MOUNT VERNON — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team split a pair of games at the Skagit Valley Turkey Tournament this weekend.
Saturday’s and Friday’s games could not have been more different for the Pirates as they won a defensive battle 59-51 over Big Bend on Saturday for their first win of the year. This came after losing high-scoring 97-84 affair Friday to Yakima Valley on Friday as both teams set the nets on fire with their shooting.
Saturday’s Game
Saturday’s game had some bizarre stats, as Big Bend actually shot over 50 percent from the floor and controlled the boards 31-19.
The difference in the game was that Peninsula had 13 steals and forced 21 turnovers, as the Vikings only got off a measly 37 shots for the game. Peninsula didn’t shoot particularly well at 34 percent, but the Pirates got off 50 shots.
Another big difference was free throws. Peninsula shot 27 free throws to Big Bend’s 11, drawing 20 fouls from the Vikings while committing 12 fouls.
Big Bend came in to Saturday’s game on a four-game winning streak, averaging nearly 80 points a game in those victories.
Peninsula was led by Patrick Odingo, who shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and scored 16 points. Antonio Odum had 12 points to go along with four steals, while DeShawn Rushmeyer scored 10 points, shooting 6-for-6 from the line, and added three steals. Jaiden Blackmon came off the bench to score 10 points in 17 minutes to go with three steals.
Peninsula 59, Big Bend 51
PC 21 38 — 59
BB 20 31 — 51
Peninsula (59) — Odingo 16, Odum 12, Rushmeyer 10, Blackmon 10, Sulaiman 6, Maestas 3, Shamp 2.
Big Bend (51) — Harris 11, Gonzalez 11, Carrera 10, Braimoh 6, Wojna 4, Hillman 3, Raymond 3, Larsen 3.
Friday’s Game
The Pirates shot well and got outstanding games from Odum, Odingo and Aheem Sulaiman, but the Yakima Valley Yaks shot even better in a 97-84 loss.
The Pirates shot 45 percent (9-for-20) on their 3-pointers and 32-for-49 (65.3 percent) from the floor, which included 23-for-29 (79.3 percent) from 2-point range. Unfortunately, Yakima Valley managed to shoot better — 68.5 percent (37-for-54) from the floor and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from beyond the arc.
Peninsula was also hurt on the boards as the Yaks outrebounded the Pirates 33-22.
Odum had a fantastic game, shooting 11-for-12 from the floor for 23 points. He added five rebounds and four steals. Odingo had 11 points and 10 assists, while Sulaiman shot 4-for-5 from the floor, 3-for-3 on his free throws and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc for 13 points to go along with five rebounds.
Port Angeles graduate Xander Maestas had his best game of the season so far for the Pirates, shooting 3-for-3 from the floor and making a 3-pointer for seven points.
Peninsula (1-3) has its first home game of the year at 5 p.m. Tuesday against Green River (3-0). The Peninsula women (2-2) host three games beginning Friday with the Pirate Classic, beginning with a 6 p.m. game against Chemeketa (3-0) from the very tough South Region.
Yakima Valley 97, Peninsula 84
Yakima Valley (97) — Brown 27, Delp 23, Goldsmith 18, Harris 13, Alvarado 7, Wright 6, Jones 2, Dorsett 1.
Peninsula (84) — Odum 23, Sulaiman 13, Odingo 11, Lopez 8, Maestas 7, McNeal 7, Blackmon 4, Shamp 2.
