By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
SALEM, Ore. — The Peninsula men’s basketball team has had a hard-luck season so far, with two overtime losses and a couple of other games the Pirates let slip away in the final minutes.
But, on Saturday, the men gutted out a tough 86-78 win in a game that could have been yet another heartbreaker.
Playing in the South Region Crossover Tournament in Salem, Ore., the men had a 22-point lead over No. 5-ranked Lower Columbia College — 46-24 — late in the first half.
The Pirates still had a safe 57-40 lead with 17:25 left in the game when the Red Devils went on a 27-10 run over 9 minutes to tie the game at 67-67 with 8:38 left.
Instead of collapsing, the Pirates came roaring back down the stretch, getting clutch 3-pointers from Davien Harris-Williams, James Buckley and Keith Seldon to go on a 15-6 run over the next six minutes. After Buckley’s trey with 2:15 left made the score 82-73, the Pirates were able to cruise to a win.
Buckley, Harris-Williams and Seldon all shot lights out from outside. Buckley was 4 for 4, Harris-Williams 5 for 10 and Seldon 4 for 8 as the trio combined to go 13 for 22 from beyond the arc.
Harris-Williams scored 23, while Buckley scored 20 and Seldon 15. Erik Kelly scored 12, while Malik Moore pulled down 12 boards to go with six points.
The clutch win softened the blow from another close loss in the Pirates’ tournament opener Friday.
The Pirates lost 90-83 to Chemeketa (out of Salem, Ore.) in a game that they led 71-70 with less than 5 minutes to play. The Storm outscored the Pirates 20-12 over the final 4:46 of the game to pull away.
Harris-Williams led the Pirates with 22 points, while Samuel Kahapea scored 16, Moore 14 and Glover 12.
Kelly had eight points and seven rebounds, while Moore also pulled down seven boards.
Peninsula (2-8) will play Yakima Valley (1-6) at 1 p.m. Sunday in the finale of the South Region Crossover. The Pirates next game is Dec. 28 at the Clackamas Holiday Tournament.
Peninsula 86, Lower Columbia 78
PC 52 34 — 78
LC 32 46 — 86
Peninsula (86) — Harris-Williams 23, Buckley 20, Seldon 15, Kelly 12, Moore 6, Kahapea 8, Glover 2.
Lower Columbia (78) — Hall 15, Ford 13, Johnson 12, Hector 10, Dennis 9, Canete-Hall 8, Stewart 7, LyDay 4.
Chemeketa 90, Peninsula 83
Peninsula 34 49 — 83
Chemeketa 41 49 — 90
Peninsula (83) — Harris-Williams 22, Kahapea 16, Moore 14, Flover 12, Kelly 8, Buckley 4, Seldon 4, Thomas 3.
Chemeketa (90) — Renne 21, Gray 19, Grimm 11, Richey 8, Carlisle 7, Waddington 7, Russell 6, McNabb 5, Dufort 4, Dufort 2.
Women’s Basketball Big Bend 77, Peninsula 53
LONGVIEW — The Peninsula women never got on track against a good team from Big Bend, falling 77-53 in their opening game at the Lower Columbia Crossover Tournament.
The women shot just 3 for 17 (17.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc.
Kuutuuq Danner led the Pirates with 14 points, while Logan Luke scored eight. Ashlynn Sharp had six points and six assists.
Peninsula (5-3) played Saturday night against Portland in their second game at the tournament. They will play Lower Columbia at 2 p.m. today in a rematch against the Red Devils. The Pirates beat Lower Columbia, which features Port Angeles sisters Nizhoni and Cheyenne Wheeler, 65-62, at Peninsula College earlier this season.
Big Bend 77, Peninsula 53
Big Bend 25 14 25 13 — 77
Peninsula 17 10 16 10 — 53
Big Bend (77) — Sorenson 17, Wilson 16, Johnson 11, Dougherty 8, Luke 8, Broadbent 8, Yarbro 5, Brown 2, Bishop 2.
Peninsula (53) — Danner 14, Luke 8, Sharp 6, Vicente 5, Padilla 5, McCaulley 5, White 4, Bowen 4, Williams 2.
