SHORELINE — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team improved to 15-1 with a 78-72 overtime win on the road Saturday against Shoreline.
Meanwhile, the women have gotten off to a slow start in North Division play with their second straight conference loss, 65-55 against Shoreline.
In the men’s game, the No. 2-ranked Pirates had to dig out of a huge hole, outscoring the Dolphins 43-28 in the second half to force overtime. Once in overtime, Peninsula shot 5-for-6 from the field and outscored Shoreline 14-8.
Coach Donald Rollman said Shoreline didn’t really dominate in the first half, but that Peninsula shots simply weren’t falling and that the players were complaining a little too much. In the second half, the Pirates played tougher.
“We expected to win that game,” Rollman said. “We didn’t really talk Xs and Os at the half. We talked about toughness and mentality and fight.”
Once the game entered overtime, Rollman said “We had no doubt we were going to win. We had completely worn them down.”
The Pirates came out of the halftime break fired up, as Max D’Amato hit a pair of 3-pointers and Mikey Medlock Jr. added a trey. Peninsula wiped out the Dolphins’ 15-point lead in just over seven minutes, taking a 42-41 lead with 12:47 left in the game.
Shoreline bounced back from the onslaught and held a six-point lead with 1:10 left in regulation. Ese Onakpoma hit a 3-pointer for Peninsula at 58 seconds left to cut the lead in half, then Malik Jackson hit a bucket and was fouled with 34 seconds left in regulation. He converted the free throw for a three-point play. The Pirates were able to force a turnover on the Dolphins’ final possession to force overtime.
Once in overtime, Medlock hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws for five points and Aiden Olmstead shot 2-for-2 for four points.
Roosevelt Williams Jr., despite foul trouble, led the Pirates with 20 points and nine rebounds. Onakpoma had 16 to go with nine rebounds and three steals, while Olmstead had 11 points and eight rebounds. Medlock scored 10 and Jackson had seven points and seven rebounds.
Peninsula 78, Shoreline 72 OT
PC 21 43 14 — 78
Shore. 36 28 8 — 72
Peninsula (78) — Williams 20, Onakpoma 16, Olmstead 11, Medlock 10, Jackson 7, McCullough 6, D’Amato 6, Dean 2.
Shoreline (72) — ReStepney 18, Boyd 16, Opany 12, McFerrin 11, Johnson 5, Salim 5, Henderson-Crews 3, Kraxberger 2.
Women’s game
The Peninsula women struggled in the second half, shooting 3-for-29 from the field (10.3 percent) and scoring only nine points over the final 20 minutes of the game, after the Pirates had a blistering 28-point second quarter to take a 46-29 lead into the break.
Millie Long led the team with 15 points and five steals, while Chasity Selden got her first significant minutes of the year, scoring 11. Ituau Tuisaula had nine points and 11 rebounds, and Jenilee Donovan had nine points and six rebounds.
The women came into North play riding an eight-game winning streak, but start league play 0-2 (8-4 overall). They will look to get back on track with a home game at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Skagit Valley (2-0, 9-7).
The men (2-0, 15-1) play Skagit Valley (1-1, 13-4) at 7 p.m., also at home.
Shoreline 65, Peninsula 55
PC 18 28 4 5 — 55
Shore. 18 11 20 16 — 65
Peninsula (55) — Long 15, Selden 11, Donovan 9, Tuisaula 9, Kaganak 6, Marini 3, Kamae 2.
Shoreline (65) — Akaka 20, Eldridge 16, Browning 12, Lee 5, Notoa 4, Pease 4, Williams 2, Altaha 2.
