PORT ANGELES — Even a 32-point lead isn’t safe in the Northwest Athletic Conference’s North Region.
The Peninsula College men’s basketball team built a 50-18 lead in the first half and nearly lost it in the second half, but held on to beat Everett 99-90.
“I thought our guys played probably the best first half that we’ve played this year,” Peninsula coach Mitch Freeman said.
“We were connecting with each other on the offensive end, finding the right guys, the rhythms shots.
“Defensively, we were dialed in to the game plan. And I thought we just executed very well.
“But I don’t think for a second we thought the game was over, by any means.”
The Pirates came out hot from the start.
Sophomore guard Ryley Callaghan scored 11 points, including two 3-pointers and three free throws after he was fouled on another attempted 3, in the first six minutes as Peninsula built a 18-5 lead.
Shots from downtown kept burning the net for the rest of the first half for the Pirates, who made 7 of 16 treys in the first 20 minutes. Callaghan and Chris Reis each made two, and Deonte Dixon, Darrion Daniels and Alex Baham each made one.
Peninsula made 56 percent of its shots from the field in the first half.
The Pirates also were unstoppable down low, especially Dimitri Amos, who scored 10 points before the break, many coming off reverse layups from the post.
Amos also grabbed 14 rebounds in the first half. Playing only 10 minutes, Amos had more rebounds than the Trojans (13) did in the full 20 minutes.
Amos would finish the game with 23 points and 20 boards, one rebound shy of tying Ray Munyagi’s single-game school record set in Feb. 2000.
“I just use my athleticism, and was making sure I beat the person to the ball,” the 6-foot-6 sophomore from Las Vegas said. “And made sure every time I went up for the ball, I held it tight.”
Amos said the last time he pulled down 20 rebounds in a game was when he was in high school.
“He’s definitely the MVP of this game. Without that, we weren’t able to do what we did,” Callaghan said of Amos.
“Because . . . they got offensive rebound after offensive rebound when he was on the bench. When he comes in, it kind of changes the game a little bit.”
The Pirates’ defense, meanwhile, held Derek Brown Jr., the Northwest Athletic conference’s leading scorer, to five points in the first half on 2 for 10 shooting.
After Dixon hit a 3-pointer to give Peninsula that 50-18 lead, the Trojans got a spark before halftime from their third leading scorer, Said Hersi, who made two 3s and two free throws to finish the half on a one-man 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 50-26.
Still, a 24-point lead is a lot.
But instead of cruising through the final 20 minutes, the Pirates were given a crash course on what it’s like to face a talented and fast team in desperation mode.
Everett was full-court pressing Peninsula and launching 3-pointers with no scruples — and no regrets as they made 10 of 21 in the second half.
The Trojans built on the 8-0 scoring streak to end the first half with a 9-0 run to open the second, the first seven of those points coming from Brown.
Suddenly, it’s 50-35 with more than 18 minutes to play.
Everett continued to press and continued to fire away from anywhere, and slowly chipped away at the Pirates’ lead.
It was down to 70-61 with eight minutes left when the Trojans went on a 6-0 run to make it 70-67.
“We knew they were going to go on a run. I didn’t think it was going to get down to three [points]. I looked up and was like, ‘Oh, shoot. That’s not good,’” Callaghan said.
“But we fought back. We showed our resilience a lot, and our leadership. Everybody stepped up. Instead of folding, as a younger team might do, we stepped up. That’s what I expect from us.”
Then Callaghan took a chance by pulling up a few feet beyond the 3-point line and launching a shot.
Nailed it.
“It was kind of a — you know, it would be a bad shot if I missed it,” Callaghan said.
“It was one of those ones where I know coach was probably thinking, ‘Dude, what the . . .’
“And it then went in. It was all good.”
A few plays later, Callaghan drove the ball right at Brown drew and foul and made the basket. He missed the free throw, so it was 75-67.
After Callaghan drew an offensive foul, Peninsula made one of its best press breaks of the game, and Daniels lobbed an alley-oop that Amos slammed through the rim.
Callaghan then made another 3-pointer, and the Pirates’ lead was up to 80-69 with 4:15 left in the game.
The Trojans (2-1, 11-7) would get no closer than within seven points the remainder of the contest, which Amos punctuated with an exclamation point by taking his 20th rebound of the game coast-to-coast for his second dunk of the game.
“It was an intense game from the jump,” Amos said. “But we just went out and just kept playing hard the whole game.”
Despite their huge lead trickling away, Freeman wasn’t disappointed with how the Pirates played.
“But we played well, I thought,” Freeman said. “We shot the ball 54 percent for the game, and played a good second half, too.
“We turned the ball over a little too much, but for the most part, very happy with the way we came out from start to finish.
“But credit Everett for their ability to score. To score 64 points in a half is pretty impressive.”
Peninsula (9-8) finishes its first North Region homestand of the season with wins over Whatcom and Everett to improve to 2-1 in league play.
Neither victory came easy, and probably not much will for the Pirates over their next 11 region games because of how stacked the North is this season.
“I think road wins are going to be hard to come by, as they are in most leagues,” Freeman said, “and so you’ve got to be able to take care of stuff at home.
“But you’ve also got to be able to execute the scouting report and game plan, because teams do know each other so well.”
The Pirates and Trojans are now in a six-team tie for first place in the North with Edmonds, Skagit Valley, Shoreline and Olympic — yes, Olympic. Meanwhile, Whatcom, which opened the week ranked second in the NWAC, and traditional North power Bellevue are 0-3.
“I think the North is the best region for men,” Callaghan said. “So every night we have to bring it 40 minutes, or else we’ll lose.”
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
