BREMERTON — The Peninsula College women’s and men’s basketball teams set up an important closing week of the regular season by completing a season sweep of the Olympic Rangers.
The Peninsula women put Olympic away early in their 71-52 win, while the men routed the Rangers 83-54.
With Wednesday’s wins, the Pirate women and men kept pace for seeding to the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament in Kennewick next month.
The Peninsula women (10-1, 16-5) sit second in the NWAC North Region with a showdown looming Sunday at first-place Bellevue (11-0, 20-6).
The Pirates will earn at least a share of the North title if they can beat the Bulldogs and earn home wins against Skagit Valley (8-3, 18-9) next Wednesday and Shoreline (0-11, 0-19) on Saturday, Feb. 28.
In their previous meeting back on Jan. 24, the Pirates were leading Bellevue into the second half when leading rebounder Zhara Laster went down with a knee injury.
Starting sophomore post Gabi Fenumiai later fouled out, and the Bulldogs escaped with a 67-62 victory.
The Pirates have not won a North Division championship since 2005 when current head coach Alison Crumb was the starting point guard for the Pirates.
The Peninsula men, meanwhile, have won three of their last four games and have moved into sole possession of third place in the North.
The Pirates (6-5, 13-10) need a top-four finish to advance to the NWAC tournament.
The road to that top-four finish goes through Bellevue (10-1, 23-3), Skagit Valley (5-6, 13-10) and Shoreline (5-6, 10-14).
The Peninsula men missed the playoffs last year, but are in a position to return to a tournament where they have been a fixture, qualifying 11 times in the 17 years of existence of men’s basketball in Peninsula’s modern history.
Women’s Game
Peninsula 71, Olympic 52
The Pirates overwhelmed the Rangers, leading 37-18 at the half and rolling on to win by 19.
Peninsula held Olympic to just 27.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
Gabi Fenumiai hit on 6 of 7 shots from the floor to lead the Pirates with 16 points.
Miranda Schmillen scored 13, Zhara Laster had 12 points and eight rebounds and Whitney Nemelka hit double-digits with 10 points.
Neah Bay’s Ciera Moss scored eight, with a team-high nine rebounds.
Port Angeles graduate Macy Walker scored 10 points and had three steals for Olympic.
Peninsula 71, Olympic 52
Peninsula 37 34— 71
Olympic 18 34— 52
Individual scoring
Peninsula (71)
Fenumiai 16, Schmillen 13, Laster 12, Nemelka 10, Pilster 9, Ci. Moss 8, Staveland 2, Hutchins 1, Gonzales, Criddle.
Olympic (52)
Carper 18, Fontes 11, Walker 10, Gordon 8, Chaney 5, Frazier, Ferrell, Davies, Carter, Harpes.
Men’s Game
Peninsula 83, Olympic 54
Freshmen Deonte Dixon of Bremerton and Ryley Callaghan of Port Orchard returned home to Kitsap County and put on a show, leading the Pirates to victory.
Dixon led the way with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Callaghan added 16 points, hitting 4 of 8 from 3-point range.
Malik Mayeux had a big night with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds, Jal Deng hit for 12 points and six boards and Jeremiah Hobbs had 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Peninsula 83, Olympic 54
Peninsula 38 45— 83
Olympic 29 25— 54
Individual scoring
Peninsula (83)
Dixon 19, Callaghan 16, Mayeux 13, Deng 12, Hobbs 11, Cook 8, Nibler 4, Ironside, Reis, Domach.
Olympic (54)
Neal 15, Martin 10, Butler 8, Williams 8, Travis 7, Dow 6.
