LONGVIEW — So far, the Peninsula College women’s basketball team has picked up where it left off last season.
After rolling to the Northwest Athletic Conference championship by finishing last season with 13 consecutive wins, the Pirates have opened 2015-16 with three straight road wins, all at road venues or neutral sites.
The latest triumph was a convincing 72-51 rout of Lower Columbia in Longview on Sunday.
The Pirates jumped on the Red Devils early and led 21-11 after one quarter.
Lower Columbia, which has made the NWAC tournament 12 of the past 13 seasons, opened the quarter with a couple of baskets that cut Peninsula’s lead to 22-15.
The Pirates, though, pulled away, and then some, with a 20-2 run over the remainder of the quarter, and their lead was up to 42-17 at halftime.
“The first half was really great. We didn’t make too many mistakes,” Peninsula coach Alison Crumb said.
“We shot the ball well, we finished around the rim.”
Sophomore guard Imani Smith led the Pirates with 23 points and six steals in only 23 minutes.
“She’s playing at a really high level right now,” Crumb said.
“So is Zhara [Laster]. Those two right now are playing really well for us right now.
“So are the Mosses [Cierra and Cherish]. Our backcourt is playing like veterans, which we like.”
Laster scored 12 points, 10 of those in came in the first half, and had six rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Cierra Moss put up 13 points and led Peninsula with eight rebounds.
“She had a great game,” Crumb said.
“What I’m so proud of her because if she’s not shooting well, she’s still finding a way to play well. She’s stepping up in a lot of different ways.
“She was only 1-6 from the 3-point line and it didn’t stop her from being our second-leading scorer.”
Cherish Moss scored three points, grabbed three boards and made three steals.
The Moss sisters, both sophomores, were facing their former Neah Bay teammate Faye Chartraw, who is a freshman at Lower Columbia.
Chartraw, the 2015 All-Peninsula Girls Basketball MVP, was the Lower Columbia Red Devils’ second-leading scorer Sunday with eight points. She also had five rebounds.
The Pirates have used a four-guard starting lineup so far this season — Smith, Laster and Cierra and Cherish Moss being joined by rotating post players.
Tai Thomas started Sunday’s game in the post, and finished with two points and five rebounds.
“She did great,” Crumb said.
“She got two steals right out of the gate and was guarding their best scorer. That was a really good momentum booster in the game. It gave our guards even more confidence.”
Crumb said she can use as many as 10 different starting lineups, and that the Pirates’ rotation probably goes nine or 10 deep, but she likes the four-guard lineup, especially when Peninsula isn’t facing a team with two post threats.
“We like to pressure in the full-court and really pack it in half-court,” Crumb said.
“If we get a deep rebound and it’s by one of our guards, that’s hard to defend, we just are out and going.
“[Lower Columbia] played a little into what we liked to do, so we took advantage.”
The Red Devils shot 26 percent in the game, and many of their 45 field goal attempts came from the outside, including 16 from 3-point range.
Peninsula, meanwhile, was attacking the hoop. Crumb said that other than their 13 3-point attempts, of which they only made two, the Pirates didn’t have many shots outside of 15 feet.
The big lead allowed Peninsula (3-0) to rest its starters and give playing time to 12 players. All but two scored.
