NWAC MEN’S TOURNAMENT: Pirates lose in opener

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026

PASCO — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team rallied early in the second half, but simply couldn’t overcome a huge rebounding gap in an 81-61 loss to Treasure Valley in the opening round of the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.

The loss ended the Pirates’ season at 7-23.

Treasure Valley, from Ontario, Ore., had a huge rebounding advantage of 57-27, resulting in 79 Chukars shots to just 53 for the Pirates.

Treasure Valley took a 44-29 lead into the break. The Pirates went on a nice 8-2 run early in the second half, sparked by a Paxton Heitsch 3-pointer and four straight points from Sam Tekeste, to get within 46-37 with plenty of time left.

Treasure Valley put its foot on the gas over the next 10 minutes, going on a 21-5 run to take a commanding 67-42 lead with 7:30 left in the game. The Pirates were never able to get within 20 points after that.

The highlight of the Pirates’ season was the team’s run to the playoffs during the second half of North Region play. The Pirates started the season 1-14 before the beginning of conference play and then started 1-4 in conference. They finished 5-4 over the final nine games to qualify for the NWAC tournament, winning one game by one point and another on a 3-pointer by Tekeste at the final buzzer.

Tekeste led the team with 18 points, while Odingo had 13 and Cinco McNeal 12. However, no one on the team had more than six rebounds.

The Peninsula College women (22-4), a No. 1 seed and champion of the North Region, begin NWAC tournament play at noon Saturday against No. 4 seed Treasure Valley.

TVC 81, Peninsula 61

PC 29 32 — 61

TVC 44 37 — 81

Peninsula (61) — Tekeste 18, Odingo 13, McNeal 12, Halberg 6, Heitsch 6, Nofmann 4, Driver 2.