PORT ANGELES — ABA basketball’s North Olympic Peninsula debut was delayed slightly due to an issue facing area prep teams — a shortage of officials — but once the third referee arrived the Port Angeles Rams put on a solid evening of entertainment in their inaugural contest.
“It was a great turnout,” Rams co-owner and head coach Gerrad Brooks said. “I really appreciate the community coming out and getting behind these guys because they’ve put so much work in. The game overall, I thought was great in terms of competitiveness, and people got to see some high-quality ABA basketball and some great players.”
Port Angeles played strongly in the first half, defending their opponent, the Seattle Mountaineers, tightly, rebounding well despite dealing with a distinct height disadvantage, and sharing the ABA’s traditional red, white and blue basketball well in transition and in its half-court offensive sets.
“We played great defense, we got out on their shooters, we helped out really well [defensively] and we ran our sets and got the looks we wanted [on offense] even if we didn’t knock them all down,” Brooks said.
The Rams went into the halftime break tied at 34-all with Seattle, but the Mountaineers heated up from outside in the second half, particularly former Seattle Pacific product Marques Echols. Echols, who wears the number three on his jersey, displayed exactly why by hitting seven 3-point baskets in the second half as Seattle won the game going away 91-64.
“The second half was the exact opposite,” Brooks said. “We got away from the good defense that we were playing and we didn’t run anything [offensively]. That was the story of it. They really heated up from outside, that, coupled with what we weren’t doing, that was the game.”
Neah Bay product Abraham Venske, the 2014 Peninsula Daily News All-Peninsula boys basketball MVP, was the first Ram introduced when the Port Angeles starting lineup was unveiled — and drew a resounding round of cheers from the crowd inside the Peninsula College gymnasium.
Venske showed he hadn’t lost a step from his high school days, the point guard again hearing loud cheers when he sank the team’s initial basket, first finding room with a step back dribble before knocking down a short fadeaway jumper, and later draining the Rams’ initial 3-point basket from the right perimeter.
Venske scored 20 points to pace Port Angeles and with his polished game will likely continue developing as the Rams’ most potent offensive threat.
But Venske has some help in the form of some teammates with some talented skill sets, including the glasses-wearing Mike Janis.
Janis introduced himself to the game with a smooth crossover dribble move that left his Seattle defender tumbling to the court, the crowd cheering and Janis rolling to the rim for an easy layup.
Janis resurrected the lost art of the mid-range jumper in the second quarter, knocking down five shots, all while wearing black-rimmed eyeglasses that stirred echoes of Kurt Rambis on the 1980s “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers. He finished with 12 points.
“He’s high energy,” Brooks said of Janis. “He’s got a high ceiling and being able to work with him this far, I’ve already seen great improvement, so I’m excited to see what his future holds.”
The glasses did give Janis some trouble. A lens popped out of the frames during play, necessitating a short search for the missing piece, andand later in the game Janis had further issues with them and flung the frames to the bench.
Derek Findley attempted to put down the Rams first slam dunk, taking off from outside the paint before encountering resistance near the rim. Findley displayed his leaping ability with the play, but the Rams are still looking for their first dunk. Findley hit two 3-pointers and had six points for Port Angeles.
Port Angeles will visit the Mountaineers on the road at Everett Community College next Saturday.
The Rams return to Port Angeles to host the Tacoma Kings at Peninsula College at 6 p.m. Jan. 26th.
Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News Peninsula Rams’ Tobias Thomas, left, passes around the defense of Seattle Mountaineers’ Chawncey Olson during the Ram’s inaugural game at Peninsula College in Port Angeles.
