KINGSTON — If the Kingston varsity girls played like they practiced, they’d have been in some deep, deep trouble Friday night against the Bremerton Knights. Thursday afternoon, the Bucs had one of their “worst practices ever” said Head Coach Kevin Strozier.
POULSBO — Bill Hobaugh is considering holding his pre-game meetings in the trainer’s room to better accommodate his varsity girls basketball team. He’s only half-kidding. The Vikings lost at home against the South Kitsap Wolves Thursday night, 52-35.
Nearly all the starters are injured in one way or another, with ankle and thumb injuries being the most popular afflictions. But these are not the kind of athletes who make excuses for themselves, and Hobaugh is no exception.
PORT ORCHARD — Patience was the word most frequently uttered by South Kitsap boys basketball coach John Callaghan before New Year’s Day.
But when the Wolves opened January with a loss against Bellarmine Prep, he said inexperience no longer was an excuse and it was time for his team to produce.
Perhaps there’s too much chlorine in the pool these days at the North Kitsap Community Pool. Or maybe the North Kitsap/Kingston (NKK) swimmers have been hanging out with each other too much and are starting to share personalities. Whichever the case, it’s working for the 400-relay team of Josh Despard, Justin Roulanaitis, Ryan Eggers and Tyler Rencher, who are going into next week’s district meet with a qualifying time of 4:02, according to head coach Greg Braun.
KINGSTON — Kevin Strozier has a message for teams headed to Kingston High School to play his varsity girls’ basketball team: Welcome to Kingston and you had better be ready to play.
His message to his team? Play hard from start to finish — the game isn’t over until the buzzer screams. Nothing punctuated this more than the Bucs’ at-home 60-33 victory over Fife.
KINGSTON — Aaron Lawrence has David’s size and Goliath’s heart and it shows on the basketball court. The Kingston High School’s varsity boys basketball player, all 5 feet, 5 inches of him, managed to sink 18 points during the Buccaneer’s home 86-48 loss to Fife (Tacoma) on Jan. 8.
And yes, he always plays like that.
KINGSTON — That’s no typo on the Kingston Buccaneers varsity girls’ basketball roster. Sophia Baetz, the 5-foot, 7-inch point guard who led the team’s 58-38 win against Port Angeles on Jan. 4 really is a freshman.
For the 14 weeks bookended by September and December, the 9- to 11-year-olds on the North Kitsap Explosion ’96 team called the soccer field home. And in their home, they reigned supreme. The under-11 boys’ select team finished the season with a dominant first-place rank in the gold-platinum division, taking top honors over teams from Issaquah, Enumclaw, Tacoma, Redmond, Gig Harbor and North Kitsap.
The North Kitsap varsity boys nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory Wednesday night as they skimmed by with a 44-42 victory against the Port Angeles Roughriders.
In a contest that afforded no breathing room whatsoever, the Vikings were “kind of doing our own thing. We weren’t really focused on the team concept,” said 6’7’’ senior Taylor Hoffer. “But a win’s a win.”
Fall baseball has wrapped up at universities around the country, allowing the Kitsap BlueJackets to all but finalize the team’s 2008 roster. Matt Acker, BlueJacket’s head coach, will welcome some familiar faces back to the Kitsap Fairgrounds Ballfields and expects some of the names to change before the season begins.
North Kitsap athletes shined in 2007, from dominating the baseball diamond to splashing their way into the high school state swim meets. Above all, it was a year when teamwork prevailed and the seemingly impossible came true.
Friday, March 21
Ken Bone, the former men’s basketball coach at Olympic College, led the Portland State Vikings to the team’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament this season after going 23-9 to win the Big Sky conference, where Bone also was coach of the year.
Wednesday, March 26
The Bainbridge Island Gymnastics Club competed in its final meet of the season March 16 at Black Hills Gymnastics in Lacey.
The Central Kitsap Babe Ruth baseball league still needs coaches for the upcoming 2008 season. Coaches are needed in the senior division (ages 16-18). Coaching requires three evenings per week from now through the beginning of June. The league also is still looking for sponsors for its senior division teams. For more information on becoming a coach or a sponsor, contact CKBR at CKBabeRuth@wavecable.com or via phone at (360) 698-6544.
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