By Kyle Howard
With the stands packed almost to capacity and the band blasting the Chief Sealth took the court to face their cross-town rivals the West Seattle Wildcats in a metro league showdown Friday Dec.16th. Both teams have had a long standing rivalry throughout the years, with both schools just a few miles away a lot of West Seattle fans made the short trip to Chief Sealth. The game was intense from the start but West Seattle was caught up in it and received two technicals in the first quarter, resulting in 5 points for Chief Sealth from the free throws and from getting possession of the ball.

Chief Sealth played great defense throughout the game, causing over 20 West Seattle turnovers. The Wildcats made 6 of 11 three pointers and scored 5 of 6 free throws in the first half, as they tied the game at 35. West Seattle came out strong after the halftime break going on a 6-0 run, but they were matched by three pointers by Chief Sealth’s Aaron Knox and Charlie Smith. Only 18 points were scored between both teams in the third quarter and Chief Sealth holding onto a narrow lead 45-43.

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The fourth quarter started out slow, no field goals were scored in the first three and a half minutes until West Seattle tied the game at 45. It was a back and forth battle from then on, there were six lead changes the final three minutes of the game. Everybody in the stands were on their feet for the final minutes of the game and cheering loudly. Chief Sealth was down 53-51 with the clock ticking down Charlie Smith stole the ball and was able to get a breakaway layup to tie the game with just 30 seconds left. West Seattle was able to get off a shot at the end but missed sending the game into overtime.

In overtime the Seahawks took a quick lead with two free throws made by Aaron Knox, and a steal by Pepe’ Hernandez, he was fouled shortly after and made 1 of 2 free throws giving the Seahawks a 58-53 lead. West Seattle got within one but Chief Sealth held them off with clutch shots and free throws by Knox and Hernandez sealing the overtime victory 63-59.

Despite the loss West Seattle guard DeAndre Coulter scored 23, with support from Latrey Newsome who scored 15. Chief Sealth was led by Aaron Knox who scored 21 and shot very well from the outside. Three other Seahawks scored over 10 points as well.

“I felt good about our intensity down the stretch” said Chief Sealth head coach Colin Slingsby. “We hit some big shots at the right times, when we got behind we were able to turn it up and make big plays and several of them on the defensive end. It was our spirit week and anytime we play West Seattle it’s always fun”.