PORT ANGELES — Victory seemed like a long shot after a rough first half, long enough for Port Angeles boys basketball coach Kasey Ulin to break out an apt metaphor in the halftime locker room, especially considering the opponent, the North Kitsap Vikings.
“Coach was saying our boats are burned,” Roughriders senior post Liam Clark said. “If we don’t win this game, we’re not winning league, so it’s do or die and we have to go out and execute perfectly, otherwise we aren’t winning league. And we need to win league if we want to have the best chance at making it to state.”
And Port Angeles, which weathered first-half foul trouble that sent Clark and Payton Schmidt to the bench, proceeded to turn the contest into a Norse funeral. The Riders torched the Vikings with a dominant defensive performance after the break to erase North Kitsap’s 11-point second quarter advantage and win going away, 65-53 Friday.
“We talk about dealing with adversity — that was it right there,” Ulin said. “In the game of the year, we’re in foul trouble, we’re not playing well and we’re down double digits in the first half while [North] is looking great.”
The win was the first for Port Angeles against the four-time defending Olympic League 2A Division champ Vikings in nine games dating back to Jan. 28, 2014.
“I’m so proud of them to be able to stick with the game plan,” Ulin said of his team. “First two quarters we were a little emotional and it took us out of playing disciplined basketball. North came out like the champions they are and were fantastic for two quarters.”
Junior guard Kobe McMillian, the villian who drained a late 3-pointer to beat Port Angeles in Poulsbo in December, was ready to play the role again with 15 first half points as the Vikings took a 35-27 halftime lead.
“We challenged our guys at halftime to be great defensively,” Ulin, who was given a Gatorade shower by his guys in the locker room postgame, said.
“Our defensive pressure improved. We were connected on our rotations, we did a better job of rebounding and they just played with great intensity and then poise in the second half. We tried to win every trip. You can’t make up an eight-point lead in one trip or in one minute, so win every trip.”
North Kitsap led 41-33 with 3:35 to play in the third quarter when Port Angeles’ Garrett Edwards cashed in his second 3-pointer of the game.
“You can’t say enough about how hard he plays,” Ulin said of Edwards, who led Port Angeles with 16 points.
A steal by Clark and a pass up to a streaking Benedict for a layup trimmed the lead to three. Clark followed up with a block and a pass up to Benedict, who passed on the layup attempt, instead draining the game-tying 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the third.
“Kyle is our guy, he does a lot for us,” Ulin said. “He was great tonight, he defended [Shaa] Humphrey amazingly. And Kyle is on a bum ankle, he didn’t practice yesterday because his ankle is sprained.
“He’s one of the toughest, grittiest kids I’ve ever coached and he wasn’t going to miss tonight’s game.”
North Kitsap answered Benedict’s huge shot with a bucket, but the Riders responded — pushing their run to 15-4 and their lead to 48-45 after three quarters thanks to some hard work down low by Anton Kathol and a pair of free throws by Gary Johnson.
McMillian buried a corner 3 to trim the Port Angeles lead to 3, 52-49 with 4:47 to play, and Benedict, who had 13 points, fouled out with 3:52 left. But the Riders again showed their resolve, getting the ball to Edwards and Clark for two consecutive dribble drives to the rim to go up 56-49 with 3:19 left.
Clark added a layup inside, swatted the life out of North Kitsap with a huge block and continued the onslaught on the offensive end with another difficult layup in close for a 60-51 lead with just over a minute to play.
Clark scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. He also had two rim-rocking dunks on the night.
“We all got connected on defense, we stopped fouling, we walled up and we got into those guys that can’t handle the ball,” Clark said of the second half. “We turned them over and got some easy buckets.
“In PA that’s our motto — we get stops on defense and then we score on offense.”
Johnson and Gabe Long then went to work at the free throw line to salt the game away for Port Angeles.
“[The comeback] says a lot about the character of these guys,” Ulin said. “They care about each other. These guys like each other and really want what’s best for each other. We spend a lot of time together throughout the year, our summer trips, and that came out tonight. They fought, they loved each other and they continued to be resilient throughout the game. “
Ulin hopes the win is the push Port Angeles needs late in the regular season.
“If we can play with that kind of togetherness and poise … I hope this can propel us to the next step,” Ulin said. “If we keep working on that execution and poise and combine it with the effort and confidence I know we can play with and the next few weeks will be fun.”
Port Angeles (7-1, 12-4) is now tied with North Kitsap (7-1, 13-3) for the league lead with four Olympic League contests remaining for each team.
Neutral-court tiebreakers at Sequim and Port Townsend have decided recent league title ties between the Port Angeles and North Kitsap girls basketball teams.
The Riders visit North Mason on Tuesday.
Port Angeles 65, North Mason 53
NK 19 16 10 8 — 53
PA 15 12 21 17 — 65
North Kitsap (53) — McMillian 23, Chimielewski 14, Humphrey 7, Siebers 6.
Port Angeles (65) — Edwards 16, Clark 14, Benedict 13, Kathol 8, Johnson 5, Long 5, Schmidt 3, Cobb 1.
