LONGVIEW — In what initially appeared to be an easy victory turned into the Peninsula College women’s most nail-biting win of the season Monday.
Playing Chemeketa in the Lower Columbia Holiday Classic in Longview, the Pirates stormed out to a 24-5 lead in the first quarter, taking 23 shots to Chemeketa’s 11.
Chemeketa, not a bad team at 8-3, slowly chipped away at that huge lead and had opportunities to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but the Pirates hung on for a 57-52 win. It was the closest victory for the women during their eight-game winning streak.
Peninsula still had a healthy lead going into the halftime break up 40-23.
However, it was the Pirates’ first game in 15 days and perhaps the rust of that long layoff started showing up after the halftime break. In the second half, the Pirates struggled from the floor, shooting just 6-for-30 (20 percent) and scoring 17 total points in the third and fourth quarters.
Peninsula entered the fourth still up by double digits at 48-38, but Chemeketa cut the lead to four at 49-45 with 6:25 left in the game. It remained tight to the final whistle with the Storm getting to within one possession at 55-52 with 1:24 left.
Peninsula’s Kimberlee Brown made a clutch layup with 23 seconds left to push the lead back to two possessions at 57-52. Ryana Moss (Neah Bay High School) played tough defense on Chemeketa’s Patricia Mike as she put up a shot in the paint with eight seconds left. The shot rattled out, Moss got the rebound and was fouled to ice the win.
Alecsis Smith scored 15 points in 12 minutes, while Aspen Fraser led the team with 11 rebounds and three steals.
Malia Garcia and Makena Patrick each had eight points and eight rebounds with Patrick adding three steals. Carliese O’Brien had six points, five rebounds and four assists.
In a game in early December, Peninsula beat Chemeketa 80-62. During the Pirates’ previous seven wins, their average margin of victory was 23 points with only Lower Columbia able to stay within single digits.
Peninsula (8-2) has a big game today, playing defending NWAC champion Walla Walla (10-2) at 2 p.m. The games are being shown online on the NWAC Network. Walla Walla beat Peninsula on Nov. 15 59-44 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. Peninsula was down just six points early in the fourth quarter in that contest.
Peninsula 57, Chemeketa 52
Che. 5 18 15 14 — 52
PC 24 16 8 9 — 57
Chemeketa (52) — Mike 20, Rubio 16, Fullbright 9, Villegas 4, Barba 2, Woolsey 1.
Peninsula (57) — Smith 15, Patrick 8, Garcia 8, O’Brien 6, Ostrander 6, Brown 5, Moss 3, Fraser 3, Myers 3.
