PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles girls basketball team entered this season carrying the burden of the program’s recent success.
All the Olympic League championships. Jessica Madison. Sending six players to play college basketball over the past two years.
It is as if the Roughriders this season have been constantly facing a roster that included Madison, Krista Johnson, Maddy Hinrichs, Alison Knowles, Kiah and Bailee Jones, Macy Walker, Mariah Frazier, Kylee Jeffers and Shayla Northern.
That’s a tough opponent for the current Port Angeles team, which has no seniors and only three players with significant varsity experience before this season: juniors Maddie Boe and Hayley Baxley and sophomore Nizhoni Wheeler.
Points haven’t come easy, but a hard-working defense has kept the Riders in most games and led them to the district tournament.
On Thursday, that defense held then-league-leading Kingston late in the game to only three fourth-quarter points, as Port Angeles upset the Vikings 44-34 in both teams’ regular season finale.
“I’m just happy for the kids because they earned that,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said of the win.
Thursday’s result, coupled with Olympic’s win over North Mason on Friday knocks Kingston to a second-place finish in the Olympic League.
The Riders finish fourth and will next play at River Ridge to open the District 2/3 tournament Wednesday.
“Grit, moxie, pluck has been our mantra, and you see it in our defense, man, they don’t quit,” Poindexter said.
“A lot of people [have been] kind of doubting them . . . in the community.
“But, I’ll tell you, I love this group. Our coaching staff adores this group.
“And I’ve never coached, in the girls realm, a harder working group of people on the floor defensively.
“They get after it defensively in the zone, and they’ve totally bought into it, and we’re really happy with them.
“And the offense was just enough. They stayed confident.”
Thursday was the second time this season the Riders have given Kingston a tough game.
Last month, Port Angeles led 19-9 at halftime — yes, halftime — before losing 44-38.
“That game at Kingston really got in our craw. We really thought we had that game, and we thought we out-played them, and the kids wanted that pretty badly,” Poindexter said.
“And I don’t believe in statements. We just want to play well going into districts.
“But the kids knew we could win [Thursday’s game].”
During last month’s game against Kingston, Port Angeles junior starter Emily Johnson left the game with a concussion.
That was a big hit to the defense, and Kingston’s Katelyn Carper, a four-year starter, was able to penetrate the Riders’ zone and get to the free-throw line, where she scored 11 of her 19 points.
“It was like Veg-O-Matic time: she sliced and diced. She was 11 of 16 at the free-throw line,” Poindexter said.
“They shot 30 free throws at their place and we shot four. We thought we could balance that out by not fouling her.
“So the No. 1 game plan was don’t foul Katelyn Carper. And not fouling means don’t let her penetrate.”
The Riders were able to follow through on that plan, holding Carper to six points.
“They kept her out of the key, and once you do that, they become 3-point shooters, and they got tired,” Poindexter said.
“We were tired, but they were worse. And their shots were just sailing.
“And we knew that we were in good shape then.”
The Buccaneers only made one second-half field goal from inside the 3-point line, and that came with 23 seconds left in the game.
The Riders, who lead the league in scoring defense with an average of 36.3 points, held Kingston well below its season scoring average of approximately 53 points per game.
The Buccaneers’ offense also was hampered by the absence of the injured Drew Clark, who Poindexter said is the league’s best post player.
The Riders also took advantage of Clark’s absence on the boards, out-rebounding Kingston 40-28.
Wheeler grabbed 10 of those rebounds and scored 10 points, both team-highs.
“Best game of the year for her emotionally and mentally,” Poindexter said.
“Sometimes she can get lost in the injustices of the world, and when things are going wrong, she gets lost in it.
“Not once tonight, not once did she get lost in, ‘My shots are going. I’m getting fouled and it’s not called. That was a great shot block, how did that get called [a foul]?’”
Baxley had nine rebounds and scored seven points and Maddie Boe had six rebounds.
Boe also scored nine points, had six steals and dished out five assists.
She jump-started the Port Angeles offense at the beginning of the final two quarters, scoring the Riders’ first four points of the third and started the fourth-quarter run with a free throw and a steal and layup.
Port Angeles went on to score the first eight points of the final period while holding Kingston scoreless until Aileen Kaye made a free throw with 3:27 remaining in the game.
“Boe’s floor leadership was good, but I think the whole group — you know, those three returning juniors [Boe, Baxley and Johnson] plus Nizhoni, the kids who have had a little varsity experience — really held things together and stayed calm,” Poindexter said.
“Maddie Boe, what an offensive game for her, she’s been struggling sometimes as a shooter.
“Emily Johnson, I don’t think has scored the last two games and she comes through with eight tonight, 4 for 5 [shooting].”
The Riders received key contributions and quality minutes from each of their nine players, including freshmen Natalie Steinman and Cheyenne Wheeler, who was playing only her third varsity game.
Steinman grabbed five offensive rebounds and hit the court or was knocked down a handful of times.
“She’s fearless. Fearless. Love it. Bounces right back up and she’s ready to go,” Poindexter said.
Port Angeles (6-6, 10-10) will have at least two more games this season.
First up is River Ridge (12-8), which finished tied for second in the South Puget Sound League, Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Lacey.
The Riders will then play either Sammamish or Renton on Friday.
Port Angeles 44, Kingston 34
Kingston 8 11 12 3— 34
Port Angeles 9 12 8 15— 44
Individual scoring
Kingston (34)
Kaye 9, Carper 6, Eckert 2, Day 2, Bakken 11, Hiner 4.
Port Angeles (44)
Boe 9, C. Wheeler 2, Lunt 5, Johnson 8, Steinman 3, Baxley 7, N. Wheeler 10.
________
Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
