PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men deserved a better finish than what they received in a season-ending 69-63 loss to the Chemeketa Storm in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament.
Peninsula was held scoreless over the final 2:44 of Saturday’s playoff after taking a 63-61 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by Dimitri Amos.
The Pirates’ final chance to tie the game ended with an offensive foul call on sophomore Ryley Callaghan with 17.5 seconds left and Peninsula trailing 65-63.
Chemeketa closed the game with four free throws, part of an 8-0 run, all from the foul line, over the final 2:02, to advance to the NWAC quarterfinals in Everett this weekend.
“Too many empty possessions offensively for us,” Pirates coach Mitch Freeman said of his team’s second half struggles.
“I thought we did a really good job defensively, for the most part.
“We thought if we could hold a team that averages above 85 points a game below 70 we were going to have a good chance to win the basketball game.”
The Pirates exchanged leads with the Storm three times in the first half but led 37-33 at halftime
Peninsula guards Deonte Dixon, Darrion Daniels and Callaghan finished dribble drives inside for scores, and Callaghan and Dixon each hit two 3-pointers to key the Pirates first-half offense.
The second half started strong as well, as a Daniels layup and foul shot gave the Pirates a 44-38 lead with just under 15 minutes to go.
Daniels led the team in scoring with 19 points.
But Peninsula had trouble countering the varied looks given by the Chemeketa defense in the game’s latter stretches.
“They mixed it up on us defensively,” Freeman said.
“Multiple switches within the same possession, where they would switch from man to zone.
“We did a fair job of attacking that, but there was a stretch there in the second half when we just couldn’t do it.”
The Storm made their move with a 13-4 run over 3:05 to take a 51-48 lead with 11 minutes to play.
Chemeketa reserve Bradley Branch scored 10 of the Storm’s 13 points during the run.
The two sides exchanged leads seven times over the next nine minutes, but the Pirates’ offense was troubled, unable to get into the same flow as in the first half and surviving mainly on putbacks of missed shots by Amos.
Limited in the first half after picking up two fouls, Amos scored all nine of his points after intermission.
The Storm held Callaghan, who had 16 points at halftime, scoreless in the second half.
“They made it hard for him to get a catch,” Freeman said. “It’s draining when you are getting bumped and held the entire time.
“We couldn’t get him going, couldn’t get him in the paint to get him a shot or get to the foul line, or get him a rhythm shot outside.
“And that had to do with their multiple changes defensively.”
Chemeketa also limited Deonte Dixon, the Pirates’ leading scorer, to just four of his 14 points after halftime.
“Our guards, for the most part, we had a really good first half, but the second half we struggled a little bit in maintaining a constant rhythm,” Freeman said.
“They took us out of rhythm. And they are a team that’s been great at doing that all season.
“We just couldn’t get enough shots to fall down at the end, and they also are a hard team to guard for a full 40 minutes.
“It was a challenge.”
Freeman said he told his team how proud he was of their effort and how much the team, especially the sophomore class of Callaghan, Dixon, Amos, Malik Mayeux, Jeremiah Hobbs, Chris Reis, Johan Cook, C.J. Woods and Zach Nibler, meant to him.
“They are kind of the foundational class for me and the career we have had here thus far,” Freeman said.
Those Peninsula sophomores went 35-24 overall in their two seasons, earning a surprise third-place finish at the NWAC tournament in 2015, and winning the North Region title and finishing with an 18-11 record this season.
“They’ve had a great year,” Freeman said.
“And unfortunately tonight’s outcome is all we remember now, but I think when we give it a few days we will remember it was a special year, and a special two years with this group of kids.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
