BELLEVUE — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team became the latest to beat Bellevue, doing so on the road by a 82-72 score to stay in the thick of the Northwest Athletic Conference North Region’s battle for the postseason.
The Peninsula women, meanwhile, lost their first region game in 364 days, falling to Bellevue 77-70 on Saturday and dropping into a tie for second place with the Bulldogs.
Next up, Skagit Valley.
Peninsula’s teams host the Cardinals for important region showdowns Wednesday.
The women play first at
5 p.m. The Pirates (4-1, 13-5) will be trying to bump Skagit (5-0, 15-6) down to their one-loss level.
The Peninsula (3-2, 10-9) and Skagit (3-2, 10-8) are part of a three-team logjam for third place in the North along with Everett.
Edmonds (4-1, 15-3) and Olympic (4-1, 6-10) are tied for first place. The Rangers continued their surprising start to region play by defeating Everett 104-90 on Saturday.
Wednesday is veteran’s night at Peninsula College. All veterans and active military receive free admission.
MEN’S GAME
Peninsula 82, Bellevue 72
The Pirates shot 55 percent from the field Saturday, while holding the Bulldogs to 41 percent and limiting leading scorer Yonathan Michael to two points.
Bellevue’s start to North Region play has been the opposite of Olympic’s. The Bulldogs have lost all five region contests and are now 9-11 overall.
“I thought we played well,” Peninsula coach Mitch Freeman said.
“I thought for the most part we came in and were able to compete for 40 minutes.
“It was good win, and it was on the road.”
Saturday’s win was the Pirates’ first over Bellevue in Freeman’s three seasons as head coach.
Deonte Dixon paced Peninsula with 19 points. He made 5 of 11 shots from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point range and 8 of 10 at the foul line.
Dixon ranks 14th in the NWAC in scoring with a 17.6 average.
Ryley Callaghan missed only two shots from the field (8 for 10) and put up 18 points for Peninsula.
Dimitri Amos came off the bench to score 16 points and pull down a team-high eight rebounds, and freshman Darrion Daniels finished with 14 points.
The Bulldogs were led by North Kitsap graduate Calvin Dennis, who scored 15 points.
Peninsula 82, Bellevue 72
Peninsula 39 43— 82
Bellevue 33 39— 72
Individual scoring
Peninsula (82)
Callaghan 18, Daniels 14, Dixon 19, Amos 16, Mayeux 6, Baham 2, Hobbs 7, Lo, Reis.
Bellevue (72)
Williams 6, Lockhart 5, Muir-Kueng 9, Michael 2, Moore 13, Walton 10, Dennis 15, Shinaul.
WOMEN’S GAME
Bellevue 77, Peninsula 70
The fourth-ranked Pirates stumbled a bit in the second quarter, and it proved to be the difference in the game.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs outscored Peninsula 15-8 in the second — it was the lowest scoring quarter for both teams — to take a 36-26 lead into halftime.
The Pirates got five of those points back by the end of the third quarter, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.
Imani Smith tied her career high with 23 points to lead Peninsula in Saturday’s game. She also had seven rebounds.
Cierra Moss, the Pirates’ leading scorer, put up 15 points and made 6 of 13 shots from the field. Moss ranks 18th in the conference in scoring with a 15.7 average.
Reserve post Daijhan Cooks finished with nine points and seven boards in 19 minutes.
Peninsula’s defense held Mikayla Jones relatively in check. The NWAC’s fourth-leading scorer finished with 15 points but made only 4 of 17 field goals.
Shelby Kassuba, though, put up 24 points, all of which came on field goals inside the arc, to pace Bellevue (4-1, 14-4).
The Pirates last North Region loss prior to Saturday was at home to Bellevue 67-62 on Jan. 24, 2015. Peninsula wouldn’t lose another game, at it reeled off 13 consecutive wins en route to the NWAC championship.
The kick off the streak by going on the road to beat Skagit Valley 61-59 on Jan. 28, 2015.
Bellevue 77, Peninsula 70
Peninsula 18 8 21 23— 70
Bellevue 21 15 16 25— 77
Individual scoring
Peninsula (70)
Rodisha 2, Laster 4, McKnight 6, Ci. Moss 15, Cooks 9, Ch. Moss 3, Smith 23, Thomas 8, Dugan, Hutchins.
Bellevue (77)
Jones 15, Hamilton 11, Szendre 2, Hagstrom 13, Cosmos 4, Kassuba 24, Mason 8, Reid.
