Dick and TJ Cotterill talk about this 4A NPSL-Olympic game
as the Trojans battled the Lions.
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Read T.J. Cotterill’s full article at TheNewsTribune.com
McLaughlin Notches 31 in Peninsula Victory Versus Auburn
By Steven Dion
| Friday- January 23 | 2015 | Boys | 3A | SPSL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn High School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Peninsula | 12 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 69 | |
| Auburn | 11 | 17 | 24 | 10 | 62 | |
Peninsula Junior JaQuori McLaughlin
The high school basketball regular season is in the home stretch and the sprint to a league title is winding down. South Puget Sound League’s 3A division features Peninsula at the top with Auburn-Mountainview and Auburn with several other teams in the middle of the pack. The Seahawks would pay a visit to the Trojans on Friday night for an important league matchup.
From the opening tip, this contest was a real slobber-knocker as both teams had difficulty retaining possession and putting together offensive production. Auburn’s tenacious interior defense created several takeaways and kept the Hawks off the scoreboard until the 5:33 mark. Unfortunately, the Trojans did not fully capitalize on their defensive effort as they trailed 4-2 with 3:18 left in the first quarter. University of Washington commit JaQuori McLaughlin recorded his second personal foul early which relegated the Peninsula guard to the bench.
In the second frame, reserve Patreon Lee gave AHS a boost by knocking down some big buckets and firing up his teammates. The ping-pong nature of the game continued and the game was all knotted up at 22 apiece midway through the quarter. In the final possession of the half, Auburn hoisted a desperation shot and was fouled in the process by McLaughlin for his third of the game. The scoreboard read 30-28 in favor of Peninsula halfway through.
The second half began the way the first did for Auburn as their defensive intensity sparked their production. The Trojans grabbed a 39-34 lead midway through the third. Malik Williams ignited the AHS throughout the game as he led his team with 24 points and set the tone on the defensive end. His counterpart McLaughlin was forced into tough shots, but got his fair share to fall toward the end of the third.
Leading by three as the fourth started, Auburn was in prime position to complete the upset. However, Coach Jake Jackson’s Seahawks had another plan. They rolled off a 10-0 run with buckets by Garrett Smith and Austin Kingman. Williams knocked down a pair of threes to get Auburn back on track, but the Hawks kept the pedal down. Leading by a half dozen with two minutes remaining, PHS retained their lead to the end and picked up a tough division victory.
The Final Score: Peninsula 69 Auburn 62
Top Performers:
Peninsula
JaQuori McLaughlin-31 points (11/13 FTs)
Auburn
Malik Williams-24 points
| Friday | Nov. 7th | 2014 | 3A | Boys | Football | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonds Stadium | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | |
| Meadowdale | 14 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 30 | |
Game Recap below
Meadowdale Grabs Early Lead, Never Looks Back
By Steven Dion
The postseason has arrived which means it’s do or die for the final 32 teams in each classification. Edmonds Stadium served as the site for a 3A clash of SPSL and Wesco in Auburn and Meadowdale on a chilly Friday night. The winner would earn a ticket to the next stage against second-ranked Eastside Catholic. The Trojans came into the game playing their best football while the Mavericks were coming off a high scoring contest with Marysville-Pilchuck.
Auburn would receive the ball first and after a short drive were forced to punt the ball to the opposition. On the Mavs second play from scrimmage, Caleb Tinstand raced to a 55-yard touchdown on a quarterback keeper. This stunned the Auburn sideline. On the ensuing drive, the Trojans were stalled once again. On the first play of Meadowdale’s second drive, Rory Spillum went the distance on a 46-yard run to give his team a two-possession lead. Was this game over before it started? Even before the teams would regroup at halftime, MHS added on a punt return block by Charlie White in the endzone for two and an 11-yard strike from Tingstad to White. The Mavericks led 23-0 at the half with little resistance by Auburn.
The second half opened with the Trojans pinning MHS deep and getting a crack at the scoreboard. However, untimely penalties dashed Auburn’s hopes of finding the endzone and clawing their way back into the game. Meadowdale added insurance points as Tingstad found Malik Braxton on a vertical route down the sideline for 59 yards and a score. The line of MHS including Timothy Smith, Garrett Walsh, and Charlie White opened big gaps for their tailbacks and were able to stop the motion-heavy running game of Auburn on the defensive side of the ball. The Trojans did not hang their heads as Justin Ioimo put his team on the board on an 11-yard QB sneak in the waning minutes of the game. Ioimo also had a fantastic interception early in the game. The backfield of Deshawndre Appleton and Avery Wade played tough despite an overpowering defensive line against them. When the dust settled, Meadowdale ran away with a dominant 30-7 win earning them a playoff rematch with the red-hot Crusaders.
