PORT ANGELES — Krista Johnson heard it all.
The “Kris-ta! Kris-ta! Kris-ta!”
The Makah war song.
The former teammates in the crowd cheering for her.
South Puget Sound’s sophomore starting guard who grew up in Neah Bay and Port Angeles heard it all in her return to her hometown to face the hometown Peninsula College at the Northwest Athletic Conference North Region women’s basketball crossover tournament Thursday.
And she appreciated everything, but she was in a weird spot.
Clippers coach Michael Moore asked Johnson and Lenora Hofer, who, like Johnson, graduated from Port Angeles High School in 2014, to remain focused in their road-game-at-home.
“But I did hear it, and I think it was cool to have that support,” Johnson said.
The defending champion Pirates went on to defeat the up-and-coming Clippers 64-45 in a game that Johnson was excited-for-slash-dreading.
“I was really nervous, and I’ve been nervous for a couple months about it now,” Johnson said. “But I knew that I had a lot of support here so it would be fun to be back and try to show out for PA.”
Hofer, a backup forward, said her anxiety went straight to her gut. And it stayed there until she entered the game with a little more than seven minutes left in the second quarter.
“At first it was pretty nerve-wracking. Like my stomach was upset. A lot of family and friends in the crowd,” Hofer said.
“Once I got on the court, it was feeling like I was playing them in an AAU tournament.”
Less than a minute after entering the game, Hofer scored in the post to tie the score at 16-16. It ended up being the Clippers last field goal of the second quarter, as Peninsula finished the half on a 15-1 run to lead 31-17 at the break.
Hofer finished with two points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of action.
She then scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in South Puget Sound’s 80-73 win over Portland on Friday.
“Nora’s one of my bruisers,” Moore said. “She comes in and gets rebounds and sets screens.
“And she took her first charge of the year [Thursday], so I owe her a milkshake for that.
“Offensively, if she can get us some points, it’s a bonus. And she’s got the skill set for that, it’s just about having the confidence to do so.”
Hofer, who grew up in Joyce, said her skills have improved significantly since she last played for the Roughriders.
“Definitely, looking at myself in high school and looking at myself now, it’s like a different Lenora,” she said.
“I am 10 times better than I was in high school. I’m more confident, like, it’s more fun”
Hofer also played for South Puget Sound’s softball team this past spring, that is, until the program shutdown midway through the season and has since been completely disbanded.
She switched from the outfield to catcher in her half-season with the Clippers.
“I really love fastpitch,” Hofer said. “I learned a new position real quick and ended up loving that position.
“And I really am still trying to look for a college after this to go play for.”
Johnson led South Puget Sound with 12 points in Thursday’s loss to Peninsula, and then scored 14 points in Friday’s victory.
She is the Clippers’ second-leading scorer with a 13.4 average.
“Well, she’s one of my captains, so she leads by example in everything she does, on the court, off the court,” Moore said.
“She also, obviously, can shoot the ball, so she kind of has a green light whenever she gets some open space, but she’s learning the timing of that because there’s film out there on her, so they know she can shoot it; so taking that one dribble, pump fake, hitting that short jumper, she’s getting better at.
“But she’s got one of the highest basketball IQs as well, so she’s able to teach it and point on the floor where people should go and how they should go.”
Opposing teams have had to be more thorough in their preparation because South Puget Sound is becoming legit.
The Clippers are off to a 7-3 start and looking for their first winning season since 2009-10.
Last year, they went 10-13 and missed the NWAC tournament — the one Peninsula went on to win — by one game. The four seasons before that, South Puget Sound won 15 games combined. That includes going winless (0-23) in 2010-11.
Johnson and Hofer were the last two recruits of South Puget Sound’s previous head coach, Mychael Heuer, before he resigned in the summer of 2014.
Johnson initially wasn’t going to play college basketball, and instead was planning to move to Montana, but was talked into it by her parents.
Hofer said she was waiting to see what Johnson was going to do because she wanted to keep playing with her.
Moore was an Clippers assistant during those down years, so he knows exactly where the program is coming from, but in his second year as head coach he’s also overseeing a resurgence that he said has been aided by Johnson and Hofer.
“They’ve been a huge help, coming in as sophomores and leaders and having that one year underneath their belts, understanding that the speed of the game is different and the approach is different,” he said.
“They’ve really brought that leadership mentality, and [that] it’s a year-round job and it’s a year-round commitment.”
Johnson didn’t only have to avoid the distractions in the stands Thursday. She also had to compete against some familiar faces.
She and Peninsula’s Cierra Moss, a 2014 Neah Bay graduate, have played on the same teams since they were in elementary school. Johnson said Thursday was the first time she had ever played an official game against her best friend.
Johnson also has played with Cierra’s older sister, Cherish, often. And she was on the same team as a few other Pirates during this past summer.
“I thought it was fun, but I never know how to act towards them, like on the court,” Johnson said of facing the Mosses.
“I was thinking about it all day long, about how I’m going to act, because I overthink everything.
“But it was fine, and we’re all fine.”
Cierra Moss led the Pirates with 15 points Thursday.
She then tied for the team-lead, scoring 11 points, in Friday’s 60-47 victory over Big Bend. Imani Smith also had 11. Zhara Laster added nine points, and Tai Thomas and Alicia Dugan scored eight apiece.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
