PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles had more to play for and it showed as the Roughriders rolled up rival Sequim 74-46 in an Olympic League girls basketball game, wresting back control of the Rainshadow Rumble rivalry and clinching at least a share of the league title.
With the win, the ninth straight for Port Angeles (12-1, 14-6), all the Riders need to do to win the Olympic League outright to edge Bainbridge (12-2, 14-4) is beat cellar-dwelling Bremerton (1-12, 2-15) in their season finale tonight. They already have clinched the league’s No. 1 seed for the 2A bidistrict tournament.
“We are excited to play,” Riders coach Michael Poindexter said of his team’s winning stretch. “They are highly motivated to win that league title and they want to own it by themselves and not share it. We downplayed the rivalry piece and we wanted to play with a balance of relaxation and with an intense focus and for the most part we had that last night. Relaxed shooting, and the intensity of paying attention to our defensive effort.”
Senior Paige Mason came up big on senior night, scoring 26 points with 12 rebounds and five steals. Her big night included an eight-point stretch to close the first half and put Port Angeles up 38-28 at the break.
“We were happy with scoring 38 points at halftime,” Poindexter said. “I was thinking, ‘who are we — 38 points’, that’s been our total for some games.”
Mason opened the second half with a 3-point splash, assisted by Lexie Smith as the Riders opened up a 9-0 run with additional buckets by Lindsay Smith and Izzy Felton out of the break to go up 47-28.
“We went on a roll,” Poindexter said. “We’ve been trying to build [Mason’s] confidence with the outside shot since last summer and early on in the season it wasn’t falling, but what we saw last night is not a surprise to us at all.
“And she was electric last night, completely active and comfortable out there which is nice to see.”
Sequim answered with a 9-2 run, but the effort seemed to sap the Wolves’ energy reserves and Port Angeles continued to pull away.
The Riders enjoyed a 16-5 advantage on the offensive glass and turned the ball over 16 times while forcing 25 Wolves turnovers.
Port Angeles also shot the lights out from outside, connecting on 9-of-20 shots from beyond the arc.
Lindsay Smith added 16 points and eight rebounds and big sister Lexie added 14 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists.
Izzy Felton, Port Angeles’ other senior, added 12 points, six assists and three steals.
Sequim coach Joclin Julmist also pointed out Port Angeles’ effort.
“We didn’t match their intensity tonight,” Julmist said. “They shot the ball very well and killed us on the boards. We also didn’t do a good job taking care of the ball. We have to put this one behind us and get ready for [the] district [tournament].
Jolene Vaara scored 16 with nine rebounds for the Wolves, while Gracie Chartraw added 15 points and Bobbi Mixon had nine.
The Wolves (10-4, 12-5) will likely receive the No. 4 seed to the bidistrict tournament and open with a home game Wednesday.
Port Angeles 74, Sequim 46
Sequim 17 11 11 7 — 46
Port Angeles 21 17 15 21 — 74
Sequim (46) — Vaara 16, Chartraw 15, Mixon 9, Heyting 4, Wagner 2, Brewer, C. Turella, Winter, Whitehead.
Port Angeles (74) — Mason 26, Li. Smith 16, Le. Smith 14, Felton 12, Clark 6, Politika, Rognlien, Manson, T. Moses, K. Moses.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Izzy Felton, left, pushes past Sequim’s Graciela Chartraw on Tuesday evening at Port Angeles High School.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Teanna Clark, left, takes to ball to the lane as Sequim’s Libby Turella follows along on Tuesday in Port Angeles.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Morgan Politika, left, looks for her teammates as Sequim’s Jolene Vaara tries to hold her off during Tuesday’s game at Port Angeles High School.
