BURLINGTON — If ever Port Angeles head basketball coach Kasey Ulin could be excited by a loss, this was the time.
The Port Angeles basketball boys played the No. 3-ranked team in the state this weekend in its season-opening game and came within one possession of knocking off Burlington-Edison on the road, falling 59-56 Saturday night to the Tigers.
“I’m really excited to see where we’re at,” Ulin said. “We played them for a specific reason.”
The Tigers, 3-0 on the season, were a 2A state tournament team last year and are an experienced team this year with six seniors and five juniors on the varsity roster.
Ulin said the Roughriders nearly pulled off the upset despite having 22 turnovers and having burly forward Anton Kathol on the bench for much of the game with foul trouble.
The Tigers got off to an 18-10 start after the first quarter, but the Riders outscored them 32-22 over the second and third quarters. Ulin said the Riders had a four-point lead in the fourth.
“After the first eight minutes, we found our groove,” he said. “I’m very proud of the little things they did. We won more hustle plays 14 to 6, we outrebounded them 38-28.”
The Roughriders had good balance with four players scoring at least eight points. Ulin said Port Angeles’ plan this season is to rely on its deep bench.
“We want six guys every game in double figures. We’re going to play 11 to 12 guys. We have a lot of depth,” he said.
Gary Johnson III led the Riders with 13 points and six assists. Dru Clark had 10 points and five assists while Damen Ringgold had 10 points and 12 boards.
Lucas Jarnigan played a lot of minutes with Kathol in foul trouble and scored eight and Ulin said he did a great job.
Port Angeles (0-1) next plays its first home game at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Neah Bay (0-3). The defending league champion Riders then jump right into Olympic League 2A Division action Friday at Kingston.
Burlington-Edison 59, Port Angeles 56
PA 10 15 17 14 — 56
B-E 18 11 11 19 — 59
Port Angeles (56) — Johnson 13, Clark 10, Ringgold 10, Jarnigan 8, Nickerson 6, Cobb 5, Kathol 4.
Mount Vernon Chr. 69, Neah Bay 43
MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon Christian blew open a close game against Neah Bay this weekend with a 28-point fourth quarter en route to a 69-43 win over the Red Devils.
Jaxson Halttunen and Captain Claplanhoo led Neah Bay with 11 points apiece in Saturday’s game. Halttunen hit a pair of 3-pointers as did Zandel Aguirre, who ended up scoring 10 points.
Neah Bay was down just 41-35 after the end of the third quarter, but the Hurricanes outscored the Red Devils 28-8 over the final eight minutes to put the game away.
Neah Bay (0-3) will play Forks (1-0) at 7 p.m. today.
Mount Vernon Chr. 69, Neah Bay 43
NB 9 9 17 8 — 43
MVC 13 14 14 28 — 69
Neah Bay (43) — Halttunen 11, Claplanhoo 11, Aguirre 10, Croy 5, Shaw 4, Vitalis 2.
Mount Vernon Chr. (69) — Wyatt 15, VanderArk 13, Denton 12, Rozema 9, Lubber 7, Myer 6, Hoksbergen 3, Blom 2, Pedrosa 1.
Girls Basketball Neah Bay 52, Mount Vernon Chr. 37
MOUNT VERNON — The Neah Bay girls got 17 points and 13 rebounds from Oceana Aguirre and picked up their first win of the year 52-37 against Mount Vernon Christian this weekend.
Allie Greene hit three 3-pointers form the Red Devils and scored 15 points, while Ruth Moss and Cei’J Gagnon each scored nine.
Neah Bay (1-2) next plays at Forks (1-0) at 5:30 p.m. today.
Neah Bay 52, Mount Vernon Chr. 37
NB 15 13 8 16 — 52
MVC 11 12 9 5 — 37
Neah Bay (52) — Aguirre 17, A. Greene 15, Moss 9, Gagnon 9, L. Greene 2.
Mount Vernon Christ. (37) — J. Droog 13, E. Droog 9, Russell 7, Faber 6, Wood 2.
