GBB - NWMS vs Anacortes, 2-23-09

The NWMS 7th grade girls basketball team is very inexperienced this year. Out of 11 girls on the roster, only 2 have played any organized basketball before the season started. This team faced a good and experiences Anacortes team on Feb 23rd in the NWMS gym. Head Coach Sarah Stephenson said the girls “played with a lot of heart and worked hard”, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Seahawks’ skill and experience. Anacortes jumped out to a 24-2 1st period lead, but then went into their sportsmanship mode. That same Anacortes team scored zero points in the 2nd, and only 2 each in the 3rd and 4th. While still playing basketball, Anacortes did a lot more passing, and their scores in the 2nd half came off rebounds. The final score was 28 for Anacortes and 7 for North Whidbey. Kiesha Loftin was the lead scorer with 5 points, and Cassidy Gurich had the other two. As the season progresses, the team will gain valuable experience, and Coach Stephenson wants to make sure they have fun.

In their first game of the year, on Feb 11th, the girls played Cascade MS, a similarly inexperienced team, and won in overtime.

The 8th grade team, made up of experienced girls had some problems in the first half, as most of the starters were benched for team discipline. As a result, many non-starters got to start and gained valuable playing time in the 1st half, which ended with NW in the lead 12-6. Anacortes closed a little in the 3rd, outscoring the Cougars 14-10, but Naomi Walker finally got warmed up and scored 12 4th-period points as NW cruised to the win. The scoreboard indicated a 43-26 win, but the books had 40-28 as the final.

According to the book Naomi finished with 21 points, followed by Jalani Bobo with 7. Emilie Renninger scored 6, and Marissa Lewis, Danielle Teasley and Cierra Wiser had 2 each.

The next game in town is the 1st of at least two meetings between OHMS and NWMS. This first game will be at OHMS on March 2nd. The 7th grade team starts around 3:30 while 8th grade starts around 5pm. Both games are free.

27 photos from the 7th grade Anacortes game are HERE.

28 photos from the 8th grade Anacortes game are HERE.