SHORELINE — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team didn’t do it the easy way, but in the end, the Pirates earned their way into the NWAC Tournament with an 83-70 play-in victory over Shoreline.
The Pirates fell into a extra play-in game Saturday, losing to Shoreline last week, Peninsula’s fifth loss in six games, leaving both teams tied in fourth place at 7-7 in the North Region. If Peninsula had won that Wednesday game, the Pirates would have automatically qualified for the NWAC tournament.
With Saturday’s victory, Peninsula (8-7, 15-14) is the No. 4 seed out of the North and will play South Region champion Portland (15-1, 23-4) in the first round of the tournament at 2 p.m. Wednesday. That game will be played at Columbia Basin Community College in Pasco.
The Pirates had to overcome six 3-pointers from Shoreline’s Jamikal Davis, who shot 6-for-7 from downtown. He hit four 3s in the first 10 minutes of the game and finished with 23 points. In fact, the Dolphins shot great from outside the whole game, shooting 11-for-24 on their 3-point shots. Peninsula coach Bryce Jacobson pointed out that all of those made shots by the Dolphins were being contested by the Pirates’ defense.
“They [Shoreline] had some moments, but I felt good throughout the game,” Jacobson said.
The Pirates responded with 27 points from Javon Ervin and 26 from Ese Onakpoma. Onakpoma hit three 3-pointers, all in the first half, and shot 9-for-13 from the free-throw line. He added three steals and three blocked shots.
Ervin had a pair of 3-pointers, a thunderous fast break dunk in the first half, and shot 5-for-6 from the line.
While Shoreline outshot the Pirates from outside, Peninsula dominated in two categories: They drew 24 fouls from the Dolphins and shot 32 free throws, and they forced 18 Shoreline turnovers to just 10 for the Pirates.
Jacobson said the fouls were by design.
“Our guys were playing aggressive. You have to be aggressive without forcing it,” he said.
Though the final margin was 13 points, the game was close well into the second half. The Pirates were clinging to just a 45-43 lead with 16:30 left in the second half when they went on an 14-1 run over 5½ minutes to open the lead up to 59-44. Ervin and Antonio Odum hit crucial 3-pointers during that run. The Pirates’ defense also forced seven missed shots and three turnovers during that stretch. Jacobson agreed that run was huge.
“Credit to our guys, they made me look good,” Jacobson said.
Though Davis hit a couple more 3-pointers in the second half, the Dolphins were never able to cut the lead to less than nine points. The final blow for Shoreline came when Davis fouled out with 2:38 left in the game and the Pirates up 72-58.
DeShawn Rushmeyer had a great game off the bench, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and scoring 11 points to go along with four steals.
“He had an awesome game, especially defensively,” Jacobson said. He said Rushmeyer was tasked with defending Shoreline’s tough point guard Jordan Smalls.
“The steals don’t even tell the whole story,” Jacobson said.
Wyatt Dunning (Port Angeles High School) added eight points and six rebounds.
Jacobson said that Portland is a very good team but that he feels the North Region is the toughest in the NWAC, so the Pirates will be ready.
“I feel like we’ve already been through the gauntlet,” he said.
Peninsula 83, Shoreline 70
Peninsula 43 40 — 83
Shoreline 35 35 — 70
Peninsula (83) — Ervin 27, Onakpoma 26, Rushmeyer 11, Dunning 8, Odum 5, Olmstead 5, Odingo 1.
Shoreline (70) — Davis 23, Amaro 15, Smalls 15, Cham 11, Nodale 3, Williams 2, Collins 1.
Peninsula women
The Peninsula women, champions of the North Region (14-0, 21-2) and winners of 17 straight, are a No. 1 NWAC Tournament seed and will play No. 4 seed Centralia at noon Friday at host school Columbia Basin. Centralia (8-4, 14-13) finished tied for third in the West Region. The Columbia Basin women (14-0, 23-2) are ranked No. 1 in the NWAC while Peninsula is ranked No. 4.
The Pirates cannot face Columbia Basin until the championship game but in the way for the Pirates are very good teams from Lower Columbia (11-1, 21-6), which features Port Angeles’ Bailee Larson (14.7 points, 6 rebounds per game) and Neah Bay’s Courtney Swan (6.5 ppg), and Umpqua (13-3, 25-4) from the always-tough South Region.
