PORT ANGELES — Missed opportunities crippled the Port Angeles boys basketball team’s chances to overcome Olympic in a 44-41 double-overtime loss.
The last shot in Friday’s game, Grayson Peet’s potentially game-tying 3-point attempt, came up short at the buzzer, and the Roughriders dropped their third Olympic League 2A loss in five days.
It was a disappointing end for Port Angeles in a tightly contested Olympic League 2A game.
“We just weren’t able to harness the situation,” coach Kasey Ulin said.
“You can see the nerves start going in those pressure situations. They are playing their tails off and fighting, but no matter how many times you simulate situations in practice, it’s just not the same [as a game].”
Opportunities presented themselves throughout the game.
The Riders were unable to continue building on an early lead when two quick fouls in the first four minutes sent 6-foot-6 senior post Jumier Johnson to the Trojans’ bench for the remainder of the first half.
A tightly officiated second quarter allowed Olympic to get to the free-throw line and chip away at Port Angeles’ 15-6 lead.
The Trojans hit all six attempts in the second period to trail 15-14 at halftime.
Ulin said his team was able to handle how the game was officiated.
“They did great. I told them I was so proud of them for how well they maintained their composure,” Ulin said.
“We always say that basketball is a game where if you stay in the play, you’re five plays down because it’s such a fast-moving game.”
A tough shooting night also didn’t help matters for the home team.
Port Angeles struggled to a 14 of 62 shooting performance from the floor.
Missing seven straight free throws to open the fourth quarter and only hitting 9 of 20 attempts from the line for the game also didn’t help the Riders’ cause.
“I told the boys, ‘Don’t go home and dissect this. You guys played your tails off,’” Ulin said.
“A little more focus, a little more execution, and obviously we have to knock down our free throws a little better.
“It’s just a matter of being in those situations a couple more times.”
Despite missing its first six shots of the second half, Olympic’s 8-0 second quarter-closing spurt blossomed into a 20-3 run and a 26-18 advantage late in the third period.
With Johnson back in the post and Olympic warming up offensively, Port Angeles had enough fight to rally and score the last seven points of the third quarter.
“The composure the kids showed was great,” Ulin said.
“Noah [McGoff] hit a big 3, Grayson got a steal, kept a couple of balls alive and fed [Colton] McGuffey for a layup. The kids fought to get back in the game, but once we were back even with them we could never really get up more than one or two points.”
The teams traded scores in the fourth quarter and the Trojans were unable to go up by more than three points at any time.
A deep 3 from Luke Angevine, the Riders’ leading scorer with 20 points, tied the score at 34-all with 1:44 to play.
But Johnson, who scored all 10 of Olympic’s points in the fourth quarter and all eight in the two overtime periods, got free inside for a score with 1:16 to go.
Angevine came through with the tying basket to send the game to overtime, spinning past his man late in the shot clock and driving to the rim for a layup with 41 seconds left.
Neither team could hit from the floor in the first overtime, but Olympic gained an advantage when post Lambros Rogers was whistled for his fourth foul, a charge, and later fouled out for Port Angeles with 1:45 to play.
The second extra period was the opposite of the first.
“It was funny, both teams couldn’t score in the first overtime, then we traded buckets, they scored, we scored in the second,” Ulin said.
The Riders regained the lead twice in double overtime, first on a 3 from Peet and then on an elbow jumper from Angevine.
“But we couldn’t get that stop, and we pride ourselves on getting multiple stops,” Ulin said.
The Trojans, content to shoot perimeter jump shots for much of the game on their way to shooting 15 of 59 from the floor, recognized Johnson’s edge down low and looked to the low block on each possession in the second overtime.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do with our game plan: to pack the paint, contest shots and deny [Johnson] the ball,” Ulin said.
“The rims here are a little tight in our gym, a little tight, and most teams don’t come in here and shoot very well, so if they were going to get shots we wanted them from outside.”
But without the lanky Rogers inside to defend, Johnson went off.
“It just became a difficult situation after Lambros fouled out,” Ulin said.
“Jumier works hard and has good touch, and he got three or four buckets there, and big players make those plays.”
Ulin was still upbeat about his team’s performance.
“I told them, ‘If you can harness the focus and energy you showed tonight and commit to what you have to do, we can have a fun ride here over the next few weeks,’” Ulin said.
“And if we can get in the playoffs, we can be a real tough matchup.”
The Riders (3-4, 7-8) will look to rebound on the road against North Mason (0-6, 4-9) on Tuesday.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
