EVERETT — The Peninsula College basketball women have put themselves in a position for a share of the North Division title, while the men’s squad is in the position of pretty much having to win its home finale Wednesday night.
The women beat Everett 67-51, getting four 3-pointers and 19 points from Leilani Padilla. The victory puts the Pirates in a tie for second place at 10-3, one game behind first-place Whatcom. Peninsula has already qualified for the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament and now is playing for seeding.
The men still have work to do, however, after an 88-72 road loss to Everett that handed the Trojans the North Division title. Peninsula is having a solid year at 9-4 in the North Division, but they have not clinched the postseason. In a top-heavy division, they could finish anywhere between second to tied for fourth and having to play a tiebreaking game with Edmonds depending on what happens Wednesday at home against Shoreline.
The women got up big in the first half against Everett with a 27-18 lead at the break and essentially cruised through the second half.
The women had good balance, with six players scoring seven points or more. Casandra White hit a pair of 3-pointers and had 10 points, Sunshine Vicente and Logan Luke each had eight points. Kayla Johnson had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists and Kameron Bowen had seven points.
Coach Alison Crumb isn’t sure what to expect Wednesday. Shoreline at 5-8 will be fighting for a playoff berth so the Dolphins will be motivated for that game.
“They’ve been able to compete. They will be coming and doing their best to get us,” Crumb said.
Crumb said it will be sophomore night for the Pirates and their last home game and that’s always emotional.
“That can be good and it can be bad … you have to use it. They’ll be a lot of parents and family rooting for them. You can’t ignore that. I won’t be able to talk them out of the emotion,” Crumb said.
If Peninsula wins and Whatcom loses, both teams will end up 11-3 and Peninsula can claim a share of the North title. Crumb said that Whatcom already has locked up the North’s No. 1 seed, however, so the best seed the Pirates can claim is No. 2.
Also in the mix is Bellevue, also sitting at 10-3. Bellevue finishes its season playing Everett.
Peninsula 67, Everett 51
PC 19 18 19 11 — 67
Everett 11 7 20 13 — 51
Peninsula (67) — Padilla 19, White 10, Vicente 8, Johnson 8, Luke 8, Bowen 7, Fitzgerald 4, McCaulley 3.
Everett (51) — Martin 20, Hezekiah 16, Kahunahana 5, Mellick 5, Marshall 3, Martinez 2.
Men’s game
The Peninsula men could’ve forced a tie for first place in the North Division with a win over Everett. After losing to the Trojans, they’re now in a position of just trying to get in the NWAC tournament.
“I was a little bit disappointed. We didn’t have enough toughness,” said coach Donald Rollman. “We got away from what we’ve been doing to be successful — dribbling too much, sharing the ball less.”
The game was actually close at the half with Everett holding just a 42-39 lead. But the Trojans started off the second half on a 20-6 run to open up a huge 62-45 lead. The Pirates were never able to cut the deficit to less than 10 points after that.
Sequim’s Nate Despain led the Pirates with 15 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Jaylin Reed scored 12, while Malik Moore had 10 points and nine rebounds. Everett Torres-Kahapea hit three 3-pointers and scored nine points.
The men are now in a strange position where they could finish second in the North … or forced to play a play-in game just to get the No. 4 seed.
Everett has the North title at 11-2. Skagit Valley has qualified for the postseason at 9-4, Peninsula is 9-4 (19-6 overall), while Edmonds and Shoreline are both 8-5.
If Peninsula beats Shoreline on Wednesday, the Pirates are in the NWAC tournament as either a No. 2 or No. 3 seed out of the North, depending on what Skagit Valley does against Olympic this week. If the Pirates lose, they could end up in a three-way tie with Edmonds and Shoreline at 9-5. That would mean a play-in game against Edmonds, Rollman said.
The Peninsula women play Shoreline at 5 p.m. Wednesday for sophomore night, with a share of the North title on the line. The Peninsula men follow at 7 p.m. with a trip to the NWAC tournament on the line.
Everett 88, Peninsula 72
PC 39 33 — 72
Everett 42 46 — 88
Peninsula (72) — Despain 15, Reed 12, Moore 10, Torres-Kahapea 9, Hunter-Holiday 6, Gatluak 5, Gurske 5, Harris-Williams 4, Long 4, Artis 2.
Everett (88) — Smith 21, Walker 15, Martin 13, Seybold 11, Makuei 11, Phillips 6, Underwood 5, Crumley 4, Swenson 2.
