PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula basketball men got some clutch plays down the stretch and a huge first college game from Forks’ Marky Adams to come from behind to beat Mount Hood in overtime 89-87 in their first official game of the year.
Adams, a powerful 6-foot-10 post player, had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds in 35 minutes. He shot 5 for 5 from the floor and 2 for 2 from the free-throw line. He also had three blocks and scored the game-winning bucket with a dunk with 50 seconds left in overtime.
Kaelin Crane led the Pirates with 21 points, while Colby Jackson, doing much of his damage late, had 12 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Australian Trent Warren, one of the few returners from last year’s team, added 14 points on 3 for 6 shooting from beyond the three-point line. Eli’sha Sheppard had 11 points and five rebounds, while Elijah Williams scored eight points.
Coach Mitch Freeman said the game wasn’t perfect with some “first-game jitters” and tight shooting from many of his players. “[But] I was pleased with our effort for 45 minutes,” he said.
The Pirates had to replace five players from last year who have moved on to four-year schools with Warren and Zach Day the only major contributors from last year on this year’s squad.
Freeman thought it was a great first college game for Adams, who came to Peninsula from a 1A school.
“All summer long, he’s been putting a lot of work in. We expect a lot of big things from him. I think he’s going to turn a lot of heads,” Freeman said.
The Pirates trailed in much of the game as the Saints took a 41-36 lead into halftime. Mount Hood opened up the lead to 76-69 when Jackson hit a bucket after a Crane steal, then he added a 3-pointer with 2:30 left to give the Pirates a 77-76 lead.
The Saints were able to open a lead back up again to 82-77 with just 58 seconds left in the game, when Jackson hit a basket to cut the lead to three. On the next Mount Hood possession, Jackson made a steal and Warren hit a clutch 3-pointer with 26 seconds left to tie the game at 82-82. The Saints were not able to score and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, Cole Huish, who finished with nine points, hit a 3-pointer while Adams pulled down four crucial rebounds. With under a minute to go, Jackson got an offensive rebound on a missed 3-pointer by Huish, then fed the ball to Adams for a dunk that turned out to be the game-winner. The Saints missed two shots down the stretch including a 3-pointer in the final second.
In addition to Adams, another local high school product got minutes in the game. Port Angeles graduate Luke Angevine came off the bench to play four minutes.
The game was a nonconference affair. Peninsula (1-0, 0-0-) next plays Friday at the Skagit Valley Tournament in Mount Vernon with a game against Portland. The Pirates will also play Big Bend and Gray’s Harbor at the tournament.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Peninsula’s Marky Adams, a graduate of Forks High School, pulls down a rebound as Mount Hood’s Terrell Walker defends on Saturday in Port Angeles.
