PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team got into a physical back-and-forth affair with wild swings of momentum against Whatcom in the Pirates’ North Region opener, but the Orcas were deadly from the free-throw line in the second half to pull out an 87-82 win.
Wednesday’s battle, and it felt like a battle, was a game either team could have won. Whatcom’s Hunter Phillips shot 8-for-8 on his free throws in the final 34 seconds to help fend off the Pirates. In fact, Phillips shot 13-for-13 from the line for the game and finished with 30 points.
“That was a tough, physical team,” said Peninsula coach Bryce Jacobson. “I think our guys matched their physicality pretty well.”
Jacobson was not unhappy with how his team played against a fairly big 10-5 team. The team was also missing one of their best players in Beni Njomo, who was not able to play due to a family emergency.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the North [Region schedule], but all the pieces are there,” Jacobson said.
The rugged game featured 36 personal fouls and four technical fouls.
The Pirates played behind most of the night, but kept rallying and took a couple of leads in the second half.
Both teams took turns going on epic runs. Whatcom went on an 18-2 run to take a 34-27 lead in the first half, but the Pirates finished the half on an 8-0 run to take a 35-34 lead into the break.
Whatcom had a 10-0 stretch early in the second half to take a 49-39 lead. An Antonio Odum 3-pointer with 10:10 left gave Peninsula the lead again at 58-57 as the Pirates responded with a 19-8 run. Whatcom came back with an 11-2 run to take a 72-63 lead with 5:22 left.
However, the Pirates weren’t done. They responded with a 6-0 spurt to get within one possession at 72-69 with 2:45 left in the game, thanks to five straight points from Port Angeles’ Wyatt Dunning.
Over the last three minutes, the game was a dogfight in which every possession was critical.
With 45 seconds left and Whatcom holding on to a 79-75 lead, Ese Onakpoma made a steal and got the ball to Odum, who took a perfect-looking baseline 3-pointer, but it rattled out. The Pirates were forced to foul and Phillips kept hitting his free throws.
The Pirates had one last chance when Aiden Olmstead hit a 3-pointer with 19.3 seconds left to again cut the lead to one possession at 83-80. Peninsula was forced to foul to stop the clock and Phillips finished the game by making four more free throws to keep the Pirates at bay.
Onakpoma led the Pirates with 20 points, which included a steal and spectacular dunk in the first half. Javon Ervin had 17 points and four assists. Dunning scored 13, Patrick Odingo 11 and Odum nine.
The Pirates (0-1, 7-8) travel to Edmonds (1-0, 11-5) to play at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Whatcom 87, Peninsula 82
Whatcom 34 53 — 87
Peninsula 35 47 — 82
Whatcom (87) — Phillips 30, McCord 22, Madsen 18, Torkornoo 8, Russ 5, Wilcox 2, Wabaluku 2.
Peninsula (82) — Onakpoma 20, Ervin 17, Dunning 13, Odingo 11, Odum 9, Olmstead 5, Meza 4, Lake 3.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Peninsula’s Patrick Odingo, left, sets up his layup pursued by Whatcom’s Josh Russ on Wednesday in Port Angeles.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Peninsula’s Javon Ervin heads for the lane as Whatcom’s Noah Madsen, right, impedes his progress on Wednesday in Port Angeles.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Peninsula’s Wyatt Dunning, a graduate of Port Angeles High School, holds off the defense of Whatcom’s RaShawn Wilcox on Wednesday night at Peninsula College.
