PORT ANGELES — Speed and a committed defensive effort boosted Peninsula College to a 71-55 win against Treasure Valley in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament.
Now the defending champion Pirates (23-5), ranked third in the final NWAC coaches poll, advance to a quarterfinal matchup with second-ranked Umpqua (25-6) at Everett Community College at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Peninsula defeated Umpqua 84-70 in the semifinals on its way to the title last season.
Against Treasure Valley on Saturday, the Pirates made it look easy — for three quarters at least.
Peninsula came out firing and flying around both ends of the court as they opened up a 19-1 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
“Such confidence,” Pirates coach Alison Crumb said of her team’s opening salvo.
“We played very confident. Our defense was probably the best its been all year, and we’re a really good defensive team, anyway.”
Peninsula’s quick guards, Imani Smith, Zhara Laster and Anaya Rodisha, were too much for the Chukars to handle in the early going on either end of the court.
“Imani is a tough matchup for anybody, but they didn’t have anybody who could guard her,” Crumb said.
“Or Zhara, either. And once that happens and you have to pull help, then you have Cierra [Moss] and Cherish [Moss] on the outside hitting shots.
“From a guard perspective, we felt like we had a great matchup.”
Cierra Moss agreed.
“We knew we had a speed advantage,” Moss said.
“And Crumb told Imani, ‘This is your game, you have to push the ball.’ And she really did a great job of that. All our guards did.”
Smith led all scorers with 15 points, and added six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Playing on a sore knee, Moss hit for 13 points and had two assists and two steals.
“It hurts but I didn’t want to sit out,” Moss said. “This game was too important for the team.”
Crumb’s pregame scouting report pegged Treasure Valley as a post-oriented offensive team, so the Pirates knew they had to deny entry passes and play strong help-side defense.
They did.
“Crumb was talking them up the whole week, so we came out really prepared,” Moss said.
“We just knew from the start we were going to get them because of how Crumb talked them up. We knew we had to play really good defense and couldn’t let them establish a post presence or back us down.”
They didn’t.
Peninsula didn’t allow a Chukars field goal until 46 seconds remained in the first quarter, and led 25-5 after one period and 38-13 at halftime.
The Pirates were more than just a backcourt team in Saturday’s victory.
“Our posts played great,” Crumb. “They are post-heavy team, and I think our posts took that personal and wanted to go out and prove something.”
Jenise McKnight scored an efficient 10 points in 14 minutes of play, while Daijhan Cooks added six rebounds and four points.
They combined to limit Treasure Valley’s leading scorer Heather Waldemar to 2 of 8 shooting and six points.
The Chukars opened the second half with a Riley Helmick 3-pointer, but the Moss sisters were having nothing to do with a Treasure Valley comeback.
The pair answered immediately with back-to-back treys as the Pirates continued their offensive onslaught.
Peninsula hit six 3s in the third quarter: two apiece from Anaya Rodisha, Cierra Moss and Cherish Moss.
Rodisha scored 10 points, and Cherish Moss had nine points, all coming on 3s.
“We were aggressive offensively, we knew we had mismatches, we knew we had people they couldn’t guard,” Crumb said.
She was impressed with her team’s drive through the first three quarters.
“I haven’t seen that level of focus,” Crumb said. “The consistent focus. Staying after it and not letting an early lead dictate what we were going to do.
“The fourth quarter was the only exception to that, but we stayed very hungry and aimed for perfection, that’s what we talk to them about.
“I’m really proud of them.”
The Pirates led 64-30 heading into the fourth quarter, but relaxed with the big advantage and allowed the Chukars to chip away and make the final margin more respectable.
Now a familiar challenge awaits Peninsula in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
“Thursday’s big. It’s going to be a championship-type game,” Crumb said. “I think both teams have a great chance of competing for the trophy.
“It’s going to be a battle. We had to go through them last year, so I expect them to be revenge-minded, but I think we will be able to handle it.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
