PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula men and women’s basketball teams, both coming off successful 2016 campaigns, gave fans a quick glimpse of what they can expect to see on the court next year.
The women are coming off an incredible season in which they went 25-6 and played for the Northwest Athletic Conference championship, while the men won the North Division with an 18-11 record.
The men’s squad held a brief scrimmage at the Pirate Tipoff on Friday, along with a dunk contest and a three-point shooting contest featuring some of the women’s players.
Peninsula men
Standing out for the men during the 10-minute scrimmage was 6-foot-9 Omar Lo, who poured in 23 points (out of 44 scored by his squad) with a mix of outside shooting and points in the paint. Lo had four 3-pointers and three dunks in those 10 minutes.
Growth spurt
Head coach Mitch Freeman said Lo, who was not a starter last year, grew three inches since last season. He is pegged as the team’s small forward for its opening scrimmage against Bellevue Nov. 11.
“Hopefully, he’s going to give us good minutes,” Freeman said.
While Lo has gotten taller in a few months, Freeman said he still has to get stronger to take full advantage of his reach.
The men lost nine players from last year and return five. Much like the women, with so much turnover, the men
“It’s going to be a lot of teaching, a lot of learning and now setting a standard of how we want to play,” said Freeman.
“We want to play for each other and get the new guys to gel with the returning players,” Freeman said.
The men’s team has some good length with Lo and Sam Velez listed at 6-9, Kevin Baker 6-8, Australian Trent Warren at 6-6 and Losee at 6-6.
Among the returners are shooting guard Darrion Daniels from Las Vegas, Alex Baham from Wasilla, AK, and redshirt freshmen Alex Losee (South Jordan, Utah) and Jalon McCullough (Fairbanks, Alaska).
In addition to their Australian player, the men’s team adds to its international flavor with Colby Jackson, a transfer from the University of Alberta.
For the Bellevue scrimmage, Freeman expected his starting five to be McCullough at the point, Daniels at the off guard, Lo at small forward, Warren at power forward and Velez at the post.
The men will open non-league play at Mount Hood Community College on Nov. 19. Their first home game will be at the First Federal Pirate Classic Dec. 3-4.
Women reloading
Both head coaches say that they will try to build what they accomplished in 2015-16, though at the same time, they both will be essentially starting over.
The women lost eight players off that NWAC-runner-up squad, including leading scorer Cierra Moss and leading rebounder Zhara Laster.
“I think we always have high expectations. I don’t want to compare ourselves to any other year. We’re just focused on getting better. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” said head coach Ali Crumb.
“We lost a lot of components, this is going to be a different team with a different look. We’re building a new journey with a different set of bodies,” Crumb said.
Crumb said a starting lineup isn’t set yet. Newcomers to the team fans should keep an eye on are freshmen guards Tiffani Smith and Yamilei Rodriguez, both from Las Vegas, Nev. Forward Jamellia Clark is another player from Las Vegas the Pirates picked up as a transfer from St. Francis Xavier College that “has a lot of promise,” Crumb said.
Returning players expected to contribute heavily this year are sophomore forward Jenise McKnight and sophomore guard Alicia Dugan Crumb said.
The women held a scrimmage today against the Seattle Mountaineers and will open non-league play at Mount Hood Community College on Nov. 19. Their first home game will be at the First Federal Pirate Classic Dec. 2.
