Basketball Game Preview: Tumwater Thunderbirds vs. Montesano Bulldogs

The Tumwater Thunderbirds and the Montesano Bulldogs will round out the year against one another at at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Tumwater has three straight victories, Montesano has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Tumwater is headed into the contest after thoroughly thrashing Capital: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Tumwater blew Capital out of the water with a 69-39 final score. Fans of the Thunderbirds have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.

Tumwater's win on Friday was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Sahara Anthony III, who went 6 for 12 on his way to 16 points and six assists. That's the most assists Anthony III has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Bryce Morgan, who went 5 of 6 on his way to 13 points in addition to five rebounds and three steals.

Anthony III wasn't the only one working in the assists department: Tumwater was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now racked up at least 21 assists in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Montesano ended up a good deal behind Castle Rock on Saturday and lost 65-46.

Tumwater's win bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Montesano, their loss dropped their record down to 1-5.