PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles got five 3-pointers and 19 points from Lauren Lunt to blow open a close girls basketball game with rival Sequim in the second half en route to a 42-23 win.
The victory Friday keeps the Roughriders in third place in the Olympic League 2A Division at 6-4.
The top four squads advance to the district playoffs.
“She’s a fantastic shooter and a good player,” Sequim coach Larry Brown said of Lunt.
I was just feeling my shot,” Lunt said. “It wasn’t just me, my teammates got me open. Most of the credit goes to the team,” she said.
Despite the final score, the Wolves were right in the game until early in the fourth quarter.
Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said Sequim’s two 6-foot posts of Adrienne Haggerty and Ella Christiansen gave the Riders trouble inside as both girls tallied numerous blocks. The Riders couldn’t get their post player Nizhoni Wheeler going inside, so they looked outside for scoring.
“I think we took good shots,” he said. “We started running our offense more patiently and more aggressively.”
Poindexter said Sequim is a good team and he’d like to see the Wolves grab the Olympic 2A fourth seed. The Wolves are 4-7 in league play after the loss, one game behind 5-6 Kingston and a half-game behind 4-6 Bremerton. Sequim must win its final league game against North Mason to have a shot at the fourth and final seed for postseason.
Lunt scored 10 points in the first half as the Riders took a 20-11 lead into the break. The Riders’ trapping defense gave the Wolves trouble, while Sequim was allowing no inside scoring.
“If we had done a better job of breaking the trap, they would’ve got out of it,” Brown said.
Christiansen was big for the Wolves in the third quarter, with two huge blocks and a 3-pointer to cut the Riders’ lead to 22-16. A 3-point shot from the corner by Christiansen that would have made it a one-possession game just barely missed. That seemed to be a turning point in the game late in the third.
Freshman Mikkiah Brady responded with a 3-pointer for the Riders to open the lead back up to nine points. Port Angeles still only had a 25-18 lead early in the fourth, but then Lunt hit three 3-pointers in less than four minutes to help make the score 36-18. From that point on, the Riders cruised to the win.
One of Lunt’s treys came on a two-on-one fast break.
“Our coach doesn’t like it when we do that. I knew if I missed I’d hear about it,” Lunt said.
Poindexter chuckled at Lunt’s quote.
“When she’s in that groove, I have no problem with that shot,” he said.
Lunt said the Riders still have work to do.
“This really helps us for the postseason,” she said. “We have big games against Kingston and Olympic. It’s going to be tough.”
Cheyenne Wheeler scored 10 for the Riders, while Christiansen led the Wolves with 10. Jessica Dietzman added seven.
Port Angeles 42, Sequim 23
Sequim 7 4 5 7 — 23
Port Angeles 6 14 5 17 — 42
Sequim (23) — Christiansen 10, Dietzman 7, Haggerty 6.
Port Angeles (42) — Lunt 19, C. Wheeler 10, Brady 3, Politika 3, N. Wheeler 2, Long 2, Steinman 2, Edwards 1.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Sequim’s Adrienne Haggerty, top, pulls down a rebound in the fourth quarter on Friday while surrounded by, from left, Nizhoni Wheeler and Natalie Steinman of Port Angeles and teammates Bobbi Sparks and Madison Green.
