KENNEWICK — Gabi Fenumiai dropped 22 points and 17 rebounds and Zhara Laster added 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Peninsula Pirates won a track meet against the feisty Portland Panthers 81-60 in the opening round of the women’s Northwest Athletic Conference tournament at the Toyota Center.
Saturday’s game was much closer than the final score indicated. Portland challenged the Pirates’ transition game with blazing transition speed and athleticism of its own.
“It was a different team than we’re used to playing. Especially in the North [Region],” Pirates head coach Alison Crumb said.
“This was a physical, athletic, get up and down and get to the basket kind of team. We haven’t seen that since preseason.”
Peninsula rocketed out to an 11-2 lead in the first four minutes thanks to two put-backs by Fenumiai and back-to-back 3-pointers by Imani Smith and Madison Pilster, stunning the Panthers from the get-go.
Portland fired back with a 12-2 run of their own, running a red-hot transition offense and forcing multiple turnovers to take over the lead at 14-13 halfway through the first half.
“We couldn’t rotate as much because they were so good off the dribble,” Crumb said.
The last 10 minutes of the first half were an all-out race to the locker room, as both teams ratcheted up the tension with blistering transition attacks.
The two teams traded baskets until Peninsula began to build a small lead right before the half, with a coast-to-coast steal and lay-in by Smith and two inside shots by Fenumiai to put the Pirates up 34-30 going into the intermission.
“Once we work it inside, it helps set a rhythm. Not just for myself. Then I can kick it out and give it to other people,” Fenumiai said.
Despite Peninsula’s lead, Portland had a nine-rebound advantage and 12 steals at the break.
“I was expecting them to go for steals. I wasn’t expecting them to be as successful with it as they were,” Crumb said.
Both teams came out the locker room firing on all cylinders.
Fenumiai grabbed a rebound and a basket on a missed free throw on two separate occasions, and Laster and Smith nailed back-to-back floaters to put the Pirates up by 11 in the first four minutes of the second half.
“Gabi was crucial,” Crumb said.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half, Portland would not go away, or tire, as it continued to hang around and keep pace with Peninsula thanks to driving lay-ins and jump shots by Diamond Bolden, but the Panthers wouldn’t get any closer than seven points for the remainder of the game.
With about five minutes left in the game, Portland began to noticeably tire, and the Pirates took advantage by ramping up the pace with a plethora of inside shots and layups, which forced Portland to foul.
As the final seconds ticked away, the Pirates walked away with a 21-point win.
Peninsula flipped the script in the second half, holding Portland to only 11 total rebounds, pushing their game total 61 to the Panthers 32. “We gave up 14 points off turnovers in the first half. It very well could have been a different story if that was the case in the second half,” Crumb said. “We just switched our focus: take care of the ball.
“We need to take care of the ball better and move the ball quicker. Sometimes we held the ball too long and it stifles our offense.”
Peninsula 81, Portland 60
Portland 30 30— 60
Peninsula 34 47— 81
Individual scoring
Portland (60)
Woods 10, Akles 13, Johnson 5, Bolden 22, Jones 10, Tower, Edie.
Peninsula (81)
Laster 12, Ci. Moss 12, Pilster 12, Fenumiai 22, Hutchins 2, Schmillen 2, Smith 17, Nemelka, Ch. Moss, Gonzales.
