By Eric Trent
The Peninsula women’s basketball team put on a clinic, administering a 30 point wood-shed style beating to the Everett Trojans Saturday night in Port Angeles, securing their second place position in the North Division of the Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Pirates jumped out to a 14 point lead at halftime and never looked back, increasing that lead to 30 with ten minutes left in the game, and holding Everett until the final seconds.
The two teams traded baskets for the first six minutes until Peninsula went on a 10-3 run to push their lead to double digits, with asphyxiating full-court press defense. Zhara Laster weaved through three defenders for a scorching lay-in, and Cierra Moss snatched two steals, to stifle the Trojans in that ensuing run.
Moss hit three shots in the final three minutes of the half, including a spinning lay-up with seven seconds left, to take a 14 point lead going into the half. “We just kept plays alive, which is super important, especially when we’re shooting under 40 percent.” Peninsula head coach, Alison Crumb said.
Peninsula’s success in the first half was due to a seven offensive rebound advantage over Everett “We know that the start of every transition is our rebounding.” Crumb added.
Coming out of the locker room, Peninsula ratcheted up the tension, with a blistering transition offense. Before long, PC pushed the lead to 20 with long range sniper, Madison Pilster’s back to back three pointers.
Holding a 22 point lead with five minutes left, Peninsula put in their reserves to close the game and walked away with a 92-62 blowout win. Peninsula’s ability to control the boards was the turning for the Pirates, who pulled down 16 more total rebounds than the Trojans.
The Pirates also had key contribution from reserves, getting 36 points off the bench, compared to only 12 for Everett. “They know it really doesn’t matter who starts. We have a pretty even rotation. We try to get eight, nine kids pretty even minutes.” Crumb said. “This is our best team effort.”
Three Pirate women had double-digit scoring with Moss hitting for 18, and Pilster adding 17. Laster was the leading scorer for the Pirates, dropping 19 points, coming off the bench, in her second game back from a knee injury. “We’re trying to ease her into the starting rotation again, and I think she proved tonight that she’s pretty much back at that level” Crumb added.
The Pirates (9-1, 15-5) head to the road to face a 3-6, 11-11 Olympic team on Wednesday.