By John Leggett
Staff Writer
Enumclaw High’s boys cage crew used stellar individual efforts to split in its two nonleague contests last week.
The Hornets first won in overtime Dec. 7 against Class 2A Sumner High at the Hornet Hive 71-68, but couldn’t hold their own Thursday against North Thurston, falling 66-54 to put their overall mark at 2-3.
The wild meeting with the Spartans saw the Hornets fall behind at intermission 26-23 and trail 50-33 after three quarters.
A revitalized Hornet defense completely turned the tables in the next eight minutes, though, using an aggressive defense that created scoring opportunities on the other end of the floor.
Sumner had bolted out to its big lead behind the scoring of Dan DeVries, Zeb Glissmeyer and Tyler Salsbury, but Enumclaw outscored Sumner 28-11 in the fourth quarter to tie the tilt at 61 apiece by the end of regulation.
With the help of EHS senior post Terenn Houk, who scored 30 points in the contest, going 11 for 16 from the floor and 7 for 8 from the foul line, Enumclaw emerged victorious in overtime.
When Enumclaw rolled out the red carpet for the visiting North Thurston Rams, the Hornets apparently forgot to bring their A game for all four quarters.
Senior forward Jordon Jacobson went 5 for 6 from 3-point land, hitting back-to-back-to-back bombs in a torrid second period. Those long-range treys played a role in Enumclaw trailing by a slim point at the break, 32-31, against highly-favored North Thurston.
The lead changed hands several times in the dramatic third frame, thanks mostly to the performances in the paint by Houk, who chipped in 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the endeavors of 6-foot, 3-inch forward D.J. Hitch, who pulled down 15 rebounds.
North Thurston pulled the plug on the charged-up Enumclaw gang in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Hornets 16-6 to pull away.
“Although we still have some things we have to get sorted out before the league contests begin after the holidays,” Carlson said, “I see some really good things happening with this group. They really show a lot of heart at this early stage of the season and appear to really be coming together as a unit.”
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