Community Sports

Sports Beat | Gig Harbor plays for league girls basketball title

The Gig Harbor girls basketball team won the Puget Sound League Narrows Division regular-season title with a 47-42 road win over Bellarmine on Jan. 30.

The Miller sisters combined to score 22 points and contribute 12 steals to help the Tides (17-3, 14-2 Puget Sound League) beat the Lions (14-6, 12-4).

Senior guard Kaliyah Miller had 12 points and five steals while freshman Jalaay Miller provided 10 points and seven steals.

But the Tides wouldn’t have won without junior Willow Bonnici, who goes after rebounds like a junkyard dog that missed dinner. Bonnici pulled down 20 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end, and scored 12 points. She committed just one turnover.

Willow Bonnici in a game earlier this season. Photo by Vincent Starr

Sophomore forward Anika Jones got the few rebounds that Bonicci left available, contributing eight points and five boards to the win.

The Tides finished their impressive swing through conference play by defeating Central Kitsap, 70-49 on Feb. 2, and Mount Tahoma, 43-17 on Feb. 4.

Up next

Gig Harbor will play Nisqually Division leader North Thurston (16-5, 14-2) for the Puget Sound League championship at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at Foss High School in Tacoma.

The Rams beat the Tides, 69-66, in Gig Harbor on Dec. 1 in the teams’ only meeting of the year.

The Puget Sound League Narrows Division champion Gig Harbor Tides.

Gig Harbor had a 20-point lead in the first half of that game before the Rams’ press began to force a wave of turnovers. It was Gig Harbor’s season-opener under a new coaching staff and the high school debut of several freshmen who play key roles for the Tides.

North Thurston is No. 3 in the Class 3A WIAA RPI rankings, with Gig Harbor right behind at No. 4. The winner on Saturday likely will lock up the top seed in next week’s district tournament.

Kaliyah Miller leads Gig Harbor in scoring with 14.7 points per game, followed by Bonnici at 12.0, junior Ashlyn Peirce at 10.1 and Jones at 8.0. Bonnici averages 12.3 rebounds per game and Kaliyah Miller is tops in assists with 3.7 per game.

Kaliyah Miller of Gig Harbor.

Tide swimmers dominate league meet

The Gig Harbor boys swimming team is unbeaten in 12 dual matches, including a big win over Class 2A defending state champion Bainbridge Island earlier in the season.

They also dominated the Swimvitational Tournament against the West Sound’s top teams on Jan. 17 before winning the Puget Sound League Championship meet on Jan. 31. The Tides compiled 414 points, easily outdistancing the 221 points of second-place Silas. Peninsula was third with 202 points.

Gig Harbor swimmers won nine of 12 events at the PSL championships at Foss High School.

Local PSL champions include:

200 medley relay: Gig Harbor (Michael Yevstifeiev, Joel Carpmail, Raiden Nagata, Owen Moore)

200 freestyle: Travis Scott, Gig Harbor

50 freestyle: Jace Garre, Gig Harbor

Diving: Zachary Ruckle, Peninsula

100 freestyle: Travis Scott, Gig Harbor

500 freestyle: Charles Davis, Gig Harbor

200 freestyle relay: Gig Harbor (Garre, Owen Moore, Whitaker Filbey, Scott)

100 backstroke: Michael Yevstifeiev, Gig Harbor

100 breaststroke: Joel Carpmail, Gig Harbor

400 freestyle relay: Gig Harbor (Carpmail, Yevstifeiev, Garre, Scott)

Peninsula diver Zachary Ruckle won his second consecutive league diving championship. He’s among the favorites at the West Central District III Class 3A tournament scheduled for Feb. 6 and 7 at Rodgers High School in Puyallup.

“Zach is focused, but he keeps such a fun and supportive attitude,” Peninsula assistant coach Athena Petterson said. “You can always rely on him being there every day and working hard, he’s a fantastic teammate who wants everyone around him to do their best too. He’s serious when he needs to be but hasn’t lost the fun of it.”

Zachary Ruckle of Peninsula won the Puget Sound League diving championship. Photo by Athena Petterson

PHS bowlers off to state

The Peninsula girls bowling team is enjoying a meteoric postseason rise, going from finishing fourth in the Puget Sound League regular season to the Class 3A state tournament.

Seahawks Allison Angeles and Janelle Ramones finished second and third, respectively, at the district meet, helping boost Peninsula into position to make the state tournament.

Angeles fired several strikes on her way to a sizzling 214 in the opening game before cooling down in the second game with a 165. Her solid 200 in game No. 3 was enough to clinch second place.

Allison Angeles of Peninsula finished second at the district bowling tournament. Photo by Veronica Foley

Ramones won the PSL championship last week and fired a 180-199-199 to take third at districts.

The Class 3A state bowing tournament is Feb. 6 and 7 at the Bowlero in Tukwila.

Flag season ends for Gig Harbor

The sixth-seeded Gig Harbor (10-8) girls flag football team’s season ended a game short of a state tournament berth with a 35-21 loss to 11th-seeded Capital in a district tournament game at Mount Tahoma on Jan. 30.

Capital showed incredible improvement after the Tides defeated them 21-7 on Jan. 20.

The Tides having nothing to hang their heads about after a successful season on the gridiron that involved some team members who had never played organized flag football before.

Gig Harbor running back Brianna Ramirez. Photo by Vincent Starr