PORT ANGELES — North Mason might have the Olympic League’s best post player in John Fullington.
But in Tuesday night’s clash with Port Angeles, it was a group of Roughrider big men who overwhelmed him and the rest of the Bulldogs.
Port Angeles forward Steven Rogers scored 16 points, half coming in the fourth quarter; frontcourt mate Justin Williams added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists; and junior wing Colin Wheeler added 15 points and three assists to boost the Riders to a 61-54 victory.
“This by far has been our most complete game,” said Port Angeles coach Wes Armstrong. “We played close to 32 minutes of great basketball.”
The win secured a spot for Port Angeles (8-6 in league, 9-8 overall) in the Class 3A Olympic League tournament.
Another victory in one of their last two regular season games would give the Riders the No. 2 seed in that tourney, held at Olympic High School. The winner of the tournament game gets a sub-district playoff spot.
“We just want to be playing our best basketball by the time the playoffs hit,” Armstrong said.
“We had to play with playoff intensity and know that this is a defining game for the Port Angeles basketball program, to turn that corner and be a force to be reckoned with. And I was very proud of our effort tonight.”
The intensity certainly came out of Port Angeles’ posts, including reserve Troy Martin, on the defensive end during the second half.
Surrounding Fullington (15 points, 10 rebounds) with double and triple teams every time he touched the ball, the Riders limited the 6-foot-6, 270-pound pivot to just three points and two shot attempts after the break.
That was after Fullington scored 10 in the game’s opening quarter.
“Coach [Brian] Shirley and coach [Mike] Poindexter did an excellent job of game-planning, and it showed,” Armstrong said.
The Riders were also efficient on the other end, taking advantage of North Mason’s spread-out defense with a high-low post game.
Port Angeles hit 25-of-50 shots from the floor, with many coming around the hoop on deft entry passes.
As a result, Port Angeles doled out 17 assists while turning the ball over only 10 times in their second straight win following last week’s heart-breaking loss to Sequim.
Junior wing Ian Ward added 10 points as the fourth Rider in double figures.
“That’s what coach wants us to do is pound it down low,” Williams said. “That’s what we’re good at, is our big guys down low, pounding it in there.”
The Riders converted lay-ups four different times on either back-door lobs or high-post entry passes during a 20-13 fourth quarter that turned a 41-41 tie into a 61-54 win.
That included a lob from Rogers to Williams that the senior banked home for a 58-54 lead with 56 seconds to go.
“We’re playing as a team now,” Williams said. “We’re starting to figure out how to move the ball around: get movement, reverse the ball, look down low and hit our shots.”
Fullington was whistled for traveling on the Bulldogs’ next possession. Then the Riders hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to put the game away.
Port Angeles rebounded well with North Mason, ceding just a 29-28 edge to the bigger Bulldogs.
“I liked our resiliency,” Armstrong said. “North Mason took the lead a couple of times [in the second and third quarters], but we just kept fighting.”
North Mason’s other main weapon, senior guard Brett Skogstad, was also hounded by the Port Angeles defense.
With Wheeler checking him most of the game, Skogstad finished with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Outside of Skogstad and Fullington, a Washington State football recruit, North Mason hit just 33.3 percent of its shots (10-of-30).
“We are not shooting the ball very well, and they know who to double-team and triple-team,” North Mason coach Larry Skogstad said.
“Teams know, double-team John and my son, Brett Skogstad, and let the rest of them beat us.
“And the rest of them aren’t beating them right now.”
Now the Bulldogs (8-6, 11-7) find themselves a game behind Sequim and Kingston for the top spot among the Olympic League 2As.
North Mason meets Sequim on Friday night in Belfair.
Port Angeles will take on Olympic (6-8, 8-10) in Silverdale the same night.
Port Angeles 61, North Mason 54
North Mason 12 14 15 13 — 54
Port Angeles 17 14 10 20 — 61
Individual Scoring
North Mason (54)
Bielec 2, Skogstad 14, Barker 9, Hannafious 2, McMinn 2, Burley 10, Fullington 15.
Port Angeles (61)
Williams 10, Stevenson 5, Morgan 3, Ward 10, Wheeler 15, Rogers 16, Martin 2.
