Yelm’s boys basketball team fell to a 37-13 deficit at halftime on Friday, Dec. 22 against South Sound Conference rival Timberline. Despite their best efforts in the second half, the Tornados could not overcome the 24-point halftime deficit and were defeated by the Blazers, 70-48.
Timberline came out of its locker room hot and quickly jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Blazers led Yelm at the end of the first quarter, 17-7. The Tornados’ offense had issues finding the basket in the first half, particularly the second quarter, and trailed 37-13 at halftime.
“We have to get out of football shape and into basketball shape. We have to find out who we are and execute,” Yelm’s boys basketball coach Dave Wasankari said. “We’ve had some close games at first, including one that we won. We’ve run into some really good teams these last three games, and that caught us off guard. We’re trying to find our identity and collectively put together a team effort. It just takes time.”
With help from senior point guard Damian Aalona’s scoring, the Tornados cut Timberline’s lead to just 18 points at the end of the third quarter as Yelm fought back.
“In the second half, we came out and played like the team we could be,” Wasankari said. “We defended. We rebounded the ball. We executed on offense, but unfortunately we dug ourselves in too deep of a hole in the first half.”
Wasankari added he believes, as his team grows, it will string together some more wins in the South Sound Conference.
“I think having three games over next week in Tacoma will help us,” Wasankari said. “We’ll have a little more freedom to take chances and see some growth in our younger players. It just takes time, but we’re getting better every day.”
The Tornados are 1-4 on the season in SSC contests. The Tornados competed in the T-Town Throwdown on Tuesday, Dec. 26 at Silas High School, however results were not available before the Nisqually Valley News went to print. Yelm boys basketball will take a short break following the tournament, but will return to action at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 2 at Kentlake High School.
