By Michael Carman and Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
*Updated: Port Angeles defeated Renton 42-32 Saturday at Foss High School in Tacoma to advance to the Class 2A state regional round. The Roughriders will face the winner of Lindbergh-White River on Thursday for a spot in the West Central District Tournament Championship. That game will be held at Foss at 7:45 p.m.
CHIMACUM — The Chimacum girls basketball team scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to fend off a physical Vashon team 30-27 to win a pigtail playoff and advance to the West Central District 3 1A Girls Basketball Tournament.
The Cowboys (12-9 overall) played a loser-out district playoff game Saturday night in Seattle against Seattle Christian.
Friday against the Pirates, the two teams were knotted at 3-3 after the first quarter and the Cowboys trailed 19-16 after three quarters, before rallying to win.
Mechelle Nisbet led Chimacum with 10 points, while Grace Yaley and Maddie Dowling each scored six.
“This game played out as we anticipated coming into it with Vashon who tends to be a physical team by nature,” said coach Trevor Huntingford.
“They came out just as expected bumping and pushing up the court and I thought we handled it well and didn’t allow them to turn us over. Unfortunately I thought we were really over-amped for the game and our shots were way off early,” he said.
Huntingford said Alice Yaley played big inside, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds for the Cowboys.
“In the fourth we began to press full court and started to turn them over with more frequency with Mechelle, Jada [Trafton], Maddie and Grace all applying great upfront pressure throughout the quarter.
“Shanya [Nisbet] did a good job covering up the back end of the press for us. It stayed very close but we did a great job of getting them out of rhythm and getting them sped up,” he said.
“In the final three minutes I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping our composure and we made our way through tremendous pressure,” Huntingford said.
“It may not have been the prettiest win but I think that it seemed to be fairly exciting to those in the crowd and I’m certainly proud of our girls this year and all that they’ve done,” he said.
Chimacum 30, Vashon 27
Vashon 3 11 5 8— 27
Chimacum 3 9 4 14— 30
Vashon (27) — Anderson 7, Kilpatrick 3, Bray 4, Walker 6, Kuyper 5, Butler 2.
Chimacum (30) — G. Yaley 6,Trafton 4, M. Nisbet 10, Dowling 6, S.Nisbet 4
Port Angeles 44, Eatonville 37
TACOMA — Nizhoni Wheeler scored 21 points as the Roughriders opened Class 2A West Central District Tournament play with a big win over the Cruisers to move within one win of the state regional round.
And Port Angeles (13-8) clinched a regional berth with a 42-32 win over Renton (14-5) on Saturday at Foss High School in Tacoma.
In Friday’s game at Wilson High School, Port Angeles opened up a 35-23 lead after three quarters.
“After giving up three three-pointers in the first quarter, our zone defense caused Eatonville problems all night, producing both steals for us and travelling calls on them,” Riders coach Michael Poindexter said.
“Natalie Steinman, Kyrsten McGuffey, Gracie Long, and Cheyenne Wheeler were particularly effective for us in the zone.”
“We attacked the basket well during the game, and if we had converted more lay-ins early, we’d have had a more comfortable margin late.”
Port Angeles had to hang on in the final moments to secure the win.
“Eatonville was within 3 points late in the game after Sammi Swartout hit two free throws to make the score 40-37,” Riders coach Michael Poindexter said.
“Gracie Long’s two free throws put us up by five, and on the next possession, Cheyenne Wheeler deflected a pass for a Gracie Long steal. Cheyenne was eventually fouled and missed, but Nizhoni Wheeler got the rebound and putback to put us up 44-37.”
Port Angeles 44, Eatonville 37
Port Angeles 9 9 17 9— 44
Eatonville 13 2 8 14— 37
Port Angeles (44) — N. Wheeler 21, Mikkiah Brady 9, C. Wheeler 7, Gracie Long 4, Kyrsten McGuffey 2, Aeverie Politika 1.
Eatonville (37) — Sammi Swartout 10, Autumn Holt 10, Jaelin Hotz 5, Maddy Jumper 6, Peyton Hutchings 3, Natasha Henley 3.
Lindbergh 47, Sequim 35
TACOMA — The Sequim girls got in a deep hole against Lindbergh in their Class 2A West Central District Tournament opener, rallied in the fourth quarter but weren’t able to overcome a 20-point deficit in a 47-35 loss to Lindbergh.
The loss sends Sequim into the consolation bracket. The Wolves will be playing the loser of a Saturday game between Fife and North Kitsap.
The Wolves were led by Adrienne Haggerty, who scored 17 points. Ella Christiansen scored nine. Lindbergh’s Elle Watts scored 22.
“Our girls fought hard but we turned the ball over way too much versus Lindbergh. They were a very aggressive team with quick guards and an extremely skilled post player in Watts,” said Sequim coach Larry Brown.
“[Watt’s] presence in the post was impressive. She scored 22 points on good post moves and shots against one of our best defenders who has held some very talented players to far below their averages,” he said.
Sequim got behind 39-19 after a 16-4 third quarter for Lindbergh. The Wolves outscored the Eagles 16-8 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough.
Lindbergh 47, Sequim 35
Sequim 5 10 4 16 — 35
Lindbergh 9 15 15 8 — 47
Sequim (35) — Haggerty 17, Christiansen 9, Green 5, Glasser 4.
Lindbergh (47) — Watts 22, Sinclair 10, Arzaya 9, Spates 3, Jin 3.
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Compiled from team reports. Email scores to sports@peninsuladailynews.com or phone 360-417-3525.
Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News Chimacum’s Maddie Dowling drives around Vashon Pirate, Chloe Kuper, during a West Central District 3 pigtail playoff game in Chimacum on Friday.
