PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles girls basketball team held off a late rally from Sequim thanks to seven straight points from Teanna Clark, beating the Wolves 47-34.
Clark finished with 17 points to lead the Roughriders, who improved to 2-2 in the Olympic League.
Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter praised Sequim’s Libby Turella, who returned from injury to hit four 3-pointers, three of them in the first quarter. He said Port Angeles wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to play and they found out immediately she was going to be a big factor in the game.
“She’s a great player, we really respect her game,” Poindexter said. “That’s the best I’ve seen Sequim play for a while. They played well.”
Poindexter said changing defenses slowed the Wolves down after a 16-point fourth quarter. Sequim was only able to score nine points over the second and third quarters combined.
“We all worked really hard on our triangle,” said Clark. “[After] they hit four threes in the first quarter, we had to step it up.” She said Becca Manson, Mikkiah Stevens and Morgan Politika all played well on defense.
“We played better than we have in the last couple of games,” said Sequim coach Joclin Julmist. “We shot the ball well, our defense was better. Their second chances just killed us.”
Both teams were red-hot from the floor in the first quarter. In addition to Turella’s fireworks, Port Angeles’ Becca Manson countered with two 3-pointers of her own and Sequim’s Gracie Chartraw added a first-quarter trey as the teams combined for six treys in the first. The Wolves held a 16-15 lead after the first quarter.
The game slowed down into a defensive struggle as the Riders slowly started pulling away. Port Angeles took a 37-25 lead into the fourth, but the Wolves clawed back, thanks largely to Chartraw. She scored five straight points on a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer then made a nice pass for an assist to Hailey Wagner to make the score 37-32 with five minutes left in the game. With plenty of time left, the Wolves were suddenly down just two possessions.
Poindexter said the Riders didn’t panic from Sequim’s 7-0 run in the fourth quarter.
“We try not to jump up and down about runs,” he said.
Clark responded to Chartraw’s outburst with a basket, a bucket and a foul, then another basket to quickly give the Riders a safe lead against at 44-32. Mikkiah Stevens finished the scoring for the Riders with a 3-pointer.
“My teammates helped me out [in the fourth]. I know my teammates would be there if I missed so I have a lot of confidence,” Clark said.
Turella ended up going 4-for-9 from 3-pointer range and scoring 12 points and Chartraw added 10. Hailey Wagner and Kiley Winter each scored six and Taylor Heyting had eight rebounds.
For the Riders, Lindsay Smith had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Teanna Clark had four assists and six steals. Manson finished with seven points.
Port Angeles (2-2, 5-5) next plays Friday at Bremerton (0-5, 0-6). Sequim (1-3, 2-6) plays at North Kitsap (4-1, 8-4) on Friday.
Port Angeles 47, Sequim 34
Sequim 16 4 5 9— 34
Port Angeles 15 10 12 10— 47
Sequim (34) — Libby Turella 12, Gracie Chartraw 10,Hailey Wagner 6, Kiley Winter 6, Taylor Heyting, Manuela Valle, Kaiya Robinson, Neveah Owens.
Port Angeles (47) — Teanna Clark 17, Lindsay Smith 10, Becca Manson 7, Morgan Politika 4, Sariah Doherty 4, Mikkhia Stevens 3, Lexie Smith 2, Cayleigh Alward, Kenzie Moses.
