The Yelm Tornados boys basketball team played three contests against South Sound Conference foes in their first week of action.
The team’s busy week was highlighted by senior Trevontay Smith’s buzzer beater against Capital.
On Wednesday, Dec. 14, the Tornados first contest of the season was against the Peninsula Seahawks, who defeated Yelm 73-63.
Coach Dave Wasankari said the team had just six practices together before they entered the game since a majority of the team was on the 3A state championship football team.
“We were rusty, there was no doubt about it,” Wasankari said. “Our shooting wasn’t there for the majority of the contest and it ended up getting us in the end.”
Wasankari said Yelm shot 3-17, or 17.6% from the three-point line. To make things more difficult for the Tornados, the team put together an abominable one of 11 from the free throw line.
“That put us in a situation where we’re tired, our legs are dead, and we aren’t completely in shape yet,” Wasankari said. “We didn’t play our best game but we found a way to scrap, compete and get better.”
Just two days later on Dec. 16, the Tornados were back in action at home against SSC rival Capital.
In their second home game of the year, the Tornados put together a better all around team effort to come away with a 63-62 victory over the Capital Cougars.
“We played so much better once we learned from our mistakes going forward,” Wasankari said. “We squared some things up on defense, we committed to change a few things. We shot the ball better, for sure.”
The matchup with Capital was a back and forth game throughout the entirety of the contest. Junior Marius Aalona hit a jumper to give the Tornados the lead with around 15 seconds remaining. Capital then inbounded the ball and found Cooper Carlson with around five seconds left to give Capital the lead.
After the score, the Tornados called a timeout to design a play so they could walk away with the win. Capital then called a timeout of its own to make defensive adjustments.
Following the breaks in action, the Tornados inbounded the ball to senior Smith who came off of a double screen. Wasankari said Smith ran the length of the court in four dribbles before shooting the game winning shot, which rattled on the rim as the buzzer sounded, before ultimately falling in the basket.
“I knew once the ball touched my hands, I had to get down the court and score, so that’s what I did,” Smith said. “It felt great to lead my teammates to a victory for Yelm.”
Wasankari said he is proud of the team’s performance.
The Tornados week concluded on Saturday, Dec. 17, in a matchup against the Gig Harbor Tides. Wasankari noted the Tides have a good basketball program that doesn’t feature a lot of weaknesses.
“Playing back to back early was tough, and they got us pretty good,” Wasankari said. “Gig is a pretty good basketball team and we’d have to play really good to beat them.”
He added the team didn’t have a good shooting performance. That coupled with some mental errors led to a 69-37 loss for the Tornados.
Wasankari believes the tough losses to Peninsula and Gig Harbor will serve as critical teaching moments for his team.
Up next for Yelm, they’ll participate in a holiday tournament that starts on Dec. 27 with a matchup against Juanita High School. Silas, Evergreen, and other schools will be a part of the tournament, according to Wasankari.
“They’re a great group of kids that compete every night and we get better each time we’re out on the court,” Wasankari said.
