TACOMA — The Peninsula basketball women will end 2019 with a winning record after one of their most impressive wins of the year Monday.
The Pirates won two out of three games, losing only to the No. 1 team in the NWAC, at the Tacoma Crossover Tournament this weekend. They concluded the tournament with an 86-69 pasting over Tacoma on Monday.
Leilani Padilla led the Pirates with 30 points, shooting 80 percent (12 for 15) from the floor. Padilla hit four 3-pointers and shot a perfect 100 percent (8 for 8) from 2-point range.
The victory gives the Pirates a 6-4 preconference record heading into a three-week break in their season. On Sunday, Peninsula lost 81-54 to a 10-0 Umpqua College team.
Back to Monday’s game, Padilla wasn’t alone in filling up the stat sheet. Eight different Pirates scored at least six points and four Peninsula women had at least five rebounds. Kayla Johnson had an excellent game with 10 assists to go along with six points, six rebounds and four steals.
Casandra White hit three 3-pointers and scored 12 points and Kameron Bowen had eight.
The Pirates shot 43.5 percent (10 for 23) from 3-point range and 53.7 percent (29 for 54) overall.
Neah Bay’s Gina McCaulley scored seven points and hit a 3-pointer. Sunshine Vicente hit a pair of 3s and finished with seven points.
Peninsula 86, Tacoma 69
PC 19 24 22 21 — 86
Tacoma 14 17 17 21 — 69
Peninsula (86) — Padilla 30, White 12, Bowen 8, McCaulley 7, Vicente 7, Luke 6, Johnson 6, Ontiveros 6, Fitzgerald 4.
Tacoma (69) — Montoya 21, Washington 21, Sarafica 10, Rodriguez 4, Campbell 4, Rideout 3, Grosvenor 3, Calzadillas 3.
Sunday’s Game Umpqua 81, Peninsula 54
In Sunday’s game, Peninsula went up against Umpqua, undefeated at 10-0 and the No. 1-ranked team in the NWAC.
The Pirates gave the Riverhawks a tough fight until about halfway through the second quarter as Peninsula was down just 24-21 13 minutes into the game, but then Umpqua went on a 22-7 run to end the first half to blow open a close game.
Still, this was a team that averages 86 points a game and has an average margin of victory of 34 points, so there is no shame for the Pirates to lose to the Riverhawks.
Luke and Padilla led the Pirates with 14 points each, while Kayla Johnson scored 12 to go along with six assists and four steals.
The Riverhawks are an exceptionally deep team with 14 women on their roster and they’re also a strong rebounding team as they outrebounded the Pirates 45-24. Umpqua averages 46 rebounds a game, among the league leaders.
Peninsula (6-4) takes a long break over the Christmas holiday and will finally play a home game on Jan. 4 against Centralia (6-4).
Umpqua 81, Peninsula 54
PC 19 9 10 16 — 54
Home 20 26 18 17 — 81
Peninsula (54) — Luke 14, Padilla 14, Johnson 12, White 6, Ontiveros 4, Brown 2, Bowen 2
Umpqua (81) — Mitchell 24, Gonzales 20, Yaro 15, Campbell 11, Riggle 6, Boske 5.
