Sumner High’s predominantly senior boys basketball squad displayed just how much poise and confidence is worth, when they hosted their district rivals Bonney Lake Dec. 17, and the Spartans, escalated their overall mark to 6-1 in front of their fellow students and at least 1,000 Sumner School District cage fans, eventually bludgeoning the Class 3A Panthers 63-42.
At the conclusion of the initial frame of this roundball version of Civil War, Sumner trailed 11-9. With the intensity of the play on the parquet as cagers from both squads really got after it, the encounter had the true feel of a district rivalry and one had to wonder if there would be anyone left standing by game’s end.
As the second quarter got underway the SHS student cheer section grew restless and made its presence known, as the chant went up from the boisterous and bawdy bunch, “Feed Zeb!…Feed Zeb!,” referring of course to popular 6-foot, 5-inch upperclassman, Zeb Glissmeyer, who in his senior campaign is well on the way to becoming one of Sumner High’s top five all-time rebounders.
Glissmeyer was not only the top scorer in the wild affair with 18 points, but also managed a couple of blocked shots in addition to registering a rare triple double, contributing 10 rebounds and 10 assists as well for an evening’s toil. “Zeb has been weakened by illness for the last couple weeks, but he is regaining some of that stamina back and he played a really solid overall game tonight for us,” exclaimed Sumner head coach Brett McDaniel.
The Spartan big man actually got the place rocking, when midway through the second period, he stepped out past the perimeter, was fed the orange pumpkin and buried a three pointer, much to the delight of the frenzied throng and the amazement of assembled locals hoop fans who perhaps didn’t realize the giant had such a golden touch from so far out of the paint.
This 30-foot bomb by Glissmeyer seemed to turn the tide of this rivalry rendezvous and the purple and gold found itself on top at intermission 30-27. Bonney Lake was not waving the white flag of surrender yet though, as its own big man, 6’7 senior post Mike Gould, who chipped in with a dozen points for BLHS in the barn burner, took his game to the next level in the ensuing third quarter, an eight minute period that saw him playing some inspired hoops.
When Sumner began to employ the more swarming and stingy brand of defense it is quickly becoming notorious for late in the third stanza though, Bonney Lake was clearly unable to deal with it and from that point on appeared to be fighting a losing battle. The Spartans further widened the margin of victory, when their Class 3A Sumner School District counterpart was forced to foul in order to slow the hands of time, and the inevitable parade to the charity stripe benefitted the Spartans, assuring them of a triumph.
