GIRLS BASKETBALL: Roughrider girls battle, but fall short against Washougal

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles girls basketball team battled back against foul trouble and a tall, physical Washougal squad, but came up just short down the stretch in a 56-52 loss Thursday.

The Roughriders had to climb a hill nearly the entire game, falling behind 20-12 at one point and repeatedly coming back from deficits. They also have two of their starters in deep foul trouble early in the second half and had five girls with at least four fouls by the end of the game.

After all that had gone wrong, coach Michael Poindexter said it came down to a couple of missed baskets and 17-for-36 free-throw shooting.

“I thought our kids hung in through a ton of adversity,” Poindexter said. “They hung in the best their could and didn’t let things out of their control affect their game. They’re not feeling sorry for themselves. That’s the best character we’ve shown in a long time.

“[Washougal]’s physicality and play on the boards gave us issues,” Poindexter said. Washougal finished with 15 offensive rebounds to Port Angeles’ eight.

Poindexter also said some of the bench players such as Kennedy Rognlien, Becca Manson and Morgan Politika played well.

Washougal was a tall team with five girls 5-10 or taller. Their players all seemed to have exceptionally long arms and the Panthers’ defense did give the Riders a lot of problems early.

Starter Lindsay Smith picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and it appeared the Riders were in big trouble down eight points and unable to crack Washougal’s long arms. But, with her on the bench, Izzy Felton led a furious comeback, scoring seven points with Kennedy Rognlien adding a 3-point shot for a 10-0 run to make it 22-20.

From that point on, the game remained close, though the Riders had to play nearly the entire third quarter without Felton and Smith, who both had four fouls.

It looked like Port Angeles was going to gain control of the game midway through the fourth with the game tied 43-43. Felton had a steal and fed Smith for a 3-pointer and then Felton scored a bucket of her own to make it 48-43 with 4:26 left to play.

Washougal responded with five straight points to tie it at 48-48 with 3 minutes left. Lexie Smith hit a basket to give the Riders their final lead at 50-48 but Washougal came back with four straight points, taking a lead the Panthers would never relinquish. Down the stretch, Port Angeles missed three free throws and the Panthers were able to sink a pair from the charity stripe with 6 seconds left to seal the victory.

The Riders had good balance as Izzy Felton led the team with 10 points and Teanna Clark, Lindsay Smith, Lexie Smith and Paige Mason all had eight points. Mason had eight rebounds and Clark seven, while Lexie Smith and Clark each had four steals.

Washougal 56, Port Angeles 52

Washougal 17 12 9 18 — 56

Port Angeles 12 17 8 15 — 52

Washougal (56) — Klopman 15, B. Albaugh 12, L. Albaugh 11, Alldrin 8, Dixson 6, Gibbons 4.

Port Angeles (52) — Felton 10, Clark 8, Lindsay Smith 8, Mason 8, Lexie Smith 8, Rognlien 6, Politika 3, Manson 1, T. Moses, K. Moses.