The Kingston Buccaneers (4-9, 2-6 in Olympic League) fell to the Sequim Wolves (5-8, 5-3 OL) at home 57-53 Jan. 16.

“We have tremendous respect for our opponent, and we just come back,” Kingston coach George Hill III said. “So I’m really proud of my boys and the effort they gave in the fourth to really rally back to get into that game.”

Guard Sylis Sullivan recorded the first points of the game for the Bucs off a contested layup, but Sequim jumped out to a 7-2 lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Nonetheless, forward Vaka Tameilau and company were able to tie the lead back up at seven apiece with a three-pointer and another contested layup in spite of a full-court press they were facing from the very beginning of the game.

The score at the end of the first was 11-11.

Guard Aidan Heffernan was able to cut the lead down to one at 16-15 in the middle of the second quarter off a contested layup, giving Kingston an opportunity to take the lead for the first time all game. However, Sequim eventually jumped out to their largest lead of the game at nine, going on an 8-0 scoring run behind Buccaneer turnovers and offensive miscues.

Tameilau managed to snap the scoring drought with a three-pointer with 1:31 remaining in the first half, cutting Kingston’s deficit to five. The Bucs trailed at halftime 28-21. Tameilau and Sullivan led in scoring for the Bucs with nine and six, respectively.

Bynum eventually tallied four fouls before the end of the third quarter, and the Wolves jumped out to their largest lead at 45-34 going into the fourth quarter.

Kingston could not get any of their shots to fall in the beginning of the fourth, largely due to the full-court press Sequim was implementing. But Buc guard Jamie Napora converted on a layup and fellow guard Henrik Goller hit a three from the corner, bringing Kingston’s deficit back down to single digits.

Bynum fouled out of the game on a dead-ball foul after converting two free throws, and the Wolves were able to get their lead back up to ten with three minutes remaining.

The Bucs continued to generate opportunities for themselves to get back in the game, drawing their deficit to three with a Nepora layup and two free throws with less than ten seconds remaining, scoring 19 total points in the fourth. But it was too little too late to complete the comeback. Bynum and Tameilau led the Bucs with 14 and 11, respectively.

“We had unforced turnovers,” Hill said. “I know we had a couple that led to fast break layups and just mental errors from inexperience to a point, but we are building resilience, and we are learning how to handle adversity.”