Top Performers:
Meadowdale
Caleb Tingstad – 2 passing TDs (11, 59) 1 rushing TD (55)
Auburn
Justin Ioimo – 11 yard rushing TD
| Friday | Jan 25th | 2014 | 4A | Boys | Basketball | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentridge High | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Auburn | 8 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 47 | |
| Kentridge | 14 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 64 | |
Kentridge Remains Undefeated With Win Over Auburn
By Steven Dion
The Chargers are one of the few teams in the state that has not lost a single game this season and is quietly emerging in the state rankings as one of the top teams in 4A. Hailing from the SPSL North, Kentridge would have to contend with the second place Auburn Trojans (8-3 league, 10-5 overall) to keep the blemish-free mark in the standings. The gut reaction heading into this contest was the size advantage down low for the host Chargers as Chris Adams and Danny Torlai standing at 6’7 and 6’6 respectively had a distinct size advantage to Auburn’s forwards that peak at the 6’3 range. It was intriguing to see if Ryan Hansen could draw up a plan to upset first place Kentridge.
The first frame consisted of both teams trading buckets early as a Marquise Prater three-ball energized the visiting Trojans. However, the Chargers offense got rolling and carried a 14-8 lead after one frame of play. Kentridge built on this lead by using their size advantage down low to convert on close range buckets. Auburn was able to tie the ball game at 18 apiece midway through the second by forcing Kentridge to take some outside shots, which were not falling. A 10-2 run to close the first half by KRHS gave the home team a 28-20 lead going into the half.
Dave Jamison’s Chargers picked up where they left off in the third quarter as the monstrous presence of senior Chris Adams on defense led to smooth offensive transitions which consisted of no-look passes by either Deon Thomas or Jawan Stepney to Danny Torial under the bucket time after time. Thomas nailed all six of his points on consecutive possessions as a three-pointer, defensive stop, and another triple built a 46-31 lead after three quarters. Auburn senior Rio Paul scored a big chunk of his game-high 24 points in the final frame by knocking down tough shots. With a comfortable lead, Kentridge was content to challenge Paul, but not over-extend defensively and give the 6’2 wing extra points from the charity stripe. An alley-oop dunk from Thomas to Stepney followed by an Adams two handed slam and a fourth and final block by the big senior put a bow on this contest to keep Kentridge undefeated at 17-0.
Top Performers:
Auburn
Rio Paul – 24 points
Kentridge
Danny Torlai – 20 points, 9 rebounds
| Thursday | Oct. 10 | 2013 | 4A | Boys | Football | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn High School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | |
| Thomas Jefferson | 6 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 26 | |
| Auburn | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 23 | |
Thomas Jefferson Spoils Auburn’s Homecoming
By Colin Caruso
Going into the fourth quarter of this contest, both the Auburn sideline and fan section were fully prepared to win this football game. The Trojans were up by eleven, dominating the line of scrimmage on offense, and had the crowd amped up on their homecoming night. In came the Thomas Jefferson Raiders, down by two scores to begin the fourth, with no answer for the Auburn offense. That is when quarterback Niko De La Cruz began to heat up. He threw an earlier touchdown on the Raiders first possession on a double reverse, a beautiful pass to James Fitch to take an early lead, but found himself trailing entering the final quarter.
On the first play in the fourth quarter, De La Cruz, in Russell Wilson type fashion, scrambled left and right and spotted Phillip Cuadron wide open on the left sideline. Cuadron then ran another twenty yards down the sideline for a beautiful 50 yard pitch and catch to cut the lead to five after the failed point after, 23-18. The Raiders gave Auburn two first downs on penalties in their ensuing drive, one on an offside, and one on a costly facemask that put the Trojans deep into Raider territory. But the Raiders held and forced a turnover on downs, getting the ball back midway through the fourth quarter. The Raiders marched right down the field and De La Cruz capped off the drive with a 1 yard TD run, followed by a scramble for the 2-point conversion, to take a 26-23 lead with just 48 seconds on the clock.
Auburn’s offense, primarily a running attack, is not equipped to make the big passing plays down the field when they have little time. They instead settled for a few shorter passes, more in line with their playing scheme. The short plays were too little too late, and Thomas Jefferson pulled off the upset on the road, 26-23.
Top Performers:
Thomas Jefferson
Niko De La Cruz – 7/8 118 yards 2TD, 1 rushing TD
Zachariah Grayson – 23 carries for 179 yards, TD
Auburn
Brier Atkinson – 16 carries for 113 yards, TD
Kieo Buchanon – 10 carries for 80 yards, TD