PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula Pirates are deep enough this year that they can survive Deonte Dixon picking up his fourth foul with 15 minutes left.
Big Bend is good enough to hang around after Peninsula built an 18-point lead in the first half of Friday’s season opener.
Dixon showed how important he is to the Peninsula College men’s basketball team when he re-entered the game and scored half of his 18 points to help the Pirates hold on for a 95-86 win in a nonleague duel between a pair of teams who played in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament last season.
“We knew that could happen. He’s a scoring machine,” Peninsula freshman guard Darrion Daniels said.
“Deonte, he’s going to score. We just tell him to keep his head up. Sometimes he gets down on himself, but we tell him to keep his head up and he come in and perform like he did tonight.”
The Pirates made 74 percent (23 for 31) of their field goals in the first half and built a lead as high as 48-30 before settling for a 50-37 advantage at the break.
The 50 points is the most Peninsula has scored in a single half since it poured in 60 against running-and-gunning Shoreline on Feb. 19, 2014, in a 97-96 victory. That game also was the last time the Pirates scored 95 points or more.
“Our guys came out with a lot of energy, stuff that we’ve been working on consistently over the past couple months,” Peninsula coach Mitch Freeman said.
“So I’m excited with the way that we came into the game prepared and we played hard and made shots. We shot the ball really well in the first half, which gave us a great advantage going into half.”
The Vikings found their shooting strokes after halftime and worked their way back into the game with a pair of 7-0 runs early in the half.
Soon after Dixon was whistled for his fourth foul with 14:46 to play, Big Bend’s Connor Meyerhoffer drove the lane for two points to cut Peninsula’s lead to 58-54.
Daniels scored on a reverse layup, set up a trailing Jeremiah Hobbs for a layup and hit a 3-pointer for the Pirates, and then Hobbs followed Malik Mayeux’s miss for another bucket, and the Pirates had staved off the Vikings for a little longer with a 9-1 run that made it 67-55.
Big Bend kept coming, answering with a 10-3 run that made it 70-65.
Dimitri Amos scored in the post to make it 72-65 by the time Freeman put Dixon back in the game at the 8:28 mark.
Freeman told the sophomore guard to “just play.”
“Don’t try to do anything different, like not foul or not be as aggressive, because that’s not who he is or who we want him to be,” Freeman said.
“If he just plays normal, he plays hard the way he does, he’s going to do well.
“If you start worrying about fouls, you start to be hesitant, you give up things or you’re not as aggressive.
“We have enough depth this year to be able to go to someone like a Darrion Daniels off the bench.”
Ryley Callaghan and Dixon shouldered most of the scoring load last season, and both scored right around their averages against Big Bend. Dixon scored 18, and Callaghan had 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field.
Daniels, from Las Vegas, came off the bench to lead Peninsula with 25 points, including 3 for 3 shooting on 3-pointers, while Amos had 18 and Hobbs scored nine.
“I think I played pretty well,” Daniels said of his first collegiate game.
“I had four turnovers, I got to improve on that . . . but teammates just gave me good shots and I knocked them down.”
After re-entering the game, Dixon quickly helped the Pirates rebuild their lead by scoring six points in an 80-second span that pushed the lead back up to 78-67.
When Big Bend got within five points again at 86-81, Dixon drilled a jumper.
Hobbs then followed a missed 3 by Dixon with a bucket that made it 90-81.
The Vikings made one last push and got within six points, 92-86, but Dixon was fouled after making a steal and then hit one of two free throws.
He then pulled down the rebound that sealed the win on Big Bend’s next possession.
Peninsula has played the Vikings four times since Freeman became coach in 2013. Big Bend has won easily each time: 106-67 in 2013-14 and 81-67 and 86-58 last season.
So Freeman wasn’t surprised that the Vikings didn’t throw in the towel after the Pirates’ big first half.
“We knew Big Bend was going to be able to bring something in the second half; they’re a really good, well-coached team, and so we knew that we had to keep it up,” Freeman said.
“And they brought it. But I thought we did a good job in the second half as well.
“We just didn’t make the shots that we made in the first half, and some things didn’t go our way; we had to respond better as a team, but I was pleased with that.”
Big Bend out-rebounded Peninsula 46-37, with 30 of the Vikings’ rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
“As hard as they’re going — when you’re playing from a deficit, you’re a little bit quicker and faster and more aggressive to get that rebound and not worry about anything else,” Freeman said.
“And so I think there was some discrepancy there.
“But they got a lot of the long rebounds. Our guards have got to do a better job of rebounding and helping our bigs inside.”
Peninsula next plays at the three-day Skagit Valley Tournament this Friday through Sunday in Mount Vernon.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
