KENNEWICK —The Peninsula College men’s basketball team advanced to the Northwest Athletic Conference semifinals after upsetting Highline in a blood-pressure-raising win Sunday at the Toyota Center.
Peninsula will face North Region foe Edmonds in today’s semifinals.
With Sunday’s win, the Pirates avenged a 25-point loss to Highline in their first game of the season in November.
“I’m a big fan of the fact that if you can get five guys on the floor and a team to believe in each other, anything can happen,” Pirates coach Mitch Freeman said.
“Playing basketball is secondary. It’s the relationships with one another that makes it work.
“These kids really believe and like each other. They’re truly a team.”
Peninsula freshman Deonte Dixon erupted for 35 points, including the game-winning jumper with 3.8 seconds left, and made the game-sealing deflection on the ensuing inbounds pass that forced Highline into a desperation shot that fell short of the basket as the clock expired.
“It feels good. Especially knowing that my teammates were cheering me on to keep going. I have to give all the thanks to them,” Dixon said.
Highline came out the gates with a stifling transition offense, running and gunning, challenging Peninsula’s athleticism.
They also went away from their usual 2-3 zone defense and elected instead to play man-to-man defense.
“We expected extended 2-3 zone and they came out five-deep, which is uncharacteristic of them,” Freeman said.
“To me, that’s a sign of respect. I thought from there that we had a chance to win this game.”
The Thunderbirds dropped three treys in the first four minutes, driving to the lane and kicking it back out to their shooters, to take a 12-7 lead.
Dixon kept the game close with a hot hand, at one point draining an NBA-range 3-pointer.
The Thunderbirds kept the tempo up for the first 15 minutes, building an 11-point lead on a barrage of 3s.
The Pirates fought back in the final five minutes of the second half but couldn’t cut the lead to less than nine points, and they went the locker room down 37-46.
Both teams came out the locker room firing in the second half.
Jal Deng and Dixon did most of the damage for Peninsula, receiving kick-outs and hitting 3s and mid-range jumpers.
“They went back to their 2-3 defense and we attacked from the inside at the high posts, bringing their zone in a little bit, and we were able to hit shots from the outside,” Freeman said.
Slowly clawing their way back, the Pirates finally tied it up at 61-61 on a Callaghan 3-pointer with 12 minutes left.
Things quickly looked bleak for the Pirates, though, as Highline began to steal the momentum and gained a six-point lead with eight minutes left in regulation.
Peninsula took it back, though, when Callaghan dropped a shot clock-beating 3-pointer to shorten the lead to three.
The Pirates went up 79-78 with 1:25 left in the game when Callaghan completed a four-point play, nailing a running trey while getting fouled and connecting on the free throw.
“The first guy stepped up, I made a move and got by him. I threw the ball down and knew it was in rhythm. I didn’t even see the guy until he hit me,” Callaghan said.
“I knew it was in. It felt good.”
Doug McDaniel hit a free throw to tie it up for the Thunderbirds, but then Jonah Cook connected on reverse lay-in to give Peninsula the lead again at 81-79.
Highline’s Madison McCaffrey got fouled on the next play and hit both his free throws to tie it back up at 81.
The Pirates took possession of the ball with 30 seconds left. Cook and Dixon passed it back and forth until Dixon cut towards the foul line and raised up, knocking down a clutch jumper with 3.8 seconds left.
After hitting the game-clincher, Dixon said that all he could think about was defense.
“There was three seconds left. Anything can happen,” Dixon said.
Dixon jumped the inbounds pass and launched the ball towards the other sideline where a Highline player caught the ball and heaved a desperation shot that fell well short of the iron.
“Coach decided to press them. The inbounder lobbed it and I was able to put a hand on it and kick it out of the way,” Dixon said.
The Pirates’ unlikely tournament run continues tonight at 6 p.m.
It will be the fourth time they have faced Edmonds this season.
“We beat Edmonds in the crossover championship game but lost to them in league twice.” Freeman said.
Peninsula 83, Highline 81
Peninsula 37 46— 83
Highline 46 35— 81
Individual scoring
Peninsula (83)
Callaghan 17, Mayeux 2, Dixon 35, Reis 3, Deng 16, Cook 10, Hobbs.
Highline (81)
Lee 12, McCaffrey 18, Keum 10, Tucakovic 10, Brown 9, Keith 6, McDaniel 8, Rowland 8, Banks.