PORT ANGELES — While the Port Angeles girls basketball team was in control much of the way in its game Saturday, the Roughriders were having trouble shooting and putting the Cougars away.
Then in the fourth, clinging to just a three-point lead, they ratcheted up their defense and rode a series of steals and fast-break buckets to a 50-35 victory over the 3A opponent.
The Riders had at least seven steals in a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Riders forced 40 Central Kitsap turnovers and took 24 more shots than the Cougars. Port Angeles had just 13 turnovers.
“That’s the game,” said coach Michael Poindexter.
Port Angeles’ Izzy Felton, front, looks towards the lane defended by Central Kitsap’s Callie McCollum during Saturday’s game in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Poindexter said foul trouble hurt the Riders, but he was proud of how well the Port Angeles bench played.
“I think that we played hard. The effort was there,” Poindexter said. “We held it together through foul trouble, adversity, their physicality.”
Poindexter said Tatum Moses, Morgan Politika and Kennedy Rognlien all played well. “We’re deeper than they [Central Kitsap] were. They held it together for us.”
The Riders were led by senior Paige Mason’s 17 points. Mason also had seven rebounds and six steals.
Mason said that when the steals start happening, they become infectious.
“When we start stealing, we start feeding off each other,” she said.
Izzy Felton hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 13. Like fellow senior Mason, she had a solid all-around game with eight rebounds, five steals and three assists.
“We got in a groove and started to play our game,” Felton said of the fourth quarter. “We were finally able to show what we can do.”
Lindsay Smith also had 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and six steals. That trio alone had 23 rebounds and 17 steals.
The Riders were clinging to just a 34-31 lead in the fourth quarter when they erupted on a 12-0 run. They ended up outscoring the Cougars 16-4 over the final 5:25 of the game to pull away from the Cougars.
It was the third game this year the Riders have allowed fewer than 40 points.
Port Angeles (1-0, 3-1) next plays at North Mason (0-1, 2-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday for an Olympic League game.
Port Angeles 50, C. Kitsap 35
CK 9 8 10 8 — 35
PA 11 11 12 16 — 50
Cent. Kitsap (35) — Lundblad 15, Schaeffer 11, Higgs 7, Cobb 2.
Port Angeles (50) — Mason 17, Lindsay Smith 15, Felton 13, Lexie Smith 3, Clark 2.
Crescent 34, EJ JV 18
Crescent 52, Concrete 14
JOYCE — Crescent swept a pair of games at a round-robin tournament, beating the East Jefferson JV team 34-18 and Concrete 52-14, outscoring the Lions 24-0 in the second quarter.
In the East Jefferson game, Naomii Sprague led the Loggers with 13 points and five steals, while Chloe Ferro-May had 10 defensive rebounds. Ciara Cargo had 12 points.
In the Concrete game, the Loggers only had five players available and Sprague and Cargo-Acosta had to play the fourth quarter with four fouls, but neither girl fouled out.
Alexie Dunavant had 17 points and made a 3-pointer while Cargo had nine points and 14 defensive rebounds. Sprague had 12 points and Ferro-May nine.
“It was a good couple of wins. The girls really stepped up,” said coach Brian Shimko.
Crescent (2-3) next plays at Lake Quinault on Tuesday.
Crescent 34, E. Jefferson JV 18
Crescent 10 10 9 5 — 34
EJJV 4 4 4 6 — 18
Crescent (34) — Sprague 13, Cargo 12, Dunavant 4, Gales 5.
Crescent 52, Concrete 14
Crescent (52) — Dunavant 17, Sprague 12, Cargo 9, Ferro-May 9, Gales 5.
Neah Bay 64, Crosspoint 44
NEAH BAY — The Neah Bay girls basketball team blew open a close game after halftime en route to a 64-44 win on Saturday.
Neah Bay went into the half up just 28-26 but outscored the Warriors 36-18 in the second half.
Ryanna Moss led the Red Devils with 21 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Amber Swan scored 18, shooting 8-for-11 from the floor and Cerise Moss had 10 points.
Neah Bay 64, Crosspoint 44
CP 14 12 11 7 — 44
NB 17 11 21 15 — 64
Neah Bay (64) — R. Moss 21, Swan 18, C. Moss 10, Martin 6, Greene 4, A. Halttunen 4, Ray 1.
Port Angeles’ Lexie Smith, front, looks for away around Central Kitsap’s Sam Schaeffer on Saturday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
