South Sound Fall League

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Here are the results from Sept. 19-20 with the teams' records in parantheses:

Black Hills (2-2) 40, Olympia (0-4) 20
Black Hills 55, Tumwater (2-2) 36
Cascade Christian (1-3) 27, Capital (1-3) 16
Chehalis (1-3) 44, North Thurston JV (1-3) 26
North Thurston Var (3-1) 34, Chehalis 32
River Ridge (4-0) 63, Olympia 18
Timberline (3-1) 38, North Thurston Var 34
Timberline 51, Yelm (3-1) 43
Tumwater 39, Cascade Christian 38
Yelm 53, North Thurston JV 18

Again, some missing folks hurting Oly and Capital it seems. River Ridge has been crushing people with a well-drilled pressure defense. Black Hills a handy winner over Tumwater in the battle of the Brewery City. Both schools had some key graduates and Tumwater has lost a player some one on this board mentioned, Jordyn Richardson, who has moved to Utah.

This weekend, Capital plays both its crosstown rival, 4A Olympia, and its last WCC foe during the fall league, Timberline. But not sure how meaningful that will be depending upon who is in uniform for the Cougars. Black Hills and my pre-season state 2A favorite, Elma, are scheduled to clash at Black Hills main court at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26. Could be an interesting one.

[lifeishoops]

I'm now hearing that Richardson is staying at Tumwater.

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If true, that would be a very sudden change. I saw her and her dad at the games at BHHS on Saturday, the 19th, and they said they were moving Monday (the 21st). Life is crazy, so you never know, but I had it word of mouth from both of them five days ago. They have relatives in Utah and she said she might play for the Utah Swoosh. Let me know if you hear more about this, I've known them for years and hate to see them go, it would be great if they ARE staying!

[InStyle]

If true, that would be a very sudden change. I saw her and her dad at the games at BHHS on Saturday, the 19th, and they said they were moving Monday (the 21st). Life is crazy, so you never know, but I had it word of mouth from both of them five days ago. They have relatives in Utah and she said she might play for the Utah Swoosh. Let me know if you hear more about this, I've known them for years and hate to see them go, it would be great if they ARE staying!

Utah Swoosh would be great for her. Adam is a great guy and does wonders for the girls. Hope everything works out for Jordyn.

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The complete list of scores has been posted next but here are some observations from the Saturday, September 26, games at Black Hills High School:

Elma (4-0) continues to roll. Brandi Thomas, Katie Colard, Lindsey Levanen and Co. thrashed Black Hills (2-4 sans the injured Chelsea Haskey, who will be back for the regular season but recently had surgery) and Olympia (0-6 sans almost any varsity player, the Bears are a heavily volleyballized squad and thus are running with mostly newcomers for fall ball).

Some observers, however, feel that a rejuvenated River Ridge team (6-0), may upset my earlier opinion that Elma is bound for a state 2A title. Ridge is small and quick with the McDonald sisters, Khyari Adams, Monteaka Norwood, Kami Bates, et al, and had just demolished everyone in their path in prior weeks, including handing a very similar Timberline team (5-1) their only defeat -- soundly -- on opening day, though the Blazers were shorthanded.

Unfortunately for those wishing for a preview of the 2A Evco season and beyond won't get it during the South Sound league as Elma and Ridge are not scheduled to play.

Next in the standings comes Timberline, which breezed past Capital (2-4) and Chehalis on Saturday by 19-plus points each. T-Line is tiny, with their scoring leader a 5-11 guard and every other returning varsity player four or more inches shorter, but they have pressed and run with abandon in this league, sweeping aside each of their 3A Western Cascade Conference foes over the past two weeks. Capital had Olympian All-Area Player of the Year Tosha Hollingsworth in uniform but, like Oly, has several key players involved with volleyball. The X-factors for T-Line have been the explosive play of junior guard Camille Williams and the 3-point bombing of senior Melanie Logue.

Capital did score a solid victory over the team fielded by its crosstown rival, Olympia.

The scores, which just came in the mail on Wednesday, follow:

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Capital (2-4) 50, Olympia (0-6) 13
Elma (4-0) 46, Black Hills (2-4) 25
Elma 75, Olympia 26
River Ridge (6-0) 43, Chehalis (1-5) 37
River Ridge 53, Black Hills 44
Timberline (5-1) 54, Capital 35
Timberline 49, Chehalis 26
Tumwater (4-2) 35, North Thurston JV (1-5) 29
Tumwater 33, North Thurston Varsity (3-3) 28
Yelm (5-1) 35, North Thurston Varsity 34
Yelm 55, North Thurston JV 46

No real special match-ups this coming weekend as no two teams with winning records will play.

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Cascade Christian (2-4) 27, Olympia (0-8) 15
Chehalis (3-5) 33, Tumwater (5-3) 28
Elma (6-0) 47, Cascade Christian 30
Elma 48, North Thurston Varsity (4-4)
North Thurston Varsity 44, Capital (2-6) 21
River Ridge (8-0) 46, Yelm (6-2) 43 OT
River Ridge 47, North Thurston JV 14
Timberline (7-1) 57, Olympia 29
Timberline 43, Chehalis 35 (exhibition)
Yelm 63, North Thurston JV 27

Elma, River Ridge and Timberline kept rolling. Ridge and T-Line, unlike some of the teams, did not lose players to MSNM as their leaders were in the Showcase at Auburn Riverside, which did not conflict with the South Sound league. Black Hills forfeited both of its games, Chehalis was missing its stars and Capital did not have WCC MVP Tosha Hollingsworth -- all I believe because of MSNM conflicts.

