TUMWATER — There’s 10 players listed on the Tumwater High School boys basketball team’s roster. And no matter the quarter, situation in the game or pressure points once the fourth quarter commences, Josh Wilson isn’t shy about putting anyone in.
More times than not, the Thunderbirds head coach will find a way to utilize his bench to mesh with his starting five.
“Our depth showed where we stuck at it,” Wilson said. “Tons of big plays by everybody.”
Being able to rotate kept players like Julian Balsley, Luke Overbay and Landon Anchors fresh for the clutch moments, which the T-Birds have found themselves in seemingly every night. They came through once again.
Balsley finished with a game-high 15 points, Anchors and Overbay connected on the dagger out of bounds play and Tumwater extended its winning streak to nine with a 58-52 victory over rival Black Hills at home on Tuesday night.
It marks the fifth win for Tumwater (10-1, 3-0 EvCo) within single digits and the fourth time in its last five games.
“Those close games have paid dividends that we’re able to keep our control in this type of environment,” Wilson said. “Black Hills is a team of runs, but this rivalry game is a game of runs; I was not surprised.”
For a game that didn’t see a timeout called until the fourth period, it was high-energy and face paced. Four different runs – two apiece – were exactly eight unanswered points. There was one primary difference.
The Thunderbirds had an answer.
After Black Hills (8-4, 2-1) retook the lead at 46-45 after a Kona Bell triple, Tumwater took the lead for good on back-to-back buckets by Anchors and Balsley. Anchors hit a corner triple to bring the margin to 54-50 only for Peyton Faught to hit a mid-range jumper to make it a two-point game.
“That comes down to coaching on their part,” Wolves head coach Jeff Gallagher said. “They’re big. We need to go back to work and get ready to play them again in two weeks.”
Out of a timeout, Anchors lobbed the in-bounds pass to Overbay for the layup with under 30 seconds left in regulation. One defensive stop and two Anchors free throws later, Tumwater survived once again.
“Landon is a smart player,” Wilson said. “We drew that one up, hadn’t really worked on that one.”
Braeden Konrad registered 12 points for the T-Birds, Anchors added 11 and Overbay recorded nine points and a team-high 12 rebounds. The Michigan baseball commit also had the defensive assignment on returning league MVP James Morgan.
Morgan ended up with 16 for Black Hills. It only made four 3-pointers on the night.
“Last two games, we have not shot the ball well,” Gallagher admitted.
“We tried to stay down, big emphasis in practice,” Wilson added when discussing the perimeter defense. “Our rotations were better, everything we’re trying to do defensively was way better. Huge strides.”
The Wolves led 18-12 after the opening eight minutes and kept the cushion until Tumwater took a brief lead in the second. Quinton Morrill got to the rim at will and featured a two-handed breakaway dunk as part of his 12-point outing.
Talon Morrill added 10 points and Faught chipped in 11. The aforementioned triple from Bell was the only other bucket made by Black Hills. It begins a three-game homestand on Thursday against Centralia.
“Our kids played hard; I’ve never been disappointed in the effort,” Gallagher said. “We still have all of our goals in front of us.”
Tumwater will hit the road on Thursday and go toe-to-toe with the other league unbeaten in Aberdeen. The T-Birds started 3-0 in league two years ago, but finished second after stumbling to W.F. West the second time.
Wilson understands there’s plenty of basketball to be played, but in the same breath, isn’t taking for granted the start to the season.
“We needed a good kick in the butt and those four games (last week) gave it to us,” he said. “If we stay in the driver’s seat and take care of business, it is not easy to win a league championship.”
