PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College women’s basketball team, shorthanded with two of its main players out with injury, struggled down the stretch against Skagit Valley, but thanks largely to an epic game from Alexa Mackey, the Pirates were able to pull out a 66-62 victory to remain unbeaten in North Region play.
Mackey, having to help make up for the loss of starter Shania Moananu to a knee injury, had the best game of her college career with 33 points and 15 rebounds, 12 of them on the offensive boards. She added four assists and three steals.
It was the second straight close battle for the Pirates, who eked out a 69-67 win over Olympic over the weekend.
“I wasn’t happy with how we played, but that’s a good team,” said head coach Alison Crumb. “We were shorthanded, but we need to be better.”
Mackey said she was frustrated with how she played against Olympic and was motivated to do better Wednesday. She fouled out of that game with seven points. She said she can’t think of another game she’s ever had with bigger stats.
“I wanted to show people what I’ve got,” she said. She said she can’t really replace Moananu but that everyone on the team had to step up with her out.
Mackey was hot early, scoring 23 points in the first half as the Pirates went into the break up fairly comfortably at 37-24.
Peninsula maintained its lead at 52-38 with 1:15 left in the third quarter when Skagit Valley started methodically whittling away at the gap. Crumb said the team struggled defensively and that affected the team’s offense as there seemingly was a lid on the Peninsula basket during that stretch. The Pirates were getting good shots, but they just weren’t falling.
“We got out of our systematic defense. When we don’t defend, our shots don’t go in,” Crumb said. “Things just got out of character on defense.”
The Pirates got outscored 22-9 over the next 8½ minutes as Skagit Valley came all the way back to make it 61-60 with 2:53 left in the game.
Mackey came through huge down the stretch, making a basket with 2:45 left in the game and adding a free throw. She hit another bucket with 1:58 left in the game to make it 66-60, giving the Pirates a bit of breathing room. Peninsula didn’t score again, but the Cardinals missed three 3-pointers down the stretch and Peninsula was able to hang on for a hard-fought win.
Neah Bay’s Ryana Moss scored six points on a pair of 3-pointers, both of which came in the second half. Sequim’s Jelissa Julmist had nine points and five rebounds and Makena Patrick came off the bench for eight points.
Port Angeles’ Paige Mason, who now plays for Skagit Valley, got a big ovation from a group of supporters when she came in the game. She played seven minutes and had a rebound.
Allie Heino, an impressive post player from Mount Vernon Christian that Moss faced several times in the postseason when she was on two Neah Bay teams that made it to state championship games (winning one), scored nine points for Skagit Valley.
With the win, the Pirates (5-0, 13-2) remain all alone in first place in the North Region. Peninsula next hosts Everett (0-5, 1-18) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Peninsula 66, Skagit Valley 62
Skagit Valley 16 8 18 20 — 62
Peninsula 14 23 15 14— 66
SVC (62) — Kerr 14, Cook 17, Heino 9, Fischer 8, Nelson 4, Michel 4, Larson 2.
Peninsula (66) — Mackey 33, Julmist 9, Patrick 8, Moss 6, Ragsdale 4, Agasiva 4, O’Brien 2.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or sports@peninsuladailynews.com.
