PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Roughriders boys basketball team set the nets on fire Tuesday night with its outside shooting, burying 15 3-pointers in a 92-32 Olympic 2A League win over Kingston.
That 92 points came with a running clock over much of the second half as otherwise, the Riders would have easily cracked 100. It was the second time this season Port Angeles has scored more than 90 points in a game. With the win, Port Angeles remains solidly in second place in the league, a game behind No. 1-ranked North Kitsap.
All those 3-pointers didn’t come from one or two players, either. Six different Roughriders hit from beyond the arc as the Port Angeles kids were simply unconscious from long range.
The Riders are a big team that often time relies on defense to create fast breaks and inside dominance from 6-foot-10 John Vaara. They don’t generally depend a lot on outside shooting.
“When we shoot the ball that well, with out defense and rebounding, we are the best team in the state,” said coach Kasey Ulin.
Kingston actually managed to keep it a game into the second quarter as the Buccaneers scored the final five points of the first quarter to make the score 18-9.
Then the Riders went on an impressive 23-0 run to open up the second quarter and blow the score open to 41-9.
At the end of the first half, Port Angeles’ Wyatt Dunning, the team’s leading scorer, had just four points. He absolutely went off in the third quarter, scoring 22 points in the quarter in a 32-point quarter. Dunning hit six 3-pointers in the quarter.
Ulin said Dunning had been struggling a little with his shooting coming in to the Kingston game.
“He is an elite shooter. It was nice to see him get in a rhythm,” he said.
Dunning led the team with 31, while Quanah Wheeler had 15, Vaara 12, Jeremiah Hall 12 and Parker Nickerson 12.
Dunning, Wheeler, Hall, Vaara, Xander Maestas and Damon Gunderson all hit 3-pointers. Wheeler and Hall each had three.
It was also senior night for the Roughriders’ Wheeler, Hall, Gunderson, Dunning, Vaara, Maestas, James Burkhardt and Michael Soule, though because of rescheduled games, Port Angeles still has some home games left. Ulin said this is a unique group of seniors because they have faced so much adversity over the past two years trying to get in basketball seasons in light of the prolonged COVID pandemic.
“These seniors are our COVID group. They are really driven. It’s been a difficult could of years for a lot of teenagers. These guys are going to go on and be special people,” Ulin said. “Basketball is a beautiful sport when no one cares who gets the credit.”
Port Angeles has a very busy week with games today, Friday and Saturday. The Roughriders (9-1, 11-4) next plays at Olympic Peninsula rival Sequim (3-7, 4-10) at 7 p.m. today.
Port Angeles 92, Kingston 32
King. 9 5 12 6 — 51
PA 18 25 32 17 — 92
Port Angeles (92) — Dunning 31, Wheeler 15, Hall 12, Vaara 12, Nickerson 12, Maestas 7, Gunderson 3.
