Game recaps, highlights from the 2023 Puget Sound Holiday Classic high school basketball tournament

There will be five high school basketball games played at the 2023 Puget Sound Holiday Classic on Monday at the University of Puget Sound Memorial Fieldhouse in Tacoma.

The annual event honoring Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. features one boys basketball game and four girls basketball games this year, and includes teams at the Class 4A and 3A levels from the South Sound and beyond, as well as a team visiting from the Bay Area.

Follow along for live updates throughout the day.

Carondelet (Calif.) 56, Lakeside of Seattle 40

Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak’s return to the Pacific Northwest included an impressive victory in the first game of the Puget Sound Holiday Classic at the Memorial Fieldhouse.

After trailing 25-16 at the break, the visiting Cougars rallied with a 26-point third quarter, and posted a 56-40 comeback win over Lakeside of Seattle on Monday afternoon in Tacoma.

“At halftime, I thought we had a shot to comeback obviously, but I didn’t think it would be like that,” said Sopak, a 1987 graduate of Bethel High School. “ … We just got a little momentum going.”

Carondelet went on a 19-2 run in the third quarter — including sinking five 3-pointers — to take the lead for good.

The Cougars took a 10-point advantage into the final quarter, and eventually closed out a double-digit win for Sopak’s homecoming.

Sopak said the Cougars initially planned to play a game in Washington back in 2019, and then again in 2020, but neither trip worked out.

“This has been four years in the making, so it was lot of fun for us,” he said.

Jamie Kent led a balanced scoring effort for the Cougars with a team-high 12 points, while Keisha Vitalacio and Layla Dixon each had 10, and Zoe Gregorios and Allie Cummins added eight apiece.

Claire O’Connor scored a game-high 23 points for the Lions.

Bonney Lake 65, Union 63

Bonney Lake rallied from a double-digit deficit early in the second half to upend Union, 65-63, on Monday afternoon at the Puget Sound Holiday Classic at the Memorial Fieldhouse.

“It just took grit,” Bonney Lake forward Jazmyn Shipp said. “We were down, and we just came off a loss, and we didn’t want to have it back-to-back. We just knew we needed to beat this team and we pulled together, and it was just an all-around great game for us.

“We just never gave up, which was the key to the whole game.”

The Titans led by 12 early in the third quarter, but the Panthers responded, and eventually led by as many as six points early in the fourth following a 3-pointer from Evin Elias.

Union answered with an 11-0 run, regaining the lead and pushing it to five points on a Brooklynn Haywood jumper with 3:27 left in the game.

But, Bonney Lake scored the next nine, and took a 64-60 lead inside of two minutes to play on back-to-back baskets from Ava Rice.

Hawywood cut the lead back to one possession on a 3-pointer with 21.4 seconds to go, but the Panthers responded when Emma Moore hit one of two free throws to make it 65-63.

Haywood broke through Bonney Lake’s defense in the final seconds and got a contested shot up before the buzzer, but the Panthers grabbed the rebound to end the game.

Shipp scored a team-high 18 points for Bonney Lake, while Elias and Moore each had 12 and Ava Bailey added 11. The Panthers totaled 10 3-pointers, led by four from Elias.

Haywood and Ava Smith each tallied a game-high 23 points for the Titans. Union combined for 15 3-pointers, led by Haywood (five) and Smith (seven).

But, for each Titans run, Bonney Lake answered.

“It’s a challenge,” Shipp said. “Pushing as hard as you can for 100 percent of the time, it’s what makes it fun. Going back and forth, you’re always on your toes. It was a great game.”

Camas 73, Tahoma 53

In a matchup of two of the state’s top 4A girls programs, Camas pulled away in the second half, eventually securing a convincing victory over Tahoma on Monday evening.

The Papermakers shot 29-of-55 (52.7 percent) from the floor and connected on nine 3-pointers as they built a lead that reached as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter at the Memorial Fieldhouse.

Camas held a slim 37-33 lead at halftime, but outscored the Bears, 22-15, in the third quarter, and 14-5 in the fourth to close out the decisive victory.

Four players reached double figures scoring for Camas, led by Addison Harris, who had a game-high 20. Sophie Buzzard added 15 on five 3-pointers, while Riley Sanz had 14 and Keirra Thompson had 12.

Tahoma shot 20-of-50 (40 percent) from the floor, and tallied 11 3-pointers in the contest, led by Angie Cavanaugh, who had a trio of 3-pointers and a team-high 13 points. Hope Hassmann added 12 points, while Lily Cavanaugh had 10.

Roosevelt 66, Lincoln 59

The Abes closed the game on a 7-0 run, but it was too late to erase a deficit that reached as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter Monday evening.

Roosevelt took the decisive lead late in the second quarter on a basket from Dante Washington, and kept Lincoln out of reach the rest of the way to secure a 66-59 win at the Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Abes trailed by a possession at halftime, but Roosevelt opened the third on a 14-4 run, and an Anthony Washington basket midway through the quarter pushed the lead to double digits until Lincoln’s late run.

The Abes hit 5-of-6 free throws inside in the final 1:12, and Omarion Boston added the last of his nine baskets with 35.1 seconds to play, but Lincoln didn’t score again as Roosevelt closed out the victory.

Jalen Dollar led all scorers with 23 points — including five 3-pointers — for Roosevelt, while Dante Washington added 12 points and Anthony Washington had eight.

Boston scored a team-high 21 points and added nine rebounds for the Abes.

Rogers 65, Peninsula 55 (OT)

Rogers outscored Peninsula, 10-0, in overtime in the final game of the Puget Sound Holiday Classic, overcoming a fourth quarter deficit to top the Seahawks, 65-55, on Monday night at the Memorial Fieldhouse.

Peninsula led by as many as four points midway through the fourth following a 3-pointer from Kaylia Heidelberg, but the Rams eventually closed the gap over the final 1:33 on a basket from Sydney Kowalchuk and a pair of free throws from Mikayla Gardley with 17.5 seconds to play that tied the game.

“I’m just really proud of them, because there was a point in the first half you kind of felt like it might go sideways on us, and our kids battled back,” Rams coach Rico Ancheta said.

Rogers took the decisive lead on a basket from Gardley with 3:05 left in overtime, and Gardley added a 3-pointer on Rogers’ next possession to push the lead to 60-55.

Kowalchuk and Divinity Singleton each hit free throws down the stretch as the Rams closed out the win.

Rogers held the Seahawks scoreless on each of their eight overtime possessions.

Heidelberg scored a game-high 28 points for Peninsula, while Grace Richardson had nine and Sophia Casello and Brooke Zimmermann each added eight.

Rogers had four players in double figures, led by Shae Looker, who scored a team-high 17.

Singleton added 14 points, while Kowalchuk had 12 and Gardley 10 to help pace a Rams group that graduated much of last season’s Tacoma Dome team in 2022.

“It’s a fun challenge,” Ancheta said. “We lost nine kids last year, so we’re definitely a lot younger, and along with that comes patience. We’ve been telling the kids, ‘Look, we’ve just got to get a little better everyday,’ and I think they’re kind of buying into that and they’re starting to believe in themselves.

“For any team, I think when that starts to happen, that helps. You can kind of see they’re getting a little more confident every time we play, so it’s fun to watch.”