PORT ANGELES — Seven North Olympic Peninsula basketball teams were in postseason action Thursday night at venues around Western Washington and the results … well, they could have been better.
North Olympic Peninsula teams went 2-5 on the night with three teams seeing their seasons wrap.
The Port Angeles boys opened up an early lead, going ahead 20-6 after one quarter against Fife at home Thursday, but turnovers plagued the Roughriders the rest of the way. Those giveaways helped the Trojans climbed back in it, with Fife tying the game late and hitting more free throws in overtime (5-1) as Port Angeles lost 54-50. The Riders missed out on the chance to seal a Class 2A State Tournament berth with the loss and will have to regroup and recover quickly.
Port Angeles (17-5) will now visit rival Sequim (12-9) in a loser-out contest at 7 p.m. Friday. Each team must win two district games to advance to the state regional round.
The contest was orginally slated for Graham-Kapowsin High School, but Port Angeles and Sequim athletic directors Dwayne Johnson and Dave Ditlefsen worked to move the game closer to home. A coin toss was held and the Wolves won, thus the home court advantage for the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Port Angeles won the previous two games.
The Port Angeles girls rolled past Franklin Pierce 71-26 at home Thursday night to seal a state regional round berth and advance in the Class 2A West Central District Tournament. If the Roughriders (18-3 and No. 8 in WIAA RPI) remain in the top eight of the RPI through district play, they will advance to the Class 2A State Tournament in Yakima for the second straight season.
Port Angeles will face Renton (16-9) Friday night at 6 p.m. at Wilson High School in Tacoma. The Indians upset Foster 53-46 Thursday night.
The Sequim girls gave No. 1 district seed and defending district champs White River a scare in a 57-50 road loss Thursday. The Wolves (14-7) will play Eatonville at Sumner High School Friday night at 7:45 p.m. in a loser-out contest.
Clallam Bay’s girls also moved on in the Tri-District Tournament with a 65-40 win over Rainier Christian in a loser-out game on Thursday at Crescent High School.
The Bruins (11-9) are now in the double-elimination portion of the tournament and will play at Puget Sound Adventist (17-3) of Kirkland Friday at 2 p.m.
The Forks girls fell 58-39 to La Center in the Class 1A Southwest District Tournament to post an 8-13 overall mark.
The Spartan boys lost 84-69 to Seton Catholic on the boys side of the district tournament. The Evergreen League champs finished the season 17-6.
Crescent’s boys fell 47-42 to Lopez in a loser-out Tri-District Tournament playoff game at home Thursday. The Loggers finished the season 8-9.
More details, along with photos from four of the contests,
