PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles girls basketball team’s quest for a perfect season was completed with a 68-52 hard-fought win over a game Sequim squad that gave the Roughriders everything they could handle, especially over the first 24 minutes of the game.
The Riders don’t get the chance to see how much damage they could have done at a Class 2A state tournament, but they will always be able to claim both an Olympic League title, the program’s fourth straight, and a perfect 15-0 season after fending off Sequim Wednesday night in Port Angeles.
Meanwhile, the Wolves finished a highly successful 11-2 season with both of its losses fairly close games against the Roughriders.
The Wolves and Riders had been on a collision course all year. The Wolves pretty much dominated every team they beat, while the Riders dominated everyone but Sequim and Bainbridge.
How good were these two teams? When playing someone other than Sequim, the Riders outscored their opponents 67.5 to 23.8. When playing someone other than Port Angeles, the Wolves outscored their opponents 68.5 to 32.3.
The Riders didn’t like to talk about a “perfect season,” during the year for fear of jinxing it, but now that the season is over, Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said he thought all season that it was a realistic goal worth shooting for.
“Most years, you’re just trying to win your way to Yakima [site of the state tournament],” Poindexter said.
“It’s a meaningful accomplishment especially given some of the challenges and things out of sync this year,” he said.
After the game, Sequim coach Linsay Rapelje was emotional.
“I’m crying because I’m missing my seniors,” she said. “I don’t care about the loss. It was such a great, fun, competitive game.
“[We] had opportunities, sometimes it just doesn’t work out,” Rapelje said. “If you miss opportunities, Port Angeles will capitalize. Their defense is phenomenal.”
Swings of momentum
The final score was a bit misleading as the first 24 minutes of the game saw huge swings of momentum with the Roughriders building up a solid lead three times and the Wolves rallying to make it a game again. Sequim was down just three points near the end of the third quarter.
Larson follows her shot and makes a layup. Port Angeles 12,Sequim 6 2:50 1Q pic.twitter.com/VxgaMAD5QS
— Michael Carman (@MikeCarmanPDN) June 10, 2021
The Riders struggled with their shooting in the first half, but Petty was deadly from outside, hitting three 3-pointers in the half and finishing with 15 points.
Petty hit one 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run in the first quarter. She hit two more 3-pointers early in the second quarter to give the Riders a 23-14 lead at one point.
“I felt relaxed. The team set up those plays for me. My team needed me to score. I didn’t want to take bad shots,” Petty said.
While Port Angeles seemed to be taking control at that point, Sequim came roaring back as post players Jelissa and Jayla Julmist began to dominate in the paint and the smaller Roughriders struggled to defend them.
Jelissa scored four points in the second quarter and Jayla six, then Hannah Bates hit a huge 3-pointer for the Wolves to give Sequim a 27-25 lead late in the first half.
Wolves take 27-25 lead on this Bates 3. 2:10 2Q. pic.twitter.com/eu8eZdP40j
— Michael Carman (@MikeCarmanPDN) June 10, 2021
Jaida Wood got hot from outside for the Riders in the third quarter to help open up a Port Angeles lead. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and another bucket for eight points in three minutes. Meanwhile, Petty had two steals and two buckets as Port Angeles opened up a 44-35 lead.
Again, the Wolves came roaring back, refusing to quit. Kalli Wiker hit a 3-pointer, followed by five straight points by Bates. Very quickly, Sequim was down just three points at 46-43.
Bates hits this 3 but PA leads 48-43 entering the 4th. pic.twitter.com/1SAKPcYsov
— Michael Carman (@MikeCarmanPDN) June 10, 2021
Long had a crucial rebound and putback at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Riders at 48-43 lead going into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, Sequim hit a dry spell at the worst possible moment. The Wolves hit only two buckets in a six-minute span as the Riders went on a 16-5 run to seal the game, going up 64-48 with two minutes left.
Eve Burke led the Riders with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four steals while Wood had 14 points and eight rebounds.
For Sequim, Jelissa Julmist led the team with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Bates had 10 points and Jayla Julmist eight to g along wiht 15 rebounds.
Millie Long completed a stellar career with the Riders, scoring 16 points in her last high school game to go along with 10 boards and six assists. Her college career will be getting started in just three months for the Peninsula College women’s soccer team. She will also play basketball for the Pirates.
Long scored 1,069 points in high school, an amazing accomplishment considering she missed some time as a sophomore with a broken finger and only played 15 games her senior year.
“It means a lot” to have a perfect season, Long said. “We really took off this year. It’s weird how fast it went. It’s just now becoming real to me that it’s over.”
“A lot of teams lost their motivation” because there was no state tournament, Long said. She said the Port Angeles girls, “took what we had. I thought we had an amazing season.”
Port Angeles 68, Sequim 52
Seq. 12 17 14 9 — 52
PA 17 13 18 20 — 68
Sequim (52) —Jelissa Julmist 18, Bates 10, Jayla Julmist 8, Wiker 6, Porter 6, Vaara 4.
Port Angeles (68) — Burke 21, Long 16, Petty 15, Wood 14, Larson 2.
The Port Angeles girls basketball team finished its season 15-0, winning the regular season Olympic League title and the Olympic League Tournament. (Pierre LaBossiere/Peninsula Daily News)
