PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Rams gave a good Peninsula College team all it could handle in a high-powered offensive shootout, with the Pirates coming away with the win 103-82.
The Rams, a semipro team competing in the American Basketball Association featuring teams in Seattle and Tacoma, got 33 points from former All-Peninsula basketball MVP Abraham Venske of Neah Bay and 23 from Michael Janis. Peninsula College assistant coach Nick Camporini played for the Rams, scoring three and pulling down four boards.
The Pirates, meanwhile had good balance with seven players scoring eight or more points.
Davien Harris-Williams and Everett Rorres-Kahapea led Peninsula with 23 points each, with Rorres-Kahapea hitting five 3-pointers. Jaylin Reed had 15, while Sequim’s Nate Despain scored 12. Jannik Rothrock had nine points, while KeAndre Hunter-Holiday and Port Angeles’ Gabe Long each had eight.
Hunter-Holiday led the Pirates with eight rebounds, Harris-Williams had seven boards and five assists, while Long had six rebounds. O’Nuer Gatluak only scored one point, but he had five blocks on defense.
For the Rams, Janis led the team with 11 rebounds, while Venske had eight.
The game counts in Peninsula’s standings. The Pirates (6-2) next play Linn-Benton College at 5 p.m. Friday at the Grays Harbor Crossover Tournament in Aberdeen. The Rams (0-1) next play at home against the Tacoma Kings on Jan. 5.
Peninsula 103, PA Rams 82
PA Rams 37 45 — 82
PC 50 53 — 103
PA Rams (82) — Vencke 33, Janis 23, Lierly 8, Meier 5, Svec 4, Camporini 3.
Peninsula (103) — Harris-Williams 23, Rorres-Kahapea 23, Reed 15, Despain 12, Rothrock 9, Long 8, Hunter-Holiday 8, Thomas 4, Gatluak 1.
Women’s Basketball
Peninsula 64, Wenatchee Valley 62
TACOMA — The Peninsula women dug themselves out of a 17-point second-half hole to edge out defending NWAC champion Wenatchee Valley 64-62 at the Tacoma Crossover Tournament.
“Going up against a quality team like Wenatchee, our team showed a lot of character to come from behind. The girls did enough to win,” said head coach Alison Crumb.
The Pirates were down 46-29 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter when they began their comeback. Peninsula went on a 17-0 run at the end of the third to tie it at 46-all.
“In that third quarter, they could have just folded. They responded and showed their desire to win,” Crumb said.
Still, Wenatchee recovered and built up a 56-51 lead with 4 minutes left in the game. The Pirates’ Leilani Padilla and Casandra White kept Peninsula in the game with a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the final four minutes.
But, it was Sunshine Vicente who came up huge for the Pirates in the final minute. She hit three straight free throws with 58 seconds left in the game to give the Pirates a 62-60 lead. After Wenatchee Valley scored on a basket with 44 seconds left, Vicente hit a layup with 17 seconds left in the game for the winning score. Crumb said it was the good execution of a play that led to Vicente’s basket.
The Pirates had good balance as Vicente led the team with 14 points. Kayla Johnson had 13 points and Leilani Padilla, Casandra White and Logan Luke all scored 11 points. White and Kameron Bowen led the Pirates with seven rebounds each.
“We were sharing the basketball well. It still isn’t our best offensive game,” Crumb said. She did like the team’s scoring balance.
“We don’t want to have someone score 25 for us to win,” Crumb said.
Wenatchee Valley, which beat Peninsula 68-57 earlier this season, came in to Saturday’s game with a 7-2 record. It doesn’t get any easier for the Pirates (5-3) as they played Umpqua (8-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the NWAC, Sunday after press deadline.
Peninsula 64, Wenatchee Valley 62
WV 21 17 8 16 — 62
PC 18 9 19 18 — 64
Wenatchee Valley (62) — Steen 14, Andreas 13, Peady 12, Peralta 11, Kunkel 7.
Peninsula College (64) — Vicente 14, Johnson 13, Luke 11, White 11, Padilla 11, Brown 2, Bowen 2.
Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Michael Janis of the Port Angeles Rams, right, looks to pass while being guarded by former Roughrider Gabe Long of the Peninsula College Pirates.
