KENNEWICK — Lance Von Vogt sure is setting the bar high in his first year at Peninsula College.
The Pirates men’s basketball coach has his team in this weekend’s NWAACC tournament at the Toyota Center as the North Division’s second seed.
A win against Yakima Valley on Saturday at 10 a.m., and Peninsula will advance to the NWAACC quarterfinals for just the second time in five seasons.
The Pirates (13-3 in North, 18-7 overall) won 10 of their last 12 games to earn its highest divisional finish since the 2008-2009 season.
Now they go up against the East Division’s No. 3 team in Yakima Valley (8-6 in east, 15-10 overall), a squad that finished the season with four wins in 12 games.
The Yaks are the second-best shooting team in the NWAACC, having hit 48 percent of its shots this season.
The seventh-highest scoring team in the association (81.4 points per game), Yakima gets its scoring from all over the court with five different players averaging in double figures.
Six-foot-4 sophomore Terrell Evans is the team’s leading scorer at 13.7 ppg, but four others average between 12.8 and 11.2 ppg.
Yakima’s one weakness is rebounding, with the team ranked second-to-last in the NWAACC in total rebounds per game.
Obviously, that means the Yaks will have their hands full with 6-foot-7 pivot DeShaun Freeman.
Peninsula’s go-to post presence was also the fourth-best rebounder in the NWAACC at 9.7 rpg and the Pirates’ top scorer at 16.0 ppg.
The winner of Saturday’s game will play the winner of the Tacoma-Chemeketa game Sunday at 4 p.m.
The loser of those two matchups meet Sunday at 10 a.m. in the consolation bracket.
