PORT ANGELES — Three games. Three wins. Three margins of victory of over 20 points.
The Port Angeles boys basketball team is off to a scorching start this season as the Roughriders won their Olympic League opener over Bremerton 86-46.
It was the third straight game in which the Riders scored more than 80 points. After three games, Port Angeles is averaging 88.3 points a game.
And the Riders did it differently this game than in a 92-69 win over Foster last week. In that game, Port Angeles won by completely dominating the offensive boards with Isaiah Shamp almost unstoppable inside with 28 points. Against Bremerton, the Roughriders still did well on the boards, but Shamp was only able to play a few minutes and scored just four points. The Riders responded by hitting nine 3-pointers and getting 33 points from their bench.
Coach Kasey Ulin said the bench had to come through with three starters, Josiah Long, Isaiah Shamp and Dallas Dunning, out with either injuries or illness.
Port Angeles’ Tyler Hunter, left, grabs a rebound as teammate Ezra Townsend backs him up while Bremerton’s Trevon Pietz, front, and Oliver Christian, left, look for an opportunity on Tuesday night in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Nason Martinez came off the bench to score 14 points, while Nathaneal Surina scored seven and Parab Seera scored six.
“This was a total team effort,” Ulin said. “The bench was phenomenal.”
In addition to the nine 3-pointers, the Riders also scored 40 points in the paint and had 21 offensive rebounds. They scored at least 19 points in every quarter.
The game was never close after midway through the first quarter. With the score 10-7 for the Riders, they went on a 14-3 run to close the first quarter, highlighted by a Tyler Hunter 3-pointer at the buzzer. Then, they started the second quarter on a 13-5 run to make it 37-15. Bremerton never got within 19 points after that.
“Right now they’re really picking up our schemes and concepts. They’re doing a good job of sharing the ball,” Ulin said. “With three out of our top six out, we’re excited about where we’re at.”
Hunter hit four 3-pointers and led the Roughriders with 26 points, including 17 in the first half. Parker Nickerson had 17. Bryant Hoch hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Port Angeles (1-0, 3-0) goes on the road today to play North Mason (0-1, 0-2).
Port Angeles 86, Bremerton 46
Brem. 10 12 14 10 — 46
PA 24 19 19 24 — 86
Bremerton (46) — Bulmer 9, Tucker 9, Pietz 8, Ungren 5, Lowe 5, Brown 3, Sellers 2, Johnson 2, Christian 2, Cadengo 1.
Port Angeles (86) — Hunter 26, Nickerson 17, Martinez 14, Surina 7, Hoch 6, Seera 6, Shamp 4, Halberg 2, Schmidt 2, Townsend 2.
Forks 56, North Beach 27
NORTH BEACH — The Forks boys basketball team got three players in double figures and the Spartans bounced back from an opening-season loss by beating North Beach in a Pacific 2B League opener 56-27.
Aidan Salazar led the Spartans with 16 points, while Grady Earls and Brody Lausche each had 11. Kyle Lohrengel also scored nine points.
“Today, I think we were just more comfortable,” said coach Kevin Weekes. “We got our flow under our feet a little bit and they relied on each other.”
The Spartans lost their opener this weekend 59-52 to Rainier.
Weekes said this game begins a “brutal stretch” to the Spartans’ season, with several players out sick or injured.
Forks (1-0, 1-1) next hosts South Bend (0-1, 1-2) at 7 p.m. today.
Forks 56, North Beach 27
NB 3 5 10 9 — 27
Forks 13 9 20 14 — 56
Forks (56) — Salazar 16, Earls 11, Lausche 11, Lohrengel 9, Helvey 4, Foster 3, Gonzales 2.
Bainbridge 62, Sequim 35
BAINBRIDGE — The Sequim boys basketball team was beaten on the road by 3A Bainbridge 62-35 on Tuesday in the Wolves’ Olympic League opener.
“We did some things well. There were a lot of things we could’ve done better,” said coach Craig Brooks.
Keenan Green led the Wolves with 11 points, while Solomon Sheppard had five points and seven rebounds and Cole Smithson had six rebounds. Zackary Thompson had three points and seven rebounds and Espn Judd six points.
The Wolves did win their season-opener this weekend, 62-54 over Fife, a 2A school out of the South Puget Sound League.
Sequim (0-1, 1-1) plays at Bremerton (0-1) tonight.
Bainbridge 62, Sequim 35
BI 16 10 20 16 — 62
Seq. 6 9 14 6 — 35
Sequim (35) — Green 11, Judd 6, Sheppard 5, Grider 4, Thompson 3, Carrizosa 2, Little 2, Smithson 2.
