PORT ANGELES — After a slow start that kept an outmatched Bremerton team in the game well into the third quarter, the Port Angeles girls basketball team turned up their trademark defense, finishing the game on a 38-7 run to blow the contest open en route to a 65-24 victory.
With the win, the Roughriders are in good position for second place all alone in the Olympic League. With a win Monday over Kingston, the Riders can lock up second place all by themselves. North Kitsap is tied with the Riders at 10-3, but Port Angeles has an easier schedule, facing a decent 5-8 Buccaneers team in Kingston, while North Kitsap must play 13-0 league champion Bainbridge on Monday.
The Riders’ 65 points was their biggest offensive output of the year and they did most of the damage in the second half, using their defense to create fast-break buckets, scoring 38 points over the final 13½ minutes of the game.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Cayleith Alward, top, passes over the head of Bremerton’s Tiana Barber on Friday night on the Port Angeles home court.
The Riders forced 40 Bremerton turnovers and outrebounded the Knights on the offensive board 19-5.
Despite the dominant-looking final score, the winless Knights managed to stick around well into the third quarter, down just 27-17 with 5:30 left in the quarter. That was when the floodgates opened for the Riders with a Becca Manson steal and a fast-break bucket by Lindsay Smith. That became the theme of the whole second half.
“We had a sluggish start to the game, with several missed shots in the first quarter and difficulty stopping Bremerton drives and open shots in our zone defense,” said coach Michael Poindexter. “We were up only 24-14 at half, but came out strong in the third quarter and outscored the Knights 18-5 in the third, followed by a solid fourth quarter margin of 23-5.”
Lindsay Smith led the way for the Riders with 23 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 10-for-16 from the field. Freshman Sariah Doherty had one of her best games of the year, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and scoring 11. Clark had 10 a to go along with eight steals and six assists. Lexie Smith had a solid game in her final regular-season game at home with nine points, while Manson had seven steals. Tatum Moses and Mikkhia Stevens each hit 3-pointers during the Riders’ big 38-7 run.
The Riders (10-3, 13-6) will finish the regular season playing a make-up game postponed by last week’s snow at 7 p.m. Monday in Kingston (5-8, 8-12), then they wait to find out their district playoff seeding.
Port Angeles 65, Bremerton 24
Brem. 7 7 5 5 — 24
PA 15 9 18 23 — 65
Port Angeles (65) — Lindsay Smith 23, Doherty 11, Clark 10, Lexie Smith 9, Stevens 3, T. Moses 3, K. Moses 2, Politika 2, Alward 2.
North Kitsap 52, Sequim 26
SEQUIM — The Sequim girls basketball team got off to a slow start, falling behind 32-10 at halftime against a good North Kitsap team, eventually losing 52-26.
The Wolves did better in the second half, only outscored 20-16.
We played North Kitsap tonight and lost 52-26
“The girls played hard, but we were out rebounded, and we couldn’t make any shots and turned the ball over to many times,” said coach Joclin Julmist. “Libby [Turella] had a solid game with 10 points and eight rebounds.”
Taylor Heyting also had a good game with 15 rebounds. Gracie Chartraw scored seven.
The Wolves (2-11, 3-14) wrap up their season looking to finish with a win with a road game at 7 p.m. Monday at last-place Bremerton (0-13, 0-15). That is a make-up of a game postponed due to snow.
North Kitsap 52, Sequim 26
Seq. 2 8 5 11 — 26
NK 15 17 9 11 — 52
Sequim (26) — Turella 10, Chartraw 7, Wagner 6, Heyting 3.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS Port Angeles’ Kenzie Moses, left, tries to avoid Bremerton defenders, from left, Nikaya Harper-Bright, Rylee Wheaton and McKaela Robison on Friday in Port Angeles.
