More of the same for Wolves

It’s a reoccurring theme that aggravates coach John Callaghan.

The Wolves’ boys basketball plays like a state-caliber team in spurts. Other times, they look no better than a junior-varsity squad.

Against quality opponents, that simply isn’t good enough. And South Kitsap saw it happen again Thursday in a 67-59 loss against Skyline in the first game of the Comcast Christmas Classic at Bothell High School.

Unlike their last game in Narrows League Bridge Division play, when they blew a 15-point lead after halftime and lost 57-52 against Foss on Dec. 14, the Wolves never led against Skyline. They trailed 14-5 entering the second quarter.

“The whole first quarter, I don’t think we got into our offense once,” Callaghan said. “The first five minutes of the game, we dribbled around and shot whatever was close.”

It didn’t get much better for the Wolves (4-4), who have dropped three of their last four games to fall to .500 for the first time this season, when the second period started. Skyline (7-1) built a 34-14 advantage and led 36-20 at halftime.

“Going into halftime down by that much was embarrassing,” South post Nick Johnson said. “We need to give the people a good game and play hard.”

Callaghan believes his team accomplished that in the second half. South used a 19-13 advantage in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 49-39 entering the final eight minutes. A tip-in by Corey Hoffman on a miss by Collin Monagle reduced the Spartans’ lead to 49-43 with 6 minutes, 38 seconds left.

But the Wolves’ momentum was short-lived as Skyline’s Craig Sadowski connected on a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Sadowski made all four of his 3-pointers and scored a game-high 18 points.

“That was a really big shot,” Callaghan said. “There were guys there, but he hit the big shots.”

Johnson scored when he was fouled and finished a three-point play with a free throw with 24.9 seconds left, but that’s as close as South would get. Sadowski was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws. A turnover by the Wolves and a three-point play by Skyline’s Nick Crossan, who had 13 points, ended any comeback possibility.

Tionne Curry had 17 points to lead South, while Monagle scored 15 points.

“I liked how aggressive we were in the second half, but that’s how we have to play all 32 minutes,” Callaghan said. “We go through periods where we just kind of lose it mentally before we snap out of it. You can’t turn it on and off.”

Skyline 14 22 13 18 — 67

South Kitsap 5 15 19 20 — 59

Skyline—Nick Crossan 13, Austin Weige 10, Chris Garton 1, Craig Sadowski 18, Travis Frame 0, Ryan McCorkle 15, Connor Gacek 4, Kasen Williams 0, Sean Day 4, Cory Husten 2, Like Marquardt 0.

South Kitsap—Gibson Davies 6, Corey Hoffman 4, Ivan Rybachuk 0, Tionne Curry 17, Austin Siegel 6, Nick Johnson 9, Leon La Deaux 2, Collin Monagle 15, Mike

Longmire 0, Ricky King 0.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.