Clover Park Manhandles Steilacoom

This would be no repeat performance.

Coming off a stinging defeat by crosstown rival Lakes, the Clover Park High School boys basketball team refused to exit the gym with another loss on Tuesday night.

Led by senior forward Tana Pritchard and freshmen guards David Crisp and Ahmaad Rorie, the Warriors came up with a 79-34 thrashing of South Puget Sound League 2A rival Steilacoom.

"It feels good after the anxiety of the ," said Clover Park coach Mel Ninnis. "It's nice to get back and be on the positive side and let the kids get out and run and jump and have fun and get excited about the game again.

"It was really healthy for us to get back out and have a game."

The Warriors got off to a slow but solid start, outscoring the Sentinels 14-12 in the first quarter. Steilacoom junior Zach Esseln was the Sentinels' most dominant presence of the period, finishing with six of his 10 points.

In the second quarter, though, Clover Park (12-1 overall, 7-0 league) pulled away with a scoring burst, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Rorie and sophomore forward Isom Brown. Pritchard finished off his half with the first of his two dunks and received an ovation from his teammates as he approached the bench.

Pritchard scored 8 points in the second quarter, the same as Steilacoom (2-11, 1-6). Clover Park led 36-20 at halftime.

Particularly pleasing for Ninnis was seeing his players working well together.

"They really don't care who they pass the ball to, who gets the shot," he said. "That's what makes this team so enjoyable to watch. There's no selfishness."

The Warriors came out swinging in the third quarter, again led by Pritchard. He opened the period with three consecutive baskets, including a 3-pointer, and later added another lay-up and his second dunk of the game. Clover Park scored 29 points in the quarter and led 65-27.

Watching Pritchard's performance was Mike Levenseller, the wide receivers coach at Washington State University, where Pritchard has committed to play football.

Upon hearing the team captain's final stats -- a game-high 23 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals, Ninnis joked that Clover Park could have used the Cougar assistant's presence during Saturday's 75-68 loss to Lakes.

"It helps he had a little extra motivation that WSU was here watching him," he said, noting that Pritchard had bounced back from a shaky, eight-point performance against the Lancers.

Also turning in strong third-quarter performances were Crisp and Rorie. Both made 3-pointers and helped Clover Park dominate time-of-possession. Crisp finished the night with 14 points and three steals, while Rorie amassed 16 points, four assists and a steal.

Crisp said that, while his first half wasn't as successful, after the break, "I figured, go to the hole, and then 3's started going in and I found my rhythm."

The freshman said that the loss to Lakes gave the Warriors extra incentive to beat their other local rival.

"After we lost to them, we were mad and sad, but glad we got that loss ... because we had that hunger to get a run to the playoffs."

The undisputed star of the fourth quarter was senior forward Darryl Russell, who came off the bench to score a pair of 3-pointers and a flawless lay-up.

"I just try to work hard and contribute to my team as much as I can," said Russell, whom Ninnis called "an offensive weapon." "Coach has me working hard every day, and he said if I show off in practice, I get more playing time, so I've been working hard in practice."

As for those 3-pointers?

He smiled. "I got some good shots up and they just started falling."

Steilacoom scored a combined 14 points in the second half, most notably a 3-pointer by Esseln in the third quarter and one by sophomore forward Matt Bender in the fourth. Bender led the Sentinels with 15 points.

Ninnis said he was confident that his team would win even before the game.

"I've been confident every time we've been out," he said. "I believe in this group. I respect this group and we respect each other. That's what makes it so special."

Clover Park -- 14 22 29 14 -- 79
Steilacoom  -- 12   8   7   7  -- 34

Scoring summary:
Steilacoom -- Trayvon Simmons 2, Greg Spencer 2, Xavier Witherspoon 2, Jacob Esseln 10, Matt Bender 15, Tyler Rebillion 1, Joey Vela 2.

Clover Park -- David Crisp 14, Ahmaad Rorie 16, Tana Pritchard 23, Darryl Russell 8, Isom Brown 8, Xavier Means 10.