PORT ANGELES — Both Peninsula College basketball teams won the tough North Region and, as expected, both schools gained No. 1 seeds in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament that begins this week.
The Peninsula women, who made it all the way to the championship game last year, will get a whole lot of South Region in their bracket. The South Region is notorious for being the toughest for women’s basketball.
The men, meanwhile, are on the same side of the bracket with 28-0 North Idaho.
The women start off by playing Linn-Benton, a No. 4 seed out of the South. Linn-Benton finished fourth in the South with an 11-5 record (21-6 overall). That game will be played at noon Thursday. The tournament this year was moved to Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
The Peninsula women went 12-2 in the North and 20-4 overall. They enter the tournament riding a 12-game winning streak. Peninsula women’s coach Alison Crumb said that literally any team in the tournament can win it.
“We definitely have a tough road. It’s a tougher road than last year,” Crumb said. “But we’re also more experienced and our sophomores are ready.
“Linn-Benton [out of Corvallis-Albany, Ore.] is well-coached. They like to slow it down. I really think it will come down to who can be themselves for longer. We will have to play out of our comfort zone at times,” Crumb said. “If we can go out and play our game, we’ll be fine. Of course, they’re saying the same thing.”
If the women win, they could face Lower Columbia in the second round. Lower Columbia is a No. 3 seed out of the West and must play No. 2 Walla Walla first. PC and Lower Columbia met in the championship game last year with the Red Devils winning in overtime on a 3-pointer with a couple seconds left on the clock. A pair of Olympic Peninsula players, Bailey Larson of Port Angeles and Courtney Swan from Neah Bay, play for Lower Columbia. The Pirates have already played the Red Devils twice this year and won both games.
If the Pirates have to play Walla Walla in the second round, that will also be a rematch. Walla Walla beat Peninsula 61-54 in the opening game of the year way back in mid-November before the Pirates had Millie Long available.
That second-round game will be played at 2 p.m. Friday. There are no consolation games.
If the Peninsula women get to the Final Four, they will likely be facing Lane College out of Eugene, Ore., a 28-1 team out of that brutal South Region, in the semifinals.
Men’s bracket
The men begin play at noon Saturday against Columbia Basin, which is basically getting a home game. Columbia Basin went 10-6 (20-6 overall) out of a pretty tough East Region.
“What a present for a No. 1 seed,” coach Donald Rollman said. “Interesting that they put the best two regions together, but we have to take every day game by game.”
Rollman said the North Region had the best winning percentage against outside teams of any region, but that the East was second-best. Over on Peninsula’s side of the bracket is 28-0 North Idaho, a possible Final Four opponent for the Pirates. Rollman said that would be an interesting matchup against the No. 1 defensive team in the NWAC — Peninsula College — and the No. 1 offensive team — North Idaho.
The Pirates have another major challenge. They are playing without Malik Jackson, one of their best starters, who dislocated an ankle, and Aiden Olmstead, a rebounding specialist and defensive stalwart off the bench who sustained a high-ankle sprain.
“Malik is transitioning from being a player to being a coach,” Rollman said. “We’re having to make some adjustments.”
The good news with Olmstead is that the team was initially told he was out for the year, but that he is progressing faster than expected from his injury and it’s possible he could be available for the Final Four that begins March 18.
If Peninsula wins Saturday, the Pirates play again at 2 p.m. Sunday against the winner of Southwest Oregon (18-11, No. 3 seed out of the South) and Green River (23-5, No. 2 seed out of the West).
Rollman said his players have a great attitude despite the losses of two players and are working hard at practice every day.
“We will fight to the end. We’ll give ourselves a chance,” he said.
The Pirates finished at 12-2 in the North and 25-3 overall.
All the games can be viewed online at nwacsports.org/basketball and purchasing a broadcast pass. One game is $12. A single Final Four game is $14 and a pass to all the games is $35.
Peninsula College will be holding a public send-off celebration at 12:30 p.m. today at the Pirates gym.
Peninsula’s Ese Onakpoma, right, aims for the net as Everett’s Jadin Penigar, left, and Tony MacArthur hinder his path on Wednesday night in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
