PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles proved it’s very much a work in progress, but also showed flashes of a vast potential in a 47-39 Olympic League 2A Division girls basketball win.
“What I told [the team] afterward is I thought we got outplayed a fair amount of the game, maybe not all the game, but I’d give [North Kitsap] a few more minutes of outplaying us,” Roughriders coach Michael Poindexter said. “Give NK credit, that’s not surprising. They are gritty, they are tough and smart.”
And the Vikings, a team Port Angeles beat three out of four times last season (including a league championship tiebreaker and a district playoff semifinal), displayed ample motivation.
North Kitsap climbed out of a 14-6 deficit to tie the game at 14-all after one quarter, as reserves Alicia Goetz and Julia Tweiten knocked down open jump shots against the Riders’ zone defense.
“We had a some defensive breakdowns that we have to fix,” Poindexter said. “That’s going to take time, it’s a new press, so we had a few kids get excited and we created gaps in our press, so we need to play that better.”
Hot gym, cold shooters
The Riders went cold from the floor in the second quarter, connecting on just 2 of 17 shots, and trailed 19-18 at halftime, and by as much as five, 25-20, two minutes into the third period.
“We had some lethargy offensively and some hesitation. I thought we were playing tight in the first half and then in the second half with too much adrenaline sometimes,” Poindexter said. “We just have to calm down and relax.”
The gaps were sealed in the fourth as Port Angeles locked down the Vikings defensively, forcing seven turnovers and outscoring North Kitsap 14-5 in the decisive final period.
Mikkiah Brady was crucial in the fourth, defending at a high level and scoring seven of her nine points down the stretch.
Brady relaxed on her first offensive touch of the fourth quarter, getting the ball down low and pump-faking a shot attempt to draw North Kitsap post Maddie Pruden into jumping. Brady then waited and used the glass to score inside.
“I thought Mikkiah Brady played her heart out on defense,” Poindexter said. “I went down and told some people on the bench and told some people you aren’t going to go back in, I don’t want to take Mikkiah out.
“She played a smart, smart game and a very tenacious game on defense. And she played within herself, she didn’t try to do too much.”
Brady’s 3-pointer with 5:30 to go gave the Riders a 38-34 lead.
“That was a nice 3,” Poindexter said. “I had a nice look at it and I was like ‘hit that.’ I usually don’t talk to kids on offense, but I wanted her to knock that one down.”
Madison Cooke led all scorers with 14 points for Port Angeles. She came on strong in the final period, answering Raelee Moore’s basket with a bucket to stretch the Riders’ lead back to four, and hitting a free throw and getting another score after missing a second freebie to put Port Angeles up 43-37 with 2:23 remaining.
Freshman Eve Burke continued to make a strong impression off the bench, hunting for loose balls, grabbing rebounds against bigger Vikings posts and scoring 10 points.
“She’s here because she finishes inside, she’s here for her overall athleticism, how she runs the floor,” Poindexter said. “She has great hands, she plays bigger than she is. She was solid.”
Port Angeles (2-0, 4-1) will visit North Mason on Friday.
Port Angeles 47, North Kitsap 39
North Kitsap 14 5 15 5— 39
Port Angeles 14 4 15 14— 47
North Kitsap (39) — Moore 10, Barreith 8, Goetz 7, Johnson 6, Tweiten 5, Pruden 3.
Port Angeles (47) — Cooke 14, Burke 10, Brady 9, Long 7, Wood 5, Larson 2, Walker, Olsen, Politika, Noel.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News North Kitsap’s Maddie Pruden, right, reaches over Port Angeles’ Eve Burke for a rebound during the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game at Port Angeles High School.
