BELLINGHAM — Big second halves lifted the Peninsula College women’s and men’s basketball teams to a road sweep of their Whatcom counterparts.
This is the second straight year that Peninsula’s teams have both swept their season series with the Orcas.
The Peninsula men found their shooting touch in the second half of Wednesday’s game and overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to win 75-71.
The Pirates (7-2, 14-9) are now alone at the top of the Northwest Athletic Conference North Region. They moved a game up on Edmonds because the Tritons lost at home to Everett 91-80.
The Peninsula women maintained pace with Bellevue and Skagit Valley for first place in the North by shutting down Whatcom in the second half and winning 56-39.
The Peninsula squads are on the road again this weekend. They play at Everett on Sunday. The women’s game tips off at 2 p.m., and the men play at 4 p.m.
Men’s Game
Peninsula 75, Whatcom 71
The Orcas entered Wednesday’s game on a three-game winning streak. And they played like it in the first half, shooting 52 percent from the field and making 6 of 12 shots from 3-point range, and led 37-23 at the break.
In the second half, the Pirates played like a team at the top of the region standings, and then some.
Peninsula made 7 of 12 treys after halftime and shot 58 percent from the field.
Sophomore point guard Ryley Callaghan led the charge for the Pirates, finishing with team-highs of 24 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Callaghan was throwing fire from downtown, making 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
Darrion Daniels added
13 points and three assists, and Jeremiah Hobbs scored
11 points.
Peninsula’s leading scorer Deonte Dixon was held to seven points, but contributed five steals on the defensive end.
The Pirates, meanwhile, took care of the ball, only turning it over five times while forcing 16 turnovers, which they turned into 18 points.
Connor Kelley led four Whatcom players in double figures with 14 points. Logan Schilder pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds, and Deon Thomas dished out nine assists.
The Orcas outrebounded the Pirates 42-30.
Peninsula is 5-1 against Whatcom in head coach Mitch Freeman’s three seasons at the helm.
A win over Everett on Saturday would give Peninsula a cushion of three games between itself and the North Region’s third seed with four games left in the regular season.
The top four teams from each region advance to the NWAC tournament, but the top two host first-round games.
The Pirates are the North’s hottest team, having won five straight games, but they know just how dangerous the Trojans can be.
Peninsula beat Everett 99-90 last month in Port Angeles, but the Pirates saw a 50-18 first-half lead disappear before making plays down the stretch.
The third-place Trojans (5-4, 14-10) swept the season series with Edmonds.
Peninsula 75, Whatcom 71
Peninsula 23 52— 75
Whatcom 37 34— 71
Individual scoring
Peninsula (75)
Woods 3, Callaghan 24, Daniels 13, Dixon 7, Amos 4, Mayeux 6, Reis 7, Hobbs 11.
Whatcom (71)
Anderson 8, Kelley 14, Thomas 10, Seymour 12, Johnson 12, Schilder 2, Leek 6, Reimer 7, Daugharty.
Women’s Game
Peninsula 56, Whatcom 39
The fourth-ranked Pirates trailed the two-win Orcas 27-24 at halftime.
Peninsula clamped down and held Whatcom to 12 points in the entire second half.
The Pirates are allowing 58.3 points per game, which ties them with Walla Walla for first in the Northwest Athletic Conference.
Cierra Moss paced Peninsula with 19 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds, tying Zhara Laster for the team lead.
Laster finished with eight points, five assists and five steals.
Laster has 71 steals this season, which puts her nine away from equaling the school record of 80 set by Trista White in 2003-04.
If Laster keeps up her 3.23 steals per game pace, she’ll beat Francis Farini’s school-best season mark of 3.1 (2002-03).
Imani Smith also had a nice all-around game Wednesday, tallying 10 points, six boards and four steals.
Whatcom (2-7, 2-18) was led by Lindsey Honeycutt, who had 22 points and 15 rebounds. Honeycutt ranks second in the NWAC in scoring at 22.7 points per game.
If Peninsula (8-1, 17-5) defeats fourth-place Everett (5-4, 12-11) on Sunday, it will clinch a postseason berth. If that happens, the winner of Saturday’s game between Bellevue (8-1, 18-4) and Skagit Valley (8-1, 18-7) also will clinch postseason.
The Pirates host the Bulldogs next Saturday, Feb. 20, and face the Cardinals in Mount Vernon on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
Peninsula 56, Whatcom 39
Peninsula 15 9 14 18— 56
Whatcom 14 13 5 7— 39
Individual scoring
Peninsula (56)
Rodisha 6, Laster 8, McKnight 2, Ci. Moss 19, Cooks 3, Ch. Moss 2, Smith 10, Thomas 6, Hutchins.
Whatcom (39)
Yates 2, Maxwell 4, Nigretto 9, Deming 2, Honeycutt 22, Williams, Washington.
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Compiled using team reports.
