SEATTLE — In a game where seemingly neither team could miss, the Peninsula College men got the final shot
That was good enough to hand the Pirates a narrow victory in their first NWAACC North Division game of the season Wednesday night.
J.T. Terrell sank a 3-pointer in the closing seconds against Seattle Community College, and the Pirates escaped with 103-102 win in divisional play.
Despite leading for most of the night, the second-ranked Pirates (1-0 in North, 11-1 overall) needed the late-game dramatics to win their eighth in a row.
Now they’ll get to end a month-long absence from the North Olympic Peninsula sports scene when they host Skagit Valley (0-1, 4-5) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
“If you don’t play up to the level that you expect but still come out with the victory, it’s a sign of a very good team,” Pirates coach Lance Von Vogt said.
“You’re not going to play your best basketball every night, but if you find a way to win . . . that bodes well for you.”
On a night when the Pirates’ defense wasn’t operating at a high level, the offense did just enough to make up for it.
Four different players scored 20 or more points and five were in double figures.
Dudley Ewell scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds while DeShaun Freeman had 20 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
Tyler Funk had 22 points, Sam Waller added 12 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Terrell chipped in with 21 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with seven seconds to go.
“They had moved to a zone, so we drew up a zone play in the huddle on a timeout,” Von Vogt said.
“The coach changed back to man-to-man, so we just went to our base man offense and the ball came to J.T. He took one dribble and had a clean look at the goal.
“The good thing about our team this year is we have a group of guys who are seasoned, who have played in big games.
“Our guys as a group won’t shy away from big moments and take big shots. Tonight it was J.T.”
The Pirates were forced into that position largely because Seattle (0-1, 5-6) shot the lights out.
The Storm hit 59 percent of their attempts from the field (39 of 66) and 58 percent from 3-point range (11 of 19).
Jerry Smallwood nailed 6 of 7 long range bombs himself to finish with 19 points, while Jacob Champous had 28 points and Joey Reavley had 20.
“I’ve got to give Seattle credit, they shot the ball extremely well tonight,” Von Vogt said. “They outshot us in all three categories.
“But at the end of the day we didn’t defend the way we normally defend. We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win tonight.”
The Pirates were plenty efficient offensively as well, hitting 37 of 72 shots from the field.
They also knocked down 11 of 23 3-pointers, with Funk accounting for six of those himself.
“I liked the balance in our scoring,” Von Vogt said. “We have five guys in double figures and four guys over 20 points tonight.
“I think we are more explosive offensively [this season]. We can score at all three levels — the perimeter, the mid-range and right at the goal.
“Defensively we’re not quite at the point this year that we were last year.”
Peninsula gave up the lead twice in the last couple of minutes in the second half.
Seattle eventually went up 102-100 with 30 seconds to go before Terrell responded with the game winner on the other end.
The Storm tried to advance the ball with seven seconds remaining, but the Pirates came up with a steal and the final buzzer sounded.
“We escaped with a win on this one,” Von Vogt said.
Peninsula 103, Seattle 102
Peninsula 47 56— 103
Seattle 42 60— 102
Individual scoring
Peninsula (103)
Ewell 23, Freeman 20, Funk 22, Terrell 21, Waller 13, Clement 4.
Seattle (102)
Champous 28, Reavley 20, Smallwood 19, Maw 16, Kimmel 6, Swanstrom 7, Montano 6.
Women
Peninsula 79, Seattle 48
SEATTLE — The Pirates opened up their NWAACC North Division schedule with a dominating blowout of the Storm on Wednesday night.
Peninsula had 10 different players score, led by Abby Jones, who was 7 of 12 from the field for 16 points.
Jesse Ellis added 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals to help give the Pirates a win in their division opener for the second straight year.
“We got everyone involved, which was nice,” Pirates coach Alison Crumb said. “It was a good overall way to start the league.
“We played an excellent first half. We came out strong, played solid defense, made good decisions.”
Peninsula jumped out to a 46-21 lead by the end of the first 20 minutes and was never challenged after that.
The Pirates hit 33 of 78 shots from the field and 6 of 15 from 3-point range.
With the defense forcing 33 turnovers, it wasn’t long before Crumb could begin emptying her bench.
For a coach who had managed just four North Division wins in her first two seasons, it was a good way to start things off.
“I was happy with how we played,” Crumb said.
“It feels nice to be on the reverse side of things. It feels great to be up 30 points with 10 minutes to go and be able to rotate and try things out.”
Karli Brakes added six assists, four steals and seven points for the Pirates, and Taylor Larson scored 14 points.
Peninsula (1-0 in North, 7-4 overall) will next host Skagit Valley on Saturday at 5 p.m. in what figures to be a pivotal divisional contest.
“We need to play really well with them at home,” Crumb said. “Skagit is a tough team.
“They are always good, and we’re going to have our hands full.”
Peninsula 79, Seattle 48
Peninsula 46 33— 79
Seattle 21 27— 48
Individual scoring
Peninsula (79)
Jones 16, Ellis 12, Brakes 7, Mason 8, Monfrey 7, Brown 6, Yarde 2, Smith 5, Larson 14, Manker 2.
Seattle (48)
Young 1, Davis 7, Kenney 4, Drivstuen 13, Antioquia 3, Green 2, Fonzi 3, Rogers 10, Phillips 5.