SHORELINE — The Peninsula men stayed alive for the postseason with a win Wednesday over Shoreline, while the Peninsula women came from way down to beat the Dolphins, grabbing sole possession of first place in the North Division.
The Peninsula men won 84-79, getting big games from James Buckley, Samuel Kahapea and Davien Harris-Williams. That puts the Pirates at 6-7 in the North Division. Everything broke right for the Pirates on Wednesday as they got some badly needed help as both Whatcom (7-7) and Bellevue (6-6) lost their games.
Coach Donald Rollman said the Pirates played tough defense down the stretch, holding Shoreline scoreless for three or four possessions in the final minutes to hold on to a tight lead.
That means the Pirates are completely in control of their own destiny. Peninsula simply needs to win Saturday at Bellevue to make the NWAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed out of the North. If the Pirates lose, they can finish no higher than fifth in the division and can’t make the tournament.
“The playoffs begin today. We’re going about things with a playoff mentality,” Rollman said.
In Wednesday’s game, Kahapea didn’t shoot well from outside, but led the Pirates in scoring against Shoreline with 21, while adding nine rebounds. Buckley came up huge, shooting 4 for 5 from beyond the 3-point and scoring 16 points. In fact, the rest of the Pirates shot just 4 for 23 from 3-point range, so Buckley’s shooting was huge.
Harris-Williams scored 18 points while dishing out six assists. Nyair Cleveland had 14 points and Malik Moore had 13 rebounds.
Peninsula 84, Shoreline 79
Peninsula 40 44 — 84
Shoreline 38 41 — 79
Peninsula (84) — Kahapea 21, Harris-Williams 18, Buckley 16, Cleveland 14, Kelly 7, Thomas 3, Moore 3, Glover 2.
Shoreline (79) — Washington 17, Myers 12, Nuguse 11, Watanabe 11, French 9, Woodard 7, Tinnin 5, Lloyd 5, Davis 2.
Women’s Basketball
Peninsula 61, Shoreline 47
The Peninsula women nearly got upset by last-place Shoreline, but they continued their season-long pattern of coming up clutch down the stretch to pull out a hard-fought 61-47 win over the Dolphins.
Shoreline, which is 0-14 in league, didn’t play like a winless team, getting up 16-9 after the first quarter. The Dolphins were still ahead 29-27 at the half and were hanging around late, down just 46-42 after three quarters.
Then, the Pirates picked a perfect time to go on a big run, outscoring the Dolphins 12-0 over 7½ minutes in the fourth quarter to blow open a 58-42 lead, cruising down the final stretch for the win.
Neah Bay’s Gina McCaulley, whose high school team is playing in the state 1B semifinals today, had her best game of the year, shooting 4 for 4 from 3-point range and leading the team with 14 points. Kuutuuq Danner had 13 points and Kameron Bowen 10.
The win puts Peninsula at 10-3 in the North Division (17-8 overall), a half-game ahead of Olympic, which is done with league play at 10-4.
If the women beat a good Bellevue team (8-4 in league) on the road Saturday, they win the North Division outright. If they lose, Peninsula and Olympic, who split two games against each other, share the North Division title. Peninsula has already clinched a playoff berth.
Peninsula 61, Shoreline 47
PC 9 18 19 15 — 61
SC 16 13 13 5 — 47
Peninsula (61) — McCaulley 14, Danner 13, Bowen 10, Luke 7, Williams 5, Sharp 5, White 4, Padilla 2, Vicente 1.
Shoreline (47) — Bell 16, Hansen 12, Hawkins 10, Smith 9.
