The young men and women who play basketball for Silverdale Academy must be living right these days.
Both teams are in first place in Division II-A East Region District 2 with perfect 6-0 records, but they’ve had to pull the last two games out of the fire at the last minute in the past three days.
Friday night, the opponent at the Silverdale Center was Notre Dame. Three days later on the road at a jam-packed Jett Gymnasium, the opponent was Boyd Buchanan. The stakes were a bit higher in Monday’s game as both Boyd Buchanan teams were tied at the top, but Silverdale won both games again.
The Lady Seahawks won the first game by a 55-52 final while the Silverdale guys had to play an overtime period before escaping with a 65-64 win, extending their winning streak to five games with an impressive record of 22-1.
The Silverdale girls are now 20-5 overall.
This was two great games with four really good teams battling for all they were worth. If you didn’t get a chance to get there on Monday, you’ll get another chance as these same four teams will play again at Silverdale on Friday.
SILVERDALE BOYS 65, BOYD BUCHANAN 64 (Overtime): Brett Wright hit the game-winning shot with a 3 from the key in the final minute on Friday and the standout senior was the man of the hour again on Monday as his layup with 21 seconds provided the winning margin again.
The Seahawks are ranked first in the state poll as they have a really good basketball team. And while Wright gets most of the headlines and could be the best player on the team, he’s blessed to have some capable teammates who can and do pick him up when he doesn’t play his best game.
That was certainly the case in this latest game as Wright only scored 10 points, but he had three teammates who also scored in double figures to keep the winning streak alive.
It was just another happy experience for Silverdale coach Slater Belew, who just happened to celebrate his 33rd birthday on Sunday. The slender Belew has a head full of black hair, but it will be changing colors or falling out if his teams keep playing these nail-biting games.
“It definitely wasn’t our most perfect game, but I’m so proud of the resilience we showed late in the game,” he said before going to the Silverdale dressing room.
“We could have quit, but we didn’t as we just kept battling the entire game. Brett Wright hit some big shots, including the last one, but this was just another total team win as everyone stepped up. And what a great birthday present it turned out to be,” he concluded with a smile.
Boyd Buchanan coach Kenneth White also has a really good team, but they aren’t quite as deep on experience as is Silverdale. Nonetheless, the Buccaneers came within shouting distance of pulling off the big one, so neither the coach or his players have anything to hang their heads about.
“We just made too many critical mistakes down the stretch, but we only have a couple of guys with any varsity experience, so this was a great learning experience for them,” White began after talking with his team.
“We were in the game the whole time, but we just didn’t execute like we should have at the end. I’m sure that we’ll be better next time. Silverdale has a really good team and our objective at this point is to get a split with them on Friday,” the coach added.
It was a close game from start to finish with Silverdale’s 31-26 lead late in the second quarter being the biggest lead of the game for either team.
Garrison White, the coach’s son, sank two straight 3s in the final minute of the opening quarter as the Buccaneers turned a 10-7 deficit into a 13-10 lead before the second of two free throws by Judah Richardson made it 13-11 at the first break.
A 3 from the wing by Elyjah Richardson with 3:05 left in the half put the Seahawks up 29-24 and a layup by Caden McGraw with 56 seconds showing made it 31-26 before the Bucs scored the last five points for a 31-31 draw at intermission.
A layup by Caleb Hardaway right ahead of the buzzer gave Boyd Buchanan a 44-43 lead with one quarter to go and the action only got more intense the rest of the way.
Two free throws by Wright with 7.8 seconds left in regulation put Silverdale up 59-56, but White banked an improbable 3 from the key at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
After the two teams traded buckets to start the extra period, White swished another long one from the wing with 2:25 to play to put the Bucs up 64-61.
They had possession and a chance to increase that lead, but a missed shot went to the Seahawks where Houston Holland trimmed that lead to one on a layup with 50 seconds left.
Just 29 seconds later, Wright converted another layup that turned out to be the game winner.
Noah Reid got the final shot for the Buccaneers, but his off-balance shot from the key was off the mark as the horn sounded to end the game.
Holland led the way for Silverdale with 21 points while Kennedy Okpara also played well, finishing with a double-double by scoring 15 points and grabbing 17 rebounds, despite picking up his fourth foul with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
Judah Richardson was next with 11 points while Wright added 10.
Asa Fortune scored 14 points to lead the Bucs while Caleb Hardaway was next with 13. White was next with a dozen while Reid finished with 10.
Silverdale had an unofficial 40-20 advantage in rebounds. While Okpara set the standard with his 17, Wright and Holland both snagged six in support. Eli Gardenhire and Hardaway both had seven for the Bucs.
SILVERDALE GIRLS 55, BOYD BUCHANAN 52: Kinsley Owen opened the scoring with two free throws at the 5:38 mark in the first quarter to put the Lady Seahawks up 2-0, but the Lady Bucs then scored nine straight points and had a 9-3 lead when the first quarter ended.
Kelsie Johnson, who led all scorers with 23 points, scored five points in a 7-0 Silverdale run to get the Lady Seahawks within three at 15-12 before the Lady Bucs finished the half on a 12-6 run for a 27-18 lead at the break.
Silverdale opened the second half on a 13-2 run for its first lead since the start after Abby Littrell swished a 3 from the key with 3:09 showing to put the Lady Seahawks up, 31-29.
The Lady Bucs responded by scoring 11 of the final 15 points in the quarter for a 40-35 lead with eight minutes to play.
A 3 from Sarah Peyton Durham with 6:57 to play extended Boyd’s lead to 45-38 before Silverdale scored seven straight to knot the score at 45-45. Durham hit another 3 with 1:12 to play for a 51-50 Boyd Buchanan lead before the Lady Seahawks ended the game on a 5-1 run to win by three.
While Johnson had 23 to lead Silverdale, Owen was also in double figures with 13. Braylee Raby only scored five points, but she grabbed a dozen rebounds as the Lady Seahawks had an unofficial 33-32 edge in rebounds.
Jada Sanders scored 15 points to lead Boyd Buchanan, now 12-9 overall and 5-1 in region play. Durham and Lesley Burton were also in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Burton led her team with 10 rebounds while Eva Winston and Sanders both snagged eight each.
GIRLS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 3 15 17 20 -- 55
BOYD BUCHANAN 9 18 13 12 -- 52
SILVERDALE (55) – Canter 3, Bledsoe 6, Raby 5, McFarland Kinsley Owen 13, Hensley, Littrell 5, Kelsie Johnson 23, Cline.
BOYD BUCHANAN (52) – Barlow 2, Winston 3, Meitzler, Sarah Peyton Durham 13, Jada Sanders 15, K. King 3, S. King 2, Houston 2, Lesley Burton 12.
3-Point Goals: Silverdale 5 (Johnson 3, Canter, Littrell); Boyd Buchanan 5 (Durham 3, Winston, Sanders).
BOYS SUMMARY
SILVERDALE 11 20 12 16 6 -- 65
BOYD BUCHANAN 13 18 13 15 5 -- 64
SILVERDALE (65) – Kennedy Okpara 15 Keith, Brett Wright 10, Houston Holland 21, McGraw 2, E. Richardson 6, Judah Richardson 11, Hoewischer.
BOYD BUCHANAN (64) – Garrison White 12, Johnson 3, Noah Reid 10, Turnbow 7, Gardenhire 2 Jones 3, Caleb Hardaway 13, Asa Fortune 14, Nunez.
3-Point Goals: Silverdale 3 (Okpara 3, Wright, Holland, E. Richardson); Boyd Buchanan 10 (White 4, Fortune 2, Johnson, Reid, Turnbow, Jones).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)