PORT ANGELES — Young teams aren’t supposed to win close games.
However, the Peninsula College men’s basketball team, without a single returner on the floor, won its second straight thriller in the first round of the second annual First Federal Pirate Classic.
Peninsula’s first-year coach Mitch Freeman improved to 2-0 in his career as a collegiate head basketball coach as the Pirates pulled away in the final seconds to defeat Northwest Indian College 81-78.
Peninsula was led by the hot shooting of sophomore Tyler McKinney, who finished with 27 points. McKinney made 10 of 14 shots from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, and all four of his free throws.
Saturday’s game was tight all the way, with the Pirates holding a 32-30 edge at halftime.
The lead changed hands numerous times in the final minutes and then, in the final minute, Erron Shamlin stuck a 3-pointer to put the Pirates on top, Markus Rawls came up with a big defensive rebound in traffic and Juwan Flowers split the Eagles’ defense for a layup in the final 10 seconds to seal the deal.
Rawls finished with 10 points and five rebounds, Shamlin hit for nine and led Peninsula in assists with four. Daren Hechanova contributed six points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
The Eagles were led by the 32 points from post Josh Nelson and 17 more from Mike Schjang Jr.
In the opening game of the Pirate Classic, Grays Harbor held off the Blue Angels 91-87, getting 30 points from Bryan McGriff and 12 each from Cameron Ladson and Tyler Harrod.
The Blue Angels were led by Seth Johnson with 26 and Mo Anderson with 20.
Port Angeles’ Cody Smithson chipped in 10 points for the Angels, who also got some good minutes from other Port Angeles players Ben Shamp, Mark Shamp and Jeremiah Johnson.
