The holiday break proved quite adventuresome for the young Enumclaw High boys basketball team, whose overall mark dropped to 3-8 in the process of gleaning some much-needed experience.
During the holiday tournament season there were a few glowing embers of hope to be fetched from the fiery fray though, as the Hornets traveled to Capital and picked off the Cougars in what could definitely be called an upset.
Four days after the victory over Capital, though, Enumclaw traveled to Mount Rainier in Des Moines where it was brought back down to earth by the rowdy and rambunctious Rams 72-47. Hornet guards Perry Rockwood and Tony Chynoweth combined for 30 points in that lopsided affair.
Then it was on to the Kennedy Catholic.-hosted Les Schwab Christmas Classic, where the Hornets lost to two out of three of their foes on the Lancer hardwood. The first day, Enumclaw lost to a tough Squalicum High squad, which is currently the No. 1 Class 2A contingent in the state.
Enumclaw trailed by 15 at intermission, but charged back in the second half to make a game of it, as the Storm kept fouling the wrong guy in Rockwood, who went a perfect 10-for-10 from the stripe and notched 19 points overall.
Chynoweth took home the Mr. Reliable award for the tournament, scoring 19 points in both the meeting with Squalicum and in a 54-36 setback at the hands of Shorecrest High Thursday night, and in doing so was named to the All-Tournament team.
In the third and final game that Enumclaw participated in in day number three of the tourney Enumclaw’s highly touted perseverance and hard work paid big dividends as the Hornets’ big man 6-7 sophomore post, Drake Rademacher had his long-awaited breakout game and Rockwood sunk a buzzer beater to defeat Kentlake 79-77.
As Enumclaw’s head coach Kellen Hall explained, the Hornets didn’t exactly shy away from some pretty fierce competition.
“Seven out of the eight teams we played in preparation for our league campaign are currently ranked in state in one classification or another,” he said, adding it was important for his untested group to get some experience before the SPSL 3A season began in earnest against an established Lakes High bunch Tuesday night.
EHS hosts its second league tilt of the season Friday night against Peninsula High, with tipoff coming at 7 p.m.
