PORT ANGELES —Led by senior point guard Gary Johnson, Port Angeles stormed back from a 20-point halftime deficit to cut down state title contender North Kitsap 65-64 Wednesday night.
Johnson scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the final frame, none more important than the tying and go-ahead free throws he splashed with seven seconds to play to put the Roughriders up for the first time since a 17-11 first-quarter advantage.
The Vikings had one final possession as Shaa Humphrey got behind the defense and streaked to the hoop but the long lead pass sailed out of bounds.
“My teammates believed in me and tonight I had the hot hand,” Johnson said. “I had the chance to take over and I just did what I could do and it turned out great.”
At the charity stripe late with the contest literally on the line, Johnson just breathed.
“In practice, I think too much,” Johnson said. “So just flush everything [and the thought is] ‘It’s going up and in, I don’t care.’ And that’s what happened. Two deep breaths, everything goes out of my head and I’m good.”
They can play a lil bit, too. Port Angeles rallies from 20-pt halftime deficit, beats highly touted North Kitsap 65-64. Gary Johnson 18 pts, 14 in 4th. Hit 2 FT w 7 to win it. #wabkbscores pic.twitter.com/bap6yU93M9— Michael Carman (@MikeCarmanPDN) December 19, 2019
Johnson was exceptional in the fourth, hitting from inside and outside and locking down the Vikings’ outstanding shooting guard Kobe McMillian, who ended up with a game-high 21 points, but only two of those coming after halftime.
“Gary Johnson is a special player, a special kid,” Riders head coach Kasey Ulin said. “He’s a leader, he’s team-first and he’s a great teammate who carried us late.”
McMillian rattled off 12 straight points in the late first and early second quarter as North Kitsap took control of the game with a 28-0 run — going up by as much as 39-17 at one point.
“We let him get it going early,” Johnson said of McMillian’s play. “We let him get it in the paint and get early buckets. At halftime, I had to step up and not let him touch the ball in the second half. We stayed in man[-to-man defense] and locked up.”
Port Angeles Anton Kathol, center, fights for a rebound with North Kitsap defenders, from left, Aiden Olmstead, Johny Olmsted and Logan Chmielewski on Wednesday night at Port Angeles High School. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
The Riders went nearly a full quarter of game time without scoring during the run and went into halftime down 43-23.
“North Kitsap is so good in transition because they have five guys who can score it and pass it,” Ulin said. “Give them credit, but our transition defense was really poor in the second quarter. We allowed them to get easy looks, 2-on-1s, layups and 3s — and the whole point was we had to be great in transition to make them try and score in the halfcourt.”
Fans were heading for the exits.
They’ll regret missing out on what unfolded.
“In the second half we limited their transition, stopped the ball early, we were able to pressure the ball and defend them well in the half court,” Ulin said. “As a result, we were able to get out and play in space.
“Once we started getting stops and the ball movement started getting better, and we made better reads, attacked space and opened back up the ball
“Our entire goal was to get the game back to single digits by the fourth quarter.”
Port Angeles’ Chase Cobb, front, drives past North Kitsap’s Johny Olmsted in the opening minutes of Wednesday night’s game in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Anton Kathol scored inside to get the Riders’ run going. Chase Cobb locked down on the defensive end and attacked the rim for some buckets as Port Angeles kept whittling away at the Vikings’ advantage.
“Chase Cobb was great defensively,” Ulin said. “And that got him some space and he made some tough shots at the rim.”
Baskets by Damen Ringgold, Dru Clark and a huge 3-pointer by Stuart Methner moved the Riders closer. And some hard-fought effort on the offensive glass allowed Port Angeles to get extra possessions and points late and continue to chip away.
The Riders held North Kitsap scoreless over the final 4:30 of the contest thanks to some tight defensive pressure.
“A guy like Derek Bowechop came in and was just rebounds, tips, deflections,” Ulin said.
Port Angeles’ Anthon Kathol, left, takes the shot as teammate Damen Ringgold looks on in Wednesday night’s game against North Kitsap. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Johnson agreed.
“Derek Bowechop was amazing on the boards,” Johnson said. “Without him, I don’t know what we would have done.”
Ulin also praised Ringgold, Port Angeles’ 6-foot-6 senior post.
“Damen Ringgold was great,” Ulin said. “He had a double-double, 10 rebounds at least in the first half. Our depth wore on them, our physical play wore on them. We wanted to keep the game close, defend, hit some shots late to get the crowd in it.”
Mission accomplished.
“It’s our culture — relentless effort, competitive greatness and a team-first attitude. We stayed to our culture, everybody bought in and we took it from there.”
Port Angeles (2-0, 3-1) visits North Mason (1-2, 2-5) on Friday.
Port Angeles 65, North Kitsap 64
North Kitsap 19 24 13 8— 64
Port Angeles 17 6 24 18— 65
North Kitsap (64) — McMillian 21, La Tour 13, J. Olmsted 10, Humphrey 9, Chmielewski 6, A. Olmstead 5.
Port Angeles (65) — Johson 18, Cobb 16, Ringgold 10, Clark 9, Kathol 9, Methner 3, Bowechop, Jarnagin, Hughes.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Port Angeles’ Dru Clark, left, fends off North Kitsap’s Logan Chmielewski on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
