Thursday Roundup: Raymond falls to Rainier, spoiling Freeman’s 45-point effort

Also: Montesano defense too much for Tumwater to handle in Bulldogs’ 37-21 win

By Ryan Sparks • December 23, 2022 4:30 pm
PHOTO BY LARRY BALE Raymond sophomore guard Karsyn Freeman, seen here in a file photo, scored 45 points in a 61-60 loss to Rainier on Thursday in Raymond.
PHOTO BY LARRY BALE Raymond sophomore guard Karsyn Freeman, seen here in a file photo, scored 45 points in a 61-60 loss to Rainier on Thursday in Raymond.

Super-sophomore Karsyn Freeman’s outstanding effort wasn’t enough as Raymond fell to Rainier 61-60 on Thursday at Raymond High School.

Raymond (4-4 overall) trailed by 12 points in the third quarter before climbing back into the game thanks in large part ot Freeman, who scored a career-high 45 points in the game, including 12 in Raymond’s 21-14 fourth quarter.

Freeman added five steals and four rebounds to her spectacular stat line.

Kassie Koski came off the bench to score nine points — seven in the fourth quarter — and grab seven rebounds for Raymond.

The Seagulls were within one point with three seconds left in the game, but a would-be game-winning shot was off the mark as time expired.

“Karsyn was really good tonight, hitting her mid-range shots in transition,” Raymond head coach Jason Koski said. “We will need a more concentrated effort on defense and more well-rounded scoring among the rest of the team in our upcoming games to be successful.”

Raymond will host Hoquiam at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Raymond Holiday Classic.

Rainier 14 22 11 14 — 61

Raymond 15 13 11 21 — 60

Scoring: Rainier — Hanson 19, Askey 15, Beckman 15, Swenson 8, Plowman 2, Blackburn 2. Raymond — Freeman 45, Ka. Koski 9, Kongbouakhay 4, Ky. Koski 2.

JOSH KIRSHENBAUM | THE CHRONICLE Montesano’s Mikayla Stanfield, left, and McKynnlie Dalan swarm Tumwater’s Regan Brewer during the second half of Monte’s 37-21 win on Thursday in Tumwater.

JOSH KIRSHENBAUM | THE CHRONICLE Montesano’s Mikayla Stanfield, left, and McKynnlie Dalan swarm Tumwater’s Regan Brewer during the second half of Monte’s 37-21 win on Thursday in Tumwater.

Montesano 37, Tumwater 21

Montesano’s defense held Tumwater under 25 points en route to a 37-21 win on Thursday in Tumwater.

Monte (5-1) held Tumwater (7-2) to single-digit scoring in each quarter, including four points in the second frame to take a 19-10 lead at the half.

The Bulldogs put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Thunderbirds 13-6.

Monte was led by freshman Evanjillie “Jillie” Dalan, who scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Tumwater focused its defense on Bulldogs standout senior McKynnlie Dalan (8 points, 14 rebounds).

Montesano doubled-up Tumwater on the glass, out-rebounding the T-Birds 36-15.

The Bulldogs defense also recorded 14 steals in the game led by Jillie Dalan (4 steals) and senior guard Vanna Prom (3).

“They’re a good team, very physical and it was a really good test for us,” Monte head coach Mark Mansfield said. “Real physical battle. We turned it over too much but our defense was really tough tonight. They focused on McKynnlie tonight and Jillie picked up the slack with some big buckets inside early on.”

Montesano will have another test against a good 2A Evergreen squad when it hosts Aberdeen at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Montesano 10 9 13 5 — 37

Tumwater 6 4 6 5 — 21

Scoring: Montesano — E. Dalan 16, King 8, M. Dalan 8, Stanfield 2, Prom 2, Karr 1. Tumwater — Brewer 12, Gjurasic 4, Woods 2, Beebe 2, Simmons 1.

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL

Rainier 60, Raymond 36

Raymond ran out of gas in a 60-36 loss to Rainier on Thursday in Raymond.

Playing its second game in as many days, the Seagulls (5-4) never got on track against the Mountaineers (4-3), which got double-double scoring performances from Jake Meldrum (23 points), Josh Meldrum (19) and Jimmy Meldrum (10).

Raymond trailed 28-20 at the half and was done in by being outscored 22-5 in the third quarter.

The Seagulls were led by senior guard Morgan Anderson with 17 points and Skyler Hutson with 10.

Junior center Talan Yearout had 10 rebounds for Raymond, which committed 20 turnovers in the loss.

“We had a tough night on both ends of the floor. We hung around for a half, but cold shooting and tired legs did us in in the second half,” Raymond head coach Mike Tully said. “Rainier’s ball pressure gave us trouble all night. We got a little careless with the ball and just didn’t execute as well as we needed to. Hopefully, we can clean some things up before our games next week.”

The Seagulls host Hoquiam at the Raymond Holiday Classic at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Rainier 11 17 22 10 — 60

Raymond 9 11 5 11 — 36

Scoring: Rainier — Jake Meldrum 23, Josh Meldrum 19, Jimmy Meldrum 10, Sprouffske 6, Owen 2. Raymond — Anderson 17, Hutson 10, Gunderson 3, Medeiros 2, Jimenez 2, Yearout 2.