TACOMA — The Port Angeles girls basketball team figured it was in for a challenge when it faced Franklin Pierce in the District 2/3 semifinals at Foss High School.
The Cardinals lived up to expectations and beat the Roughriders 50-35 on Thursday to advance to the district championship game against White River.
“Coming into the game, we thought Franklin Pierce would be the third-best team we’ve played, behind Anacortes and Black Hills,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said.
“They proved to be the challenge we thought they would be.”
The Cardinals beat the Riders from the inside and the outside — 24 of their 50 points came on eight 3-pointers.
Ghane Buze hit five of those treys and led all scorers with 18 points. Alexis Foster scored 16 more points for Franklin Pierce.
The Cardinals led 29-15 at halftime and 43-18 after three quarters before Port Angeles cut 10 points out of the lead with a 17-7 fourth quarter.
The Riders were without three players — along with the injured Maddie Boe and Emily Johnson, Kyrsten McGuffey missed Thursday’s game due to illness — and that affected them at both ends of the court.
“We had hoped to be able to play man-man much of the game, but we weren’t healthy enough nor deep enough to do so. Our zone has been pretty good at handling outside shooters, but tonight we had far too many breakdowns in zone responsibilities to survive,” Poindexter said.
“Far too many of their points came off our turnovers in the open court against man-man pressure.
“They didn’t do anything fancy defensively, but our lack of experience against teams like this hurt us in the turnovers-converted-directly-into-points department.”
Sophomore Cheyenne Wheeler paced Port Angeles with eight points.
“She did a nice job of attacking their defense with drives to the hoop,” Poindexter said.
Nizhoni Wheeler finished with seven points, and Hayley Baxley and Katyn Flores each scored six.
“Nizhoni Wheeler again provided stability for us in bringing the ball up against pressure, but we weren’t patient enough in our offense to get her the scoring opportunities she usually gets,” Poindexter said.
“Hayley Baxley also played well at both ends of the floor for us.”
The Riders struggled at the free-throw line, making only 10 of 24 freebies.
“Better performance there would not have won the game for us, but our struggles there certainly didn’t help,” Poindexter said.
The Riders will play later this week in the winner-to-state regional round, either on Friday or Saturday.
Franklin Pierce 50, Port Angeles 35
Franklin Pierce 18 11 14 7— 50
Port Angeles 8 7 3 17— 35
Individual scoring
Franklin Pierce (50)
Buze 18, Foster 16, Disney 7, Reed 4, Meach 3, Hubbard 2.
Port Angeles (35)
C. Wheeler 8, N. Wheeler 7, Baxley 6, Flores 6, Long 4, Lunt 2, Gray 2, Steinman, Politika.
Neah Bay 43, Seattle Lutheran 35
TACOMA — The Red Devils officially locked up a regional berth by pulling away from the Saints in the fourth quarter.
Senior Holly Greene scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the final period as Neah Bay’s defense was holding Seattle Lutheran to two field goals in Thursday’s 1B Tri-District consolation game at Evergreen Lutheran.
The Red Devils are now guaranteed one of the Tri-District’s top four seeds at regionals later this week.
Holly Greene, Neah Bay’s lone senior, and sister Jessica each were on point from deep. They combined to make 6 of 10 from 3-point range (Holly was 3 for 4, Jessica 3 for 6).
Jessica Greene finished with nine points, five rebounds and four steals.
Along with her 15 points, Holly Greene pulled down five rebounds.
Gina McCaulley added six points, six rebounds, seven steals and five assists, and Vonte Aguirre and Tristin Johnson each finished with nine rebounds.
Abbi Sanders led Seattle Lutheran with 10 points, and Taylor Stordahl added eight.
Neah Bay 43, Seattle Lutheran 35
Seattle Lutheran 6 7 14 8— 35
Neah Bay 8 10 12 13— 43
Individual scoring
Seattle Lutheran (35)
T. Stordahl 8, Jenson 2, Sanders 10, Seraile 4, Figgens 4, Jones 7, Doerr.
Neah Bay (43)
J. Greene 9, Aguirre 6, H. Greene 15, Gagnon 5, McCaulley 6, Johnson 2, Svec, Olson, Halttunen.
Boys Basketball
Vashon 65, Chimacum 44
SUMNER — The Cowboys’ season came to an end Friday, one game short of the regional round with a loss to the Pirates at Sumner High School.
Chimacum finishes the season with a 9-12 record. The Cowboys closed the regular season with six consecutive wins to claim their second straight Olympic League 1A championship.
________
Compiled using team reports.
