NWAC SEMIFINAL: Walla Walla’s Sailors sinks Pirates’ championship hopes

Published 1:30 am Saturday, March 14, 2026

PASCO — Peninsula College came close, but could never completely recover from digging a 15-point hole in their Northwest Athletic Conference Final 4 semifinal with defending champion Walla Walla and fell 74-62 on Holden Court at Columbia Basin College on Friday evening.

The loss ended the Pirates’ season at 24-5.

Walla Walla seized control in the second quarter with strong shooting against the Pirates’ man-to-man defense, going 9-for-18 from the floor and hitting both 3-point shots they attempted.

The Pirates suffered from too many one-and-done or none-and-down scoreless trips down the court offensively in their slow start to the second quarter.

Peninsula also was beaten badly on the glass in the first half, with a 30-14 rebounding advantage in the Warriors’ favor.

East MVP Logan Sailors scored nine points in the quarter, 14 for the half as Peninsula trailed 37-22 at the break.

“We need to be a little bit better in transition and finding our man defensively,” coach Alison Rose said at halftime.

“Rebounding, you have to be willing to do it.”

Peninsula was strong to open the third quarter behind the play of North MVP Alecsis Smith.

Smith had a hand in all of the Pirates’ points during an 8-0 run to open the first 3:30 of the third quarter.

The sophomore spun one in around the rim for a bucket, passed out of a double team to Makena Patrick for a score on their next trip down court and picked up the third foul on Walla Walla post Addy Laible on a made basket, hit a turnaround in the paint and blocked a shot on the defensive end as the Pirates pulled within 37-30 with 6:51 to go in the third.

But whatever Peninsula was able to do to right the ship, such as a banked-in 3 from Patrick to trail 39-35, Walla Walla had an answer.

Sailors drained a big 3 when the Pirates were slow to react to a screen and Marisela Contreras cashed in a buzzer-beating triple to send the game to the fourth quarter with Peninsula down 52-42.

The Pirates would come no closer than six points for the remainder of the contest.

Sailors hit 8-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter as the Warriors collectively drained 14-of-18 freebies as Peninsula attempted to comeback by fouling late.

Sailors finished with a game-high 29 points with seven rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Smith led Peninsula with 20 points and 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 25 minutes.

Neah Bay’s Ryana Moss was injured early on in the contest, returned for a stretch in the second half but was obviously hampered and limited to six minutes in her final game as a Pirate.

Walla Walla 74, Peninsula 61

Peninsula 11 11 20 20 — 62

Walla Walla 15 22 15 22 — 74

Peninsula: Smith 20, Garcia 11, Patrick 10, Fraser 9, Brown 5, Ostrander 3, O’Brien 4.

Walla Walla: Sailors 29, Fraas 9, Laible 8, Osterhout 7, Geerdes 6, Contreras 6, McKenna 6, Johnson 3.