PORT ANGELES — A combination of defenses helped the Port Angeles girls clamp down on Sequim in a 36-19 rivalry game victory.
Tight man-to-man defensive pressure sprinkled with zone looks kept the Wolves off-balance and their shots off-target all game long.
“We had a few breakdowns, but we looked like ourselves defensively,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said of Friday’s game.
In a tough shooting night for each team, Sequim hit just 7 of 43 attempts from the field, while the Riders connected on 14 of 41 shots.
Port Angeles rolled to an early 12-1 lead as the Wolves missed their first seven attempts.
Jordan Miller’s 3-pointer with 2:05 to go in the first quarter cut the Riders’ lead to 12-4.
Another 3 from Ella Christiansen early in the second period pulled Sequim within five, at 12-7.
Christiansen led the Wolves with seven points.
“Ella had a nice game, she did well,” Poindexter said.
“I told Nizhoni [Wheeler] to give her some cushion, so then she backs out and, snap, she hits a 3. I told Nizhoni that one was on me.”
Despite some solid offensive rebounding by Sequim and a couple of second-quarter scoring droughts for Port Angeles, the Wolves would come no closer.
“Sequim had 14 offensive rebounds and scored seven of their 19 points directly off of put-backs or fouled shooters on the put-backs,” Poindexter said.
The Wolves’ height advantage helped create those second-chance opportunities.
“We allowed too many offensive rebounds to Sequim, but they have two 6-footers and we don’t,” Poindexter said.
“We have Nizhoni and a bunch of 5-[foot]-7 post players.”
Wheeler led the team in rebounds with nine, while blocking three shots and scoring six points — all of her points coming in the first half.
Some stagnant offensive play also slowed the Riders.
“Offensively, we attacked early, but then we sat back a little too much on the perimeter and stopped attacking,” Poindexter said.
“I was not happy with the offense in the first half,and that’s partly Sequim was kinda taking some things away from us.”
But with seven experienced varsity players on the roster, the Riders stayed composed.
“The tone was good on the bench,” Poindexter said.
“Nobody was worried when we weren’t scoring. There was no panic, just a sense of, ‘Let’s play defense and it will work itself out.’”
Even though Port Angeles missed many open looks and scored the same amount of points in each half (18), Poindexter was more pleased with his team’s play after halftime.
“I was happy with the offensive ball movement in the second half,” Poindexter said.
“Both sides are probably feeling like they didn’t shoot very well. I was just happy we got better shots in the second half.”
The Riders’ move into a blend of zone and man defense also helped keep the Wolves kenneled.
“We went into a combination defense to try and deny Miller and [McKenzie] Bentz the ball,” Poindexter said.
“At halftime [Natalie] Steinman said she wanted to guard Miller.”
Miller managed to get free for just one basket in the second half and finished with five points for Sequim.
Poindexter felt the defensive switch energized his team.
“That was their highlight, the ownership of being able to play that combination defense,” Poindexter said.
Port Angeles forced 22 Sequim turnovers.
Hayley Baxley led the Riders with seven points and also contributed three steals.
Maddie Boe’s six assists and five steals were team highs for Port Angeles. She also scored three points.
“She does such a good job for us defensively, her anticipation is extraordinary,” Poindexter said.
The Olympic League 2A-leading Riders (4-0, 10-1) now face a tough week: home games with Bremerton and Kingston on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, and a visit to second-place Olympic on Friday.
Sequim (1-4, 4-6) visits North Kitsap on Monday.
________
Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
