SEQUIM — Just when the Port Angeles Roughriders were about to overcome a slow start, they were faced with an even larger test.
After scoring only two points in the first quarter, Port Angeles had gotten to within two points, 10-8, when senior Emily Johnson hurt her knee while driving to the hoop after making a steal.
Several Riders stepped up in Johnson’s absence, and Port Angeles claimed a season sweep of rival Sequim with a 43-28 girls basketball victory Friday night at Rick Kaps Gymnasium.
“That was a killer,” Lauren Lunt said of losing Johnson.
“She’s one of the biggest parts of our team, and to see her go down, we knew we had to get the win for her because she’s one of our favorite players on the team and everybody loves her, and so when you see someone go down like that, you know you’ve got to get the win for her.”
After Johnson went down with 4 minutes, 20 second to play in the first half, Port Angeles and Sequim traded baskets until it was tied 14-14 at the break.
After scoring only two points in the first quarter, the Riders held the Wolves to four in the second. All things were now equal.
In the third quarter, Port Angeles took off.
Lunt opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give Port Angeles its first lead of the game, and later hit another that gave it a 22-16 lead.
“My team got me open, and I hit the 3,” Lunt said.
“They had some good passes to me and to Cheyenne, and everybody worked together.”
McKenzie Bentz hit a 3 for Sequim and Hayley Baxley made a pair of free throws for the Riders to make it 24-19.
Then Cheyenne Wheeler took over.
The sophomore scored seven straight Port Angeles points, the last two coming on a basket right before the buzzer to end the third. The Riders’ lead was up to 31-21.
“Cheyenne’s third quarter, seven points were huge for us. In my mind that was the turning point in the game. That’s really where we stretched it out,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said.
“I think that was the game, personally. That’s really where I was like, ‘Well, that was a statement.’
“I would say the combo: Lauren hit the outside shots and Cheyenne hit the inside shots.”
Four of Wheeler’s points were the beginning of a 10-0 run for the Riders that put the game out of reach.
By the time Alisha Grasser’s jumper ended Sequim’s nearly six-minute scoring drought, Port Angeles was ahead 38-23 with 3:46 to play, and on its way to its second victory over the Wolves this season.
Wheeler led all scorers with nine points.
“I get emotional during the game, and so I tried to push that emotion toward my playing,” Wheeler said.
“So instead of getting emotional, I was just trying to do my best to score and play tough D.”
Playing “tough D” is the main reason the Riders are 15-3, in the hunt for the Olympic League 2A title and ranked 10th in Class 2A by The Associated Press.
And defense is where Johnson is most important to the Riders.
“She’s a rock for us defensively — she hurt the knee after a steal, you know?” Poindexter said.
“She’s so smart and so disciplined.”
Poindexter didn’t know after the game the severity of Johnson’s injury or how long she would be out of action.
Taking over Johnson’s role in the zone defense were a pair of sophomores, Natalie Steinman and Gracie Long.
“I’ll tell you what, Gracie Long and Natalie Steinman filled her spot, essentially. It was Natalie and Gracie’s show,” Poindexter said. “And they did great. Both of them really came through.”
Sequim was running the show early in the contest, thanks to a start that was the complete opposite of the one they had against Port Angeles in a 36-19 loss earlier this month.
In that game, the Wolves trailed 12-1 in the first quarter. On Friday, they scored the first four points and led 10-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Sequim was attacking the Riders’ zone and hitting its shots on offense, and seemed much less intimidated by Port Angeles’ press.
On defense, the Wolvers turned Port Angeles, for the most part, into jump shooters. And the Riders’ shots weren’t falling.
Sequim coach Justin Wagner said the Wolves’ growth throughout the season was evident in the two Port Angeles games.
“We have worked really, really hard to get ourselves prepared not only for this game but for every game, and I think that the improvement overall from my ball handlers and my posts has been pretty significant this year,” she said.
“And I think that these two games, the two Port Angeles games, were a great showing of that, because I think you could see the progression from them.”
The Riders didn’t fret when they only scored two points in the opening quarter. This is, remember, the team that scored six points in the opening half against Bainbridge earlier this season and still came back and won.
Besides, even though they weren’t penetrating the zone as well as Poindexter would have liked, they were getting some open looks.
“I wasn’t bothered, I wasn’t worried. It was like, ‘That’s too bad,’” Poindexter said by the slow start.
“And Sequim was playing really well. I think it showed what Sequim can really be. They’re a solid team, and one of our things was to expect them to play well.
“And those kids that she has out there have been around the block. They’re not newbies, and they showed it tonight. They played well.”
Jordan Miller led Sequim with eight points, and Bentz finished with five.
The Wolves (2-9, 6-11) will finish their season with a pair of home games: a nonleaguer against Bainbridge on Monday, and an Olympic League 2A tilt with North Kitsap (7-3, 10-7) on Tuesday.
Lunt finished with eight points for Riders. Nizhoni Wheeler had seven points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Maddie Boe had five points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.
As a team, Port Angeles grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
Port Angeles has locked down a postseason berth, and now will try to win Olympic League 2A next week.
The Riders are a half-game behind Olympic (9-2, 13-5) for first place in Olympic League 2A. They play at Bremerton (4-6, 7-10) on Tuesday and at Kingston (6-4, 11-7) on Thursday.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
