PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team opens its 2015-16 season with a pair of home games this weekend, while the women’s will begin the defense of its Northwest Athletic Conference title with a four-day, four-game road trip.
The Pirate men tip off the new year at home against Big Bend at 7 p.m. today in a game that should feel a little bit like the NWAC postseason.
The Vikings went 23-9 last year to win the NWAC East Division, but surprisingly went two-and-out at the 2015 NWAC Basketball Championships.
The Pirates, meanwhile, went 7-7 in conference play, narrowly qualifying for the tournament, but then surprised the field, winning three of four games to bring home a third-place NWAC trophy. They went 17-13 overall.
With eight returning sophomores, and a skilled recruiting class, Peninsula looks to be a legitimate NWAC title contender in 2015-16, while the Vikings, who return seven sophomores, also have trophy plans.
The Peninsula men then turn right around and face Highline at 7 p.m. Saturday, also at home.
The Thunderbirds placed second, behind NWAC champion Clark, in the West Division last year with a 23-9 overall record, and fell to Peninsula 83-81 in a thriller in the second round of the tournament.
“We are excited to get the season started, as we open up against two of the better NWAC basketball programs in Big Bend and Highline college,” Pirates head coach Mitch Freeman said.
“We will be tested early against both programs, which will allow us to find out where we stand as a program at this point of the early season.”
Admission to the games is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors, veterans and juniors, and free to children 12 and younger, as well as Peninsula College students and employees with ID.
Pirate women on the road
Head coach Alison Crumb decided the Peninsula women would begin the defense of their basketball championship with a baseball schedule, playing four straight games in three different towns in four days.
The Pirates open 2015-16 at Tacoma at 6 p.m. today, then play Highline at Tacoma at noon Saturday.
They then travel to Longview to face the Lower Columbia Red Devils at 1 p.m. Sunday, before traveling back north for a game against Centralia at 5 p.m. Monday.
The trip will be an assault on the West Division. Tacoma went 4-20 and finished eighth in that conference last year, but the other three stops are against the top three finishers in the West.
Lower Columbia won the conference and finished 2015 with a 25-9 record, Centralia placed second with a 27-6 overall mark, and Highline was third at 19-13.
“All four teams are very well-coached and play different styles, which is going to be challenging for us, because we won’t have much time to recover and prepare for the next team,” Crumb said.
“On the same line, that is part of the fun. We just have to go out and play hard and play together.”
The Pirates showdown with the Red Devils will also be a showdown of former Neah Bay Red Devils.
Faye Chartraw is a freshman at Lower Columbia. Peninsula, meanwhile, has two sophomores from Neah Bay, Cierra and Cherish Moss.
The past four All-Peninsula Girls Basketball MVPs will be in the gym Sunday, because Port Angeles graduate Maddy Hinrichs, the All-Peninsula MVP in 2012-13 and co-MVP in 2013-14, transferred from Whatcom to Lower Columbia. Cierra Moss shared MVP honors with Hinirichs in 2013-14, and Chartraw earned the honor last year.
“It will be a Neah Bay matchup, and Port Angeles High School’s Maddy Hindrichs also transferred there. She isn’t able to play this year, but she is still on the team, so kind of cool,” Crumb said.
Crumb, the seven-year head coach who once played for the Pirates herself, says she likes early season road trips for team building.
“These trips are always great to have early in the season, because it’s a great opportunity to bond with your teammates in a different way,” Crumb said.
“We’re staying in hotels, eating and traveling together. With so many new faces, it’s important that we begin to develop an identity of who we are and where we want to go.
“I think opening weekend is a great opportunity to do that. We’re going to be challenged in each game, and I’m excited to see how we will respond.”
After training for two months, Crumb is also looking forward to coaching her players against someone else.
“This weekend should be a lot of fun for our players,” Crumb said.
“Opening weekend is always really exciting. Every team has been grinding away and battling against each other for so long that it’s exciting to finally use the grit and competitive nature against someone else.
“We’re definitely looking forward to that opportunity.”
The Pirates return seven sophomores from the team that won the first NWAC Women’s Basketball Championship in Peninsula’s history, and also reloaded what looks like a solid freshman class.
The Pirates won’t be seeing much of Port Angeles in the next month. They will be idle next week and then will travel to Eastern Washington for a three-game trip Dec. 4-6, then play in the Pierce Tournament Dec. 11-13, and finally make their home debut at the eight-team NWAC North Region Crossover Tournament, Dec. 17-19, in the Pirate Gym.
