BREMERTON — Not shooting well and facing serious foul trouble, the Port Angeles Roughriders boys basketball team dug in deep on defense and pounded the boards to gut out a 73-54 win over Bremerton this weekend.
The Riders also bounced back from an emotional two-point loss earlier in the week against No. 1-ranked North Kitsap.
“It was pretty natural to have a letdown, but for the most part, they did a really good job. We had foul trouble all night,” said coach Kasey Ulin.
Bremerton came in to Saturday’s game unbeaten in the Olympic 2A League, though the Knights have only played six league games due to COVID-19 issues at that school.
Several Port Angeles players ended up carrying four fouls in the second half. “It was really hard to get into any kind of consistent rhythm,” Ulin said. He said the Knights are an athletic team that is ranked No. 20 among 2A schools in RPI — Port Angeles is No. 13 — and has a chance to make it to state.
After the Riders held a 15-14 lead after the first quarter, they slowly built up their lead throughout the game to 34-27 at the half and 56-42 after three quarters.
Port Angeles shot just 1-for-9 from 3-point range in the first quarter and ended the game just 3-for-19.
With Port Angeles not shooting well, the Riders went to an inside-out game, leading to big guys Wyatt Dunning scoring 28 and John Vaara 23. Dunning also added 17 rebounds, while Vaara had 12 boards.
Ulin said Dunning had his best game of the year. He didn’t shoot well from outside, but hit nine out of 10 free throws.
In fact, the Roughriders shot a solid 18-for-22 from the free-throw line for the game.
Ulin also said Parker Nickerson was huge for Port Angeles with a three-point play and a 3-pointer during a 14-4 run in the second quarter that finally gave the Riders some separation. Nickerson finished the game with 11 points.
The Riders (8-1, 10-4) have an exceptionally busy week coming up, partly because they are making up some games and adding others postponed by COVID protocols.
They first host Kingston (3-6, 6-8) at 7 p.m. today, then play at Sequim (3-6, 4-9) at 7 p.m. Thursday, play a newly scheduled game at home at 6:30 p.m. Friday against a good Sehome team (9-3, 11-4), then play Sequim again at home at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Port Angeles 73, Bremerton 54
PA 15 19 22 17 — 73
Brem. 14 13 15 12 — 54
Port Angeles (73) — Dunning 28, Vaara 23, Nickerson 11, Maestas 7, Wheeler 4.
