By Michael Carman
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The game that got away could pay dividends down the line for the Port Angeles boys basketball team.
After a superb third-quarter that showcased the team’s vast potential, the Roughriders were sped up by Burlington-Edison and tightened up offensively in the fourth as the Tigers erased an 11-point lead to beat Port Angeles 55-49 in the Riders’ home opener Saturday.
“This will be the greatest opportunity for growth that we will have all season,” Port Angeles coach Kasey Ulin said.
“It will force us to learn how to deal with adversity and will provide an example of how we need to play with poise and value each and every possession.”
Trailing 26-16 midway through the second quarter, the Riders trimmed the Tigers’ advantage to 28-24 at the half and didn’t let up to begin the third quarter.
Port Angeles went into a 2-3 zone defensively, forcing multiple turnovers as Burlington-Edison attempted to get the ball to the high post, keeping the Tigers off the scoreboard for the first 6:03 of the quarter.
The turnovers fed the Riders’ offense as Port Angeles opened the frame by scoring the first 16 points to take a 40-28 lead. Liam Clark got going down low offensively and Kyle Benedict pushed the pace in transition for some key baskets during the Riders’ run.
At the close of the third quarter, Benedict hustled down court to knock the ball out of bounds on a Tigers’ fastbreak with 6.5 seconds to go in the quarter. Gabe Long then stole the ball on Burlington-Edison’s in-bounds play and pushed it up to Benedict who hit the layup, was fouled and sank the free throw as Port Angeles went up 45-34 entering the fourth quarter.
Long was a menace defensively for the Riders, playing the passing lanes effectively for steals and providing Port Angeles with extra possessions.
“We call them win-it plays, and Gabe was phenomenal,” Ulin said. “He must have had 14 or 15 of those win-it plays tonight.”
Victory appeared imminent after that play.
“We had them on the ropes, Ulin said. “A really good team like that, one of the better teams in the state.”
The Tigers steadily chipped away throughout the fourth, getting some help when the Riders went a little too quick offensively for Ulin’s liking and put themselves in bad positions on the floor.
“They sped us up, we forced some shots and we just got in a hurry trying to do too much,” Ulin said.
“We got stuck dribbling on the baseline, we settled for some shots and we put ourselves in too many bad situations.”
Port Angeles also played without their best 3-point shooter, senior Payton Schmidt, who was out sick.
The Riders yielded the lead when Jackson Reisner canned a triple from the top of the key to go up 51-49 with 38 seconds to play.
All told, Port Angeles was outscored 12-0 to close out the contest.
“You can’t tell the kids as a coach that they have to show more poise,” Ulin said. “They’ll probably hear that 10 or 15 times tonight [from friends and family] as well. It’s something you have to visually see in front of you, and if we win that game tonight, we might not ever see that.
“Later on, when we are competing for a league title, or a regional spot or even a place at state, they’ll be able to think back to this game and I know we will be a better team for it.”
Port Angeles (1-1) will open Olympic League 2A Division play at home against Kingston on Friday.
Burlington-Edison 55, Port Angeles 49
Burlington-Ed. 13 15 6 21— 55
Port Angeles 10 14 21 4— 49
Burlington-Edison (55) — Reisner 19, McGovern 11, Wright 10, Walker 7, Larson 3, Clark 2, Ferdinand 2, Altenhofer 2
Port Angeles (49) — Edwards 15, Benedict 15, Clark 14, Jarnagin 2, Long 2, Johnson 1,
