PORT ANGELES — Teams would rather avoid entering the postseason having to deal with the frustrations associated with a loss.
After playing poorly for much of the first three quarters against Kingston on Thursday, the Port Angeles girls basketball team avoided that fate by clawing past the Buccaneers 33-27 in an Olympic League 2A Division contest.
The season has been a bit of a yo-yo for these Roughriders (8-4, 12-8) who earned the Olympic League’s No. 3 seed to the double elimination West Central District Tournament as a result of Olympic’s win over league champion North Kitsap on Thursday.
Port Angeles will face either Eatonville (17-4) or Renton (13-5) at Wilson High School in Tacoma at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Against Kingston on senior night, the Riders led the Bucs 10-9 after the first two quarters as the teams combined to produce more turnovers than points in a rough first half.
“I don’t want to attribute the flatness [to senior night],” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said.
“It’s an emotional night, but that shouldn’t matter.”
Avy Hiner was a major factor for Kingston in the third quarter as the Bucs shook off being held scoreless in the second period to take a 23-19 lead into the final frame.
Hiner scored 10 of her team-high 16 points in the third.
Despite holding Kingston to 27 points, Hiner’s performance upset Poindexter.
“We weren’t all that happy with our defense tonight,” Poindexter said.
“We got driven on, we jumped out at people. Avy Hiner, we know her game, we know her takes and we got beat on the drive too much tonight.”
Poindexter said he wanted his team to focus on rebounding and playing with more pep in the fourth quarter.
“To fight for rebounds and play with an aggressive confidence offensively,” Poindexter said.
“To quit playing tentatively and with doubt. Attack better and quit worrying. But mostly to pick up the energy level because it was poor. And to battle.”
Reserves heeded that call and turned the game around for the Riders early in the fourth quarter.
“We had some kids come off the bench and play really key roles for us in Aeverie Politika Kianna Robideau, Devin Edwards,” Poindexter said.
“They did a great job inside. A great job rebounding and defending. We were not fighting for rebounds on the defensive end well enough. Kingston was working harder than we were, better than we were.
“And that group at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth really, really played hard and that’s where the game turned score-wise. They really won the game for us.”
The Buccaneers led 25-19 before Port Angeles guard Gracie Long picked up two quick baskets on aggressive drives to the hoop.
“Gracie did a really nice job,” Poindexter said. “That was one of the more confident stretches for her all season.”
Starters Cheyenne and Nizhoni Wheeler checked back in at the 5-minute mark as the Riders continued their push.
Kiana Robideau rebounded a flubbed layup attempt by Lauren Lunt to tie the game at 25, and Krysten McGuffey gave Port Angeles the lead for good by swishing a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:12 to go.
Lunt redeemed herself for her miss with a 3-pointer coming out of a timeout to put the Riders ahead 31-27 with 1:46 to go.
“[Poindexter] kind of told me I had one last chance,” Lunt said of her 3-point make.
“I knew it was my last straw, so I knew I had to figure it out pretty quickly. It was open and I took it and I had a lot of confidence in it.”
Lunt added a layup on a runout after a Nizhoni Wheeler steal with 1:22 to play to account for the final margin.
She said Poindexter told the team they needed to step it up in the fourth quarter with postseason play on the horizon.
“He told us that going into districts we need to figure out how to play together so that when we play at districts we aren’t so all over the place,” Lunt said.
“I thought we did a really good job of being relaxed and getting baskets and rebounding. We did a really good job of rebounding in the fourth quarter.”
Lunt admitted the senior night festivities affected her mentally.
“I think I let it get to my head a little more than I should have,” she said. “And I don’t think I was the only one, it was emotional.”
It was the final home game for Riders’ seniors Nizhoni Wheeler, Lunt, Robideau, and Madi Wenzel.
“It’s a variety of seniors,” Poindexter said.
“Nizhoni has been with us for all four years and was the last player to go to the SunDome [state tournament]. “She had a lot of great peer mentors that have helped her become the player she is.
“Kiana is an athlete who plays hard for us and helps us out. You saw that tonight.
“Madi Wenzl is an example of the personal virtues of stick–to–itiveness, commitment and loyalty.
“And Lauren is known for her shooting a little bit, but she is smart, she knows the game extremely well. We like her passing as well as her shooting. She has a great sense of humor, and kind of keeps us in perspective sometimes, keeps it light. And she has high standards for herself.
“They all bring something a bit different.”
Lunt said she would take plenty of memories away from the PA gym.
“I’ll remember all the hard work and practices,” she said. Everybody sees what we do during games but nobody sees behind the scenes. Everybody puts in so much work that nobody else can see all that hard work and seeing it all pay off.
“We have a great support group here, and I wouldn’t want to play for any other school.”
Port Angeles 33, Kingston 27
Kingston 8 0 15 4— 27
Port Angeles 5 5 9 14— 33
Kingston (27) — A. Hiner 16, George 5, Eliason 4, Friedel 2.
Port Angeles (33) — C. Wheeler 8, Lunt 5, Long 5, Brady 4, N. Wheeler 4, McGuffey 3, Edwards 2, Robideau 2.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