No showdown-type games ahead on the 10th or 11th, although crosstown rivals River Ridge and North Thurston meet. During the '08-'09 regular season Timberline won the "battle of Lacey" with a combined 3-1 mark over Ridge and Thurston. But Ridge handed T-Line its only loss of the fall league in crushing fashion on opening day, so a win over Thurston would give it a leg up in that municipal strugle going into the start of '09-'10.

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Scores with records in parentheses:

Black Hills (4-6) 41, North Thurston JV (1-9) 29
Black Hills 47, Capital (3-7) 46
Capital 52, North Thurston JV 24
Chehalis (5-5) 58, Olympia (0-10) 19
Chehalis 41, Yelm (7-3) 25
North Thurston Varsity (5-5) 35, Cascade Christian (2-6) 32
River Ridge (10-0) 40, Cascade Christian 28
River Ridge 42, North Thurston Varsity 37
Yelm 59, Olympia 32

Biggest game of the coming weekend will pit 3A Timberline (7-1 after a bye last weekend), a youngish team with only two senior non-starters back from last season against potential 2A state contender Elma (6-0, also after a bye) at 11 a.m. Sunday, the 18th at the Black Hills HS Auxiliary Gym.

The following weekend, in the league's seeded "bonus round," Elma will at last square off with fellow unbeaten (through last weekend at least) 2A state contender River Ridge at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, also in the BHHS Aux Gym. Timberline will not take part in the final week's play but will instead be at the WTA tournament at Juanita.

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As always, I will post the complete scores later in the week when I get the league report in the mail, but here are some of Sunday's results, including the featured game I was ballyhooing a few days ago on here:

Three teams with winning records played a round-robin in the auxiliary gym at Black Hills.

Tumwater (6-4), despite having just five players of its own and borrowing two subs from Timberline (7-3), held off a late Blazer rally, 38-36. T-Bird junior Tayler Weiks found every conceivable gap in the Timberline defense and exploited them for a bucketload of points and a mild upset. The Blazers, another of those trendy "dribble drive motion" teams, uncharacteristically did not make a single 3 pointer in the game.

Tumwater was not nearly as competitive in the next game and fell to Elma (8-0) quite decisively. Elma, like Tumwater, had just five players of its own because of at least two injuries.

Ultimately, the highlighted game was exciting, as fall ball games go.

Timberline, helped by having a full complement of subs and an hour's rest but also playing well defensively and running hard on offense, got out to a 15-point halftime lead over Elma in the third game. However, two key players for Timberline, soph point Sasha Weber* (who finished with 27 points) and junior wing McKenzie Raben, were in foul trouble and eventually fouled out with plenty of time still on the clock. The Eagles, behind 31 points from one of their returning 2A Evco co-MVPs, Katie Colard, and 16 more from the other, WSU-bound Brandi Thomas, rallied and ultimately claimed a 63-56 victory.

Nice comeback by an "iron five" for Elma. Interesting, though, that a younger Timberline team (only one returning senior) used speed to challenge them.... discussion in the South Sound is whether Elma's size, experience and star power will overcome River Ridge's speed for both the Evergreen Conference championship and the greater 2A honors beyond.

Next weekend, as mentioned previously, Elma will at last square off with fellow unbeaten 2A state contender Ridge -- at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, in the Tumwater High School South Gym. I won't be there as I will be in Kirkland for another tournament, but if anyone sees the game, it will likely be worth posting some comments on.

*=Truth in blogging: Weber is this reporter's daughter.

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Black Hills (6-6) 46, Chehalis (6-6) 38
Elma (8-0) 61, Tumwater (6-4) 18
Elma 63, Timberline (7-3) 56
North Thurston Varsity (7-5) 32, Olympia (0-12) 27
North Thurston Varsity 32, Capital (3-9) 26
North Thurston JV (2-10) 34, Olympia 26
River Ridge (12-0) 45, Yelm (8-4) 35
River Ridge 55, North Thurston JV 26
Tumwater 38, Timberline 36
Yelm 36, Capital 35

*Final weekend showdown between two unbeaten 2A State contenders: River Ridge vs. Elma, 9 a.m., Saturday, October 24, Tumwater High School South Gym.*

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The final-day showdown between unbeatens River Ridge and Elma was won by the Hawks (14-0), 43-36. Didn't get to see the game so I hesitate to speculate but it's likely Ridge's speed was a factor, though the game was much lower scoring than Elma's (9-1) 63-56 win over another speedy team, third place 3A Timberline (7-3), the weekend before. The Hawks and Eagles will meet at least twice during the coming season as they are both members of the Evergreen Conference -- and could meet beyond that as both should be serious contenders for the State 2A crown.

(If anyone saw the game, please post some comments.)

Other final weekend scores:
Black Hills (8-6) 50, Capital (3-11) 20
Black Hills d. North Thurston JV (3-11), full score not given
Capital 50, North Thurston JV 20
Chehalis (7-7) 39, North Thurston Varsity (7-7) 27
Chehalis 39, Olympia (0-14) 24
Elma 60, Yelm (9-5) 31
River Ridge 50, North Thurston Varsity 20
Yelm 50, Olympia 22