PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles’ guards exploited a height advantage against their Kingston counterparts as the Roughriders got the ball inside for buckets in a 71-37 pasting of the Buccaneers on Friday night.
Kingston came out in a man-to-man look defensively that Port Angeles head coach Michael Poindexter said caught him off guard — in a rubbing your hands together with glee kind of way.
“They are a little limited inside, and I was really glad that we exploited them inside,” Poindexter said. “I was surprised, I really thought they would be in a zone and they came out in man, so I was like, ‘OK, let’s get inside.’ Because they could not stop us inside player-to-player with our guards, Millie [Long], Bailee [Larson] and Mikkiah [Brady]. They aren’t going to be able to defend us with their 5-foot-3 kids.”
The Riders opened the game on a 15-0 run, scoring inside consistently with points coming off half-court sets and through steals leading to layups.
“We got stuff off transition and it was the first night that we ran our press,” Poindexter said. “We have some things we can improve on with that. Get it out there, some of the kids don’t understand it. So now we have some stuff on film to look at and we can say, ‘OK, remember’.”
Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Myra Walker (15) attempts to haul down a rebound away from Kingston’s Sierra Denning during the Roughriders’ 71-37 win on Friday.
Bailee Larson scored all seven of her points in the first quarter and continued her confident run of play to start the season. Backcourt partner Millie Long had six of her 10 points in the first quarter as the Riders swarmed defensively leading to those transition scores and a 24-6 lead after one period.
“Now that our rotations have altered a bit, Bailee gets a lot of court time with Millie and that combo is superb,” Poindexter said.
Port Angeles led by as much as 38-9 in the second quarter before Kingston ended the half on a to close out the half.
“The one downside is we got beat off the dribble in the latter part of the second quarter and they got eight straight points,” Poindexter said. “That’s the only negative from a really positive night.
“The talk from the kids on the bench and that support, the passing, our unselfishness. We shared the ball and were perceptive of angles. Lots of kids made great passes.
The kids who haven’t got much playing time up until now played comfortably. It looked like our practices.”
Poindexter said Kingston is a team that has shooters, so it was good for Port Angeles to get some zone defense in.
“They have three kids who are legit outside threats in [Kylee Walker, Nika Chiquiti and Leetsah Deam] and it was nice to play a 2-3 zone against a team that can shoot from outside,” Poindexter said.
Jaida Wood led the Riders with 17 points, including four 3-point baskets.
“[Her 3-point shot is looking] very smooth,” Poindexter said. “She also played good defense on Brockman tonight. Ellie Brockman is a nice little sophomore post for them.
Freshman Anna Petty also had a good game off the bench, scoring nine points and playing tight defense.
“Anna Petty looked good tonight,” Poindexter said. “She and Camille [Stensgard] had a very good week in practice.”
And Jayde Gedelman knocked down two 3-point baskets for Port Angeles.
Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Camille Stensgard, left, goes up for a layup attempt while guarded by Kingston’s Kylee Walker during the Roughriders’ 71-37 win on Friday.
“Jayde stepped up,” Poindexter said. “She’s been playing some JV ball to work on her confidence and get her some minutes. You saw the result of that last night.”
The Riders (2-2) hosted Class 2A state power W.F. West (Chehalis) late Saturday after press deadline.
Port Angeles is back in Olympic League action with a visit to rival North Kitsap (1-0, 3-2) on Wednesday.
Port Angeles 71, Kingston 37
Kingston 6 12 13 6— 37
Port Angeles 24 14 14 19— 71
Kingston (37) — Denning 14, Walker 13, Brockman 4, Jorgensen 3, Chiquiti 3.
Port Angeles (71) — Wood 17, Brady 10, Long 10, Petty 9, Burke 8, Larson 7, Gedelman 6, Brenkman 2, Walker, Stensgard, Brown, McGoff.
