PORT ANGELES — It felt like three different boys basketball games were played, all in the span of a regulation 32 minute-contest, as Port Angeles held on to beat Bremerton 57-54.
There was a first half in which the Roughriders raced out to a 28-7 lead halfway through the second quarter of Tuesday’s game.
Port Angeles eventually led 33-16 at halftime after shooting 13 of 26 from the floor, including hitting 5 of 13 on 3-pointers.
The Riders utilized a rare bit of zone defense against the Knights, a 2-3 look designed to force outside shots.
“We’ve been working on it and working on it, and for this game, I thought that zone would match up well with Bremerton,” coach Kasey Ulin said.
“And in the first half it was how I kind of predicted.
“We limited them to one-and-outs, they were stagnant on offense. And the key for us was to limit transition points. We wanted to make them run halfcourt sets.”
Then there was the Knights’ second-half charge to pull within 42-38 with one minute left in the third quarter, and eventually take a short-lived lead, 53-52, with a little less than four minutes to play.
And there was the final 3:11 of the contest, when Port Angeles doubled down on what staked it to a 21-point lead in the first place, defense and rebounding, to earn an Olympic League win and stay alive for the league’s fourth seed to district play.
“We were able to commit back defensively,” Riders coach Kasey Ulin said.
“Our rotations were sharp, and we held them to one-[shot]-and-out.
“We lost our focus in the second half, our rotations were slower, we didn’t move as quickly off the ball, and it led to open shots.
“They started making a couple and got confident.”
The Knights’ tempo quickened in the second half.
“They tried to do that [push the pace] in the first half as well, but we played solid defense,” Port Angeles senior Lambros Rogers said.
“Everybody sprinted back, nobody was late [in the first half].
“And we kind of came out a little sluggish in the beginning [of the second half].”
Bremerton’s improved shooting also energized the Knights.
“They didn’t miss very much,” Rogers said.
“First possession [after halftime] they came out and it was one pass and they hit a 3.
“Just a lot of made shots for them.”
Early on it was Port Angeles making the shots, and if the Riders didn’t hit, Rogers was there to rebound.
Rogers outworked Bremerton, totaling game-highs in rebounds with 26, and points with 22, including hitting 10 of 11 shots.
“He was a monster inside,” Ulin said.
“He was in tune from the opening tip on both sides of the ball. Defensively he was sharp, he rebounded great, he was active, flying around.
“Offensively, he attacked the glass, he went up strong, he moved well without the ball.”
Rogers scored 14 of his 22 points by halftime.
The Knights transition game came to life in the second half, as Port Angeles misses quickly turned into outlet passes and drives to the rim from guards Japrea Pedesclaux and Desmond Moore.
A couple of big 3-pointers aided Port Angeles in the third quarter.
After Bremerton cut the Riders’ lead to 39-34, a Luke Angevine trey with three minutes left in the third pushed the Port Angeles advantage to 42-34.
Bremerton pulled within four with a minute to play in the quarter before Noah McGoff gave Port Angeles a 45-38 lead after three quarters.
Another Angevine 3 put the Riders up 52-45 with five minutes to play.
Angevine finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for the Riders.
But the Knights put together an 8-0 run to lead 53-52 with 3:43 remaining.
A possession later, Port Angeles point guard Grayson Peet made what Ulin called “the play of the game.”
Playing at the top of the zone, Peet anticipated a pass and made the steal, breaking downcourt for a layup.
Peet smartly slowed himself down to draw contact while making the shot that put the Riders back on top for good.
Peet scored 10 points and added seven assists.
A technical foul on the Knights and two free throws from Angevine, put Port Angeles up 56-53 with 1:02 to play.
Bremerton hit a foul shot with 33 seconds to go and rebounded a missed freebie to trail 56-54.
The Knights failed on two chances to tie the score in the final 30 seconds, missing a backdoor layup, which was rebounded by Rogers.
Rogers hit 1 of 2 foul shots, and Bremerton had one last chance with 10.2 seconds to go.
The Knights got the ball to Atyus Powell who launched a deep trey from the top of the arc. It hit front iron and Rogers was there to haul in the board.
A relieved Rogers said a couple of factors aided his team down the stretch.
“Rebounding, making free throws, playing as a team,” Rogers said.
“We’ve got to stick in it together. That second half was a great example of what can happen if you let a team get momentum.”
Ulin was impressed by Rogers’ performance
“It was the best two quarters [first and second] I’ve seen him play,” Ulin said.
“And the last three minutes, he got back into it. The last three minutes he made the decision that every rebound was his. He went and got every single defensive rebound.”
The Riders (5-6, 9-10) square off with Kingston (6-5, 10-9) tonight in a battle for postseason positioning.
“We have one more game on senior night, and hopefully we can win that, earn the four seed and go into the postseason with momentum having beaten two really good postseason-caliber teams and propel us to a successful district tournament run,” Ulin said.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
