Shorewood boys lose to Chief Sealth

SHORELINE

A young Chief Sealth boys basketball team arrived from West Seattle and hit the ground running, whipping Shorewood 68-60 on Dec. 29.

The visiting Seahawks of the Metro League were led by senior guard Jordan Kidd. who scored a game-high 28 points, including 17 in the first half.

“We have speed to use to our advantage,” Kidd said. “We used our speed to get the lead and kept it.”

Both teams pushed the pace, but it was Sealth that busted out to an early lead. Shorewood briefly led by two points in the second quarter but the Seahawks regained the advantage 39-34 at the half.

“We had some issues getting into our press break,” said Shorewood coach Shawn Hall.

Shorewood stayed within five points at the end of the third quarter but fell behind by seven early in the fourth, before making a run.

With under three minutes to play, Thunderbirds’ point guard Micah Mitchell scored to cut the lead to 58-56. But turnovers hurt the T-birds and they would get no closer. Kidd scored three straight points and Daniel Davis knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to seven. Sealth ended the game on a 10-4 run.

“I thought we played good but we made a lot of mental errors,” Mitchell said.

Hall said his team, which spent a couple days at a team-bonding camp at Camp Casey after Christmas, seemed fatigued, especially in the fourth quarter.

Sealth sprinted out to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter but Shorewood came back to tie it 9-9 on back-to-back baskets by Stuart Harvey. The Seahawks snatched the lead back on a 3-pointer by Kidd and held it until Mitchell scored to give Shorewood a 29-27 lead. Kidd responded with five straight points and the Seahawks never trailed again.

The Seahawks slid into position on defense and drew seven offensive fouls on Shorewood.

“We got to get back on (defense) and stop penetration and pick up our men,” Mitchell said.

Tomas Sanchez led Shorewood with 18 points, Harvey added 15 and Mitchell had 14.

Sanchez sat out the first quarter for violating a team rule, Hall said.

Sealth graduated seven seniors off last year’s team and half its roster is made up of underclassmen.

“We got a young team,” Kidd said.

Patrick Lee added 18 points for the Seahawks.

Shorewood fell to 2-7 overall while Chief Sealth improved to 3-5. The T-birds are 1-4 in Western Conference South Division play. They resume league action tonight at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 4 at Edmonds-Woodway.