PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles boys basketball coach Kasey Ulin repeated the numbers 24 and 19 with emphasis after the Roughriders gave away a game to Blaine, losing 53-44.
“We had 24 turnovers and we gave up 19 offensive rebounds, so to lose the game by nine is surprising,” Ulin said after Saturday’s game.
“The way we executed our play we should have lost by 30.
“Anytime you have 24 turnovers and give up 19 offensive rebounds you’re not going to win basketball games.”
The Roughriders had their chances to put the game away, holdingd leads of 14 in the second quarter and 12 in the third.
But turnovers and a lack of intensity on the offensive and defensive glass eventually caught up with Port Angeles.
With the Riders leading 42-35 with 5:35 to go, the Borderites closed the game on an 18-2 run, scoring on a bevy of second-chance opportunities, layups and free throws.
Blaine’s aptly-named 6-foot-6, 352-pound post Shaq Woods had something to do with the Port Angeles meltdown, scoring 17 points in the game, five during the deciding run.
He also was active in rebounding or tapping the ball for continued possession on multiple instances. But he wasn’t alone.
“That’s what we told them,” Ulin said.
“It wasn’t one guy. It was their entire team. They got the 50-50 balls. They were a little bit quicker to loose balls.”
The Riders’ lack of fight was a sore point for Ulin.
“And that’s what hurts because that’s us. That’s what we have to do to win,” Ulin said.
“We preach every day that we have to be the scrappy team, the more aggressive team. And they were a little more aggressive than us.
“I’ll give them some credit, but for the last six minutes we kind of shied away from some balls and they played a little harder than us.
“But if we are going to be the team we can be, those 50-50 balls, those one’s that can go either way, the will to have the ball is everything.”
Port Angeles scored the first six points of the game, as Grayson Peet nabbed three steals in the first 1:10 of the game.
The Riders forced the Borderites into nine turnovers in the opening frame, but Port Angeles’ 18-8 lead could have been even larger without six turnovers of its own.
In the second quarter, Noah McGoff knocked down a 3-pointer to grow the Riders’ lead to 24-10 with 5:03 left in the half.
But Blaine fought back to get the score under double digits at 26-17 at half.
Early in the third quarter it looked as if Port Angeles had regrouped after a basket from McGoff and a 3 from Peet led to a 31-19 Riders’ advantage.
But Port Angeles’ nine third-quarter turnovers helped spark an 8-0 Blaine run.
The Borderites trailed 35-32 entering the final quarter.
“There was no grand scheme adjustment from them, they just played a little harder,” Ulin said.
“We made four or five adjustments and we didn’t execute them, we didn’t flash to open areas, we picked up our dribble in bad spots on the floor, we just did some poor fundamental basketball things.
“We flashed well to the open area in the first half, we got some good looks but we were just a little behind in the second half.”
Peet opened the fourth with a steal and a layup, and later stole an inbounds pass and rapidly pushed the ball up the floor to McGoff for another layup for a 42-35 Riders’ lead.
Peet led all scorers with 20 points. Lambros Rogers added 14 points and McGoff scored 10.
They were the only Port Angeles players to score.
After McGoff’s bucket the Riders’ attention span seemed to wander as they were beaten to multiple loose balls.
Woods scored on a putback opportunity, followed by another second-chance score from Marcus Potts.
A 3-pointer from frizzy-haired freshman Ben Adams gave Blaine a one-point lead 43-42, an advantage they’d never relinquish.
Adams, a nonfactor in the first half, scored 10 of his 14 points in the final quarter, including 5 of 7 from the free-throw line down the stretch.
“When you get 19 more shots on the offensive glass and 24 gifted possessions that’s going to kill,” Ulin said.
“That’s the story.”
Port Angeles faces a quick turnaround with a trip to Olympic tonight in the Olympic League 2A division opener for each school.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
