WRHS BOYS BASKETBALL:Kiel nears 1,000-point mark for White River

Still flying high after notching an 80-77 upset over defending Class 2A state champion Clover Park in mid-January, the White River boys basketball squad hasn’t suffered a setback since.

Still flying high after notching an 80-77 upset over defending Class 2A state champion Clover Park in mid-January, the White River boys basketball squad hasn’t suffered a setback since.

If the Hornets manage to defeat Sumner Friday, they will finish the regular season most likely in second place in the South Puget Sound League 2A with a 12-2 accounting and be a shoo-in for subdistrict play starting Feb. 10 at Foster.

But White River coach Rick Tripp maintains that his boys, who were tied with Sumner for second place at 9-2 as of Friday, won’t be counting their chickens before they are hatched.

“I would say that this group is real close to hitting its stride,” Tripp said.

White River slipped past Eatonville 62-57 Jan. 24 and whipped Washington 58-44 Thursday, before trekking to Franklin Pierce Friday and defeating the Cardinals 57-47.

Senior sharpshooter Billy Kiel scored 19 against the Cruisers, 20 against the Patriots, 16 against the Cardinals and is within a gnat’s whisker of having accumulated 1,000 points during his three varsity seasons.

White River travels to Steilacoom tonight, Wednesday, for a make-up game that was originally slated for Jan. 17, before heading to Sumner Friday.