By AARON MANAGHAN

Sports editor

While costly turnovers, untimely fouls and poor timing on particular plays are no stranger to disrupting the flow of high school basketball games, it wasn’t the players who fouled up the court Tuesday.

In a game marred by poor officiating throughout, Kingston held off Klahowya on the girls basketball court 64-37, but it wasn’t until late in the contest that both teams were able to find a little rhythm, thanks to questionable calls from the game’s referees.

For every tick-tack foul that was called, two much more egregious ones (and more obvious ones in many cases) were not. At one point, one of the officials stopped play to seemingly give instruction to two players battling it out in the post. No call was ever made.

The frustration filled the stands too, as fans of both teams started letting the officials hear their displeasure.

“Ref! You gonna call something?” a frustrated Kingston fan yelled in the early minutes of the fourth quarter.

A frustrated Aubin Duncan, of Kingston, simply turned and looked, replying, “You think they’re gonna call it?”

“We were looking around and just said, ‘OK, we move on,’” Kingston coach Kevin Strozier said of the officiating. “It’s tough playing like that. It’s tough trying to teach the kids to do the right thing.”

But as Klahowya coach Don Farrell said, at least the unfortunate calls went both ways.

“For me, we play a physical type of game,” Farrell said. “So it didn’t really take us out of the game too much. I think it was fairly even both ways.”

A combined 42 fouls in 32 minutes after the opening tip, Kingston (3-3 overall, 3-2 in Olympic League play) emerged victorious, utilizing a 23-point fourth quarter to separate itself from the Eagles (0-8, 0-4) who remained close in the game throughout thanks to a tough defense that kept Kingston off kilter to start.

“We played I thought our best defensive game of the season,” Farrell said.

Klahowya and Kingston both started fairly even, with the Bucs building a 14-10 lead after the first quarter that would have been closer if not for a great three-pointer at the buzzer by Kingston’s Elle Sander.

Kingston then put the pressure on in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 12-6 to take a 26-16 halftime lead.

“We just had to put the pressure on and play basketball,” Strozier said. “That’s the way we play. We’re a score-baskets-and-press kind of team. This is what we do. This is who we are.”

Kingston’s Arrisan Ugles led the Bucs with 14 points, doing a good job of battling inside against Klahowya’s shorter, but scrappy, posts. The story was the same for Duncan down low.

“Actually, I thought Arissan did a good job,” Strozier said. “I thought Aubin did a really good job.”

But it was the Bucs’ ability to slow the game back down to their pace offensively while maintaining a high-pressure defense that put the team over the top.

“Really, all the kids settled down and did a good job,” Strozier said. “I thought they all played well.”

As for the Eagles, Kingston’s press showed Farrell some things his team still needs to work on.

“We probably need to condition a little bit more,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of guards right now, so they were tired.”

Sophia Baetz added 12 for the Bucs, while Laura Wicklein chipped in nine.

While the Eagles and Bucs are both 2A schools, Kingston was a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as nine members of the team were 4A North Kitsap Vikings a year ago. But he said that merely shows how far Klahowya has already come in a short time.

“They’re a well-rounded team. They’re tough,” Farrell said. “Nine of those girls are ex-4A players at North. For my team, a young team, they’ve come a long way.”

Klahowya’s Jordan Dixon had a game-high 19, fueling the bulk of the Eagles’ offense. Combined with the team’s defensive effort, Farrell said this might be the best he’s seen his Eagles.

“I think they’re starting to gel a little bit, especially defensively,” he said. “And tonight, we had a better offensive team. Overall, I’d say this game was our best game of the season.”

Jessi Bolger and Jessica Drake each added five for the Eagles.

Kingston traveled to Sequim last night for an Oly League contest, but results were unavailable at press time. Strozier likes his odds however, as the team regains senior Joi Niemeyer, a player he said would be an asset on both sides of the ball.

“I’ve got a player back; that’s a plus for us,” Strozier said. “That’s another rebounder for us, another defender. That’s a big plus.”

Olympic

The Eagles battled crosstown rivals Olympic Wednesday, falling 65-32 to the Trojans (4-3, 4-1). Bolger had 14 for the Eagles, who fell behind Oly 35-13 at the half.

Shawntell Bradford led the Trojans with 12 points while both Samantha Viray and Nicole Buhl each contributed 10.

Buhl led the Trojans to a victory against Port Townsend Tuesday night, scoring 19 in a road win against the Redskins (0-3, 0-3). The bulk of Buhl’s points (15) came in the second half. Those were points Oly needed, leading just 25-24 at the half.

The Eagles hosted PT Friday, while the Trojans traveled to North Mason, but results of those games were unavailable at press time. While the Eagles are off until Jan. 4, the Trojans stay busy, hosting Aberdeen in a non-league at 6 p.m. Friday.