The boys basketball teams from Tenino and Tumwater high schools played a non-league game on Friday, December 13, 2024, to open the season for the T-Birds. Tumwater won 75-43. The first quarter was close with Tenino leading 16-14 but Tumwater pulled away for its first win.
Tumwater (1-0) was led by senior guard Sahara Anthony who scored 16 points and junior Landon Anchors (15 points) who went 4 /4 from the three-point line. Tenino (0-6) senior Austin Gonia had 13 points to lead the Beavers.
Tumwater head coach Josh Wilson liked the second-half play of his team after a slow first half. “You could tell it was our first game and we started a bit rusty but I liked our style of basketball in the second half,” remarked Wilson. “It will be an interesting year for us and I like the vibe of the team who has bought into the culture we have shared and that is a credit to this group of guys. It’s my eighth year here and our principles are to play strong defense, push the ball hard into transition and build off that with great execution. We will be working on defensive rotations and looking for improvement there.”
Ryan Robertson, coach for Tenino, hopes his team will grow and concentrate on less mistakes moving forward. “We need to get healthy and be more consistent and take care of the ball better but I liked our first quarter and I had great defensive play from Mike Vasser who also had five assists,” Robertson declared. “Our team goals and pillars are humility, service and ownership of mistakes and our depth isn’t great so it’s hard to extend consistent play. Tumwater was physical and we need to take care of the ball better but we will keep working on those things moving forward.”
Tumwater plays Kelso in non-league action on Monday, December 16 and then travels to Capital for a non-league game on Friday, December 20. Tenino will look for its first win as they host Ocosta on Tuesday, December 17.
