Twice on Saturday, the Kalama Chinooks jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead over the Seattle Academy Cardinals. A stingy defense set the tone, and an inside force named Esary handled much of the early scoring. But as the second half progressed, the Cardinals began to inch their way back into things, forcing the Chinooks into turnovers and converting those turnovers into points. Seattle Academy had its chances, in one of the games drawing as close as a single point. But the Cardinals never again took the lead. And when the final whistles blew, both times it was the Chinooks who rushed the floor and celebrated, a trip to the Class 1A state tournament in Yakima now on the docket for next week.
On a whirlwind day in Washington prep sports, some confusion could be forgiven about the déjà vu doubleheader at Rogers High School in Puyallup. But there were no hijinks afoot — just two boys and girls teams who each finished second in their respective district tournaments, and who were thus seeded into the same spots on the regional bracket. The WIAA ain’t perfect, but it thankfully managed to schedule the two games back-to-back, the girls at 2 p.m. and the boys at 4. The Chinooks are an old friend from my stint at TDN who rarely venture into my new neck of the woods, so the occasion seemed liked a good one to go say hello.
Continue reading “Kalama-rama: Chinooks Thrive, Then Survive To Make State”