Tides beat rival Seahawks in hoops tourney

GH out-hustles Peninsula 37-26

Marques Hunter

of the Gateway

The summer showdown between the Peninsula and Gig Harbor high school girls basketball teams didn’t have quite the same feel as a regular-season game.

Nevertheless, the Gig Harbor Tides pulled away with a 37-26 victory during the first day of the Summer Splash Tournament hosted by the Gig Harbor girls hoops program.

It went from friendly smiles before tipoff to rivalry stares. Both teams knew bragging rights were at stake.

“I was really excited, since we don’t get to play them (during the regular season),” said Gig Harbor point guard Stephanie Buzar, who finished with six points. “We know a lot of the girls on their team.”

Although both teams weren’t at full strength, the game was a preview for an upcoming rivalry game next winter. Both coaches said they plan to schedule a non-league game with the other school, which hasn’t happened in a number of years.

“It’d be nice to have that tradition, just like the Fish Bowl in football,” Gig Harbor coach Bob Boback said. “It’d be nice to have something in basketball where we play them every year.”

Gig Harbor led the entire first half, but Peninsula hung around with scrappy rebounding and defense. The Seahawks trailed 16-13 at halftime.

With the momentum shifting in the second half, Gig Harbor junior guard Quincey Langworthy gave her team a spark by scoring a layup while being fouled with 14:25 to play.

The three-point play gave the Tides a 21-15 lead. Langworthy finished with a game-high 14 points.

“Half of the (Peninsula) team plays on my AAU team,” Langworthy said about the feeling of competing against Peninsula. “We’ve pretty much grown up together. Just getting a full-on game was really exciting.”

The Seahawks trailed by as much as nine points, but they went on a 7-0 run with seven minutes left to cut the deficit to three.

That’s when Gig Harbor’s defense and transition offense showed up.

Tides forward Hannah DeWalt scored a baseline jumper to stop the run, Langworthy followed with layup, and Buzar nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 10-0 run.

Buzar said she couldn’t hit anything the first half, so it was nice to hit the two long-distance shots down the stretch.

“I think we really stepped it up on defense (during the second half), and people started blocking out down low,” Buzar said. “It was a good win, and a good team effort.”

Boback said when the Tides picked up their transition game, they started running the court a lot better.

Peninsula point guard Jordan Stewart sank her first three-pointer of the game with 1:40 remaining, but Gig Harbor still led by 10.

“It was a wakeup call,” Seahawks coach Ann Lovrovich said.

Peninsula senior Kayla Erickson led her team with 10 points and went 5-for-7 from the free-throw line.

Tournament recap

Gig Harbor finished the tournament 4-1, falling to Emerald Ridge in the quarterfinals. Peninsula was eliminated by South Kitsap and finished 2-2.

Bellarmine Prep beat Liberty for the tournament championship.

Reach sports reporter Marques Hunter at 253-853-9246 or send an e-mail to marques.hunter@gateline.com.