MOUNT VERNON — The Peninsula basketball men had a 10-point second half lead Sunday, but weren’t able to hold it, falling 71-66 to Tacoma at the Skagit Valley Turkey Tournament, leaving the Pirates still looking for their first win of the year.
Peninsula also lost on Saturday 83-71 against Big Bend in the men’s second game at the tournament.
The Pirates built up a lead of 53-43 early in the second half against Tacoma, but the Trojans went on a 19-5 run over a 10-minute span to get ahead 62-58. The Pirates battled back behind two free throws from James Buckley, a bucket by Erik Kelly and a free throw from Davien Harris-Williams to tie the game 64-64 with 1:06 left.
Tacoma responded with three baskets in the final 66 seconds, including a big three-pointer by Austin Kingman, to seal the victory.
Harris-Williams led the Pirates with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Kelly had 12 points, Samuel Kahapea 10 points, K-Lum Strickland nine and Eli’Sha Sheppard eight. Kingman had 29 for the Trojans.
For the Trojans, 2018 Port Townsend High School alum Kaiden Parcher played 23 minutes, scoring two points.
Big Bend 83, Peninsula 71
The Pirates got five 3-pointers and 27 points from Harris-Williams, but it wasn’t enough for the Pirates to keep up against the Vikings. Harris-Williams also led Peninsula with six rebounds.
Buckley scored 14, while Kelly and Sheppard each scored 12.
Peninsula was down just 33-30 at the half, but the Vikings opened the second half by making six 3-pointers in the first 5:40 of the second half to open up a 51-39 lead with 14:20 left. The Pirates clawed back to within seven after Harris-Williams sank a 3-pointer with 3:01 left, making it 76-69. Big Bend was able to put the game away with a bucket, two made free throws and a 3-pointer down the stretch.
Peninsula lost all three games at the Turkey Tournament, but had the lead at the half in two of those games and was in all three contests until the final minutes.
The Pirates (0-0, 0-4) look to regroup with a rematch against Tacoma at home at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Tacoma 71, Peninsula 66
Peninsula 39 27 — 66
Tacoma 33 38 — 71
Peninsula (66) — Harris-Williams 14, Kelly 12, Kahapea 10, Strickland 9, Sheppard 8, Buckley 5, Moore 4, Angevine 2, Gonzalez 2.
Tacoma (71) — A. Kingman 29, G. Kingman 12, Parker-Lopez 11, Walker 9, Martin 8, Parcher 2.
Big Bend 83, Peninsula 71
Peninsula 30 41 — 71
Big Bend 33 50 — 83
Peninsula (71) — Harris-Williams 27, Buckley 14, Sheppard 12, Kelly 12, Strickland 2, Kahapea 2, Angevine 1, Glover 1.
Big Bend (83) — Huerta 22, Andrews 17, Brown 15, Kuiper 11, Decker 10, Engelhart 2, Nielsen 2, Herford 2, Washington 1, Fidler 1.
