13 win. The victory kept the Cougars tied with Port Angeles on top of the Bridge Division standings.

“The girls did a great job in the second half and refocused to play the game they are capable of playing,” Baxter said.

Olympic coach Jerry Hurd, while dismayed at his team’s shooting, was pleased with its defensive effort.

“CK’s an explosive team that can score,” Hurd said. “And to keep them to 15 in that first half is an accomplishment.”

CK’s Nicole Zygmontowicz led all scorers with 15. Adria Layne, who described the basket as “Having Saran Wrap over the top of it,” scored 13. No Trojan finished with more than three points.

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