PORT ANGELES — The takeoff was a sight to behold. The landing more bumpy than expected. But the eventual outcome — an 84-76 win over Whatcom by the Peninsula College men’s basketball team was more than welcome.
Wednesday night’s win lifted the Pirates to a 6-1 record in league play and a two-game lead over a logjam of 4-3 foes in their first swing through NWAC North Division competition.
Peninsula (6-1, 15-4) now has a week-long period to rest and recharge before its next contest, a home game against Shoreline on Wednesday.
The Pirates led from wire-to-wire against the Orcas, who entered Wednesday’s game in second place behind Peninsula.
But the Pirates had to earn the win, despite jumping out to a 12-0 start and leads of 27-6 and 36-13 in the first half.
Peninsula’s early offensive onslaught was keyed by Whatcom’s penchant to collapse on dribble drives into the lane. The Pirates guard Darrion Daniels took advantage, knifing into the lane and drawing defenders before whipping passes to wide-open post Kevin Baker.
Daniels had five of his nine assists and Baker hit his first seven shots and scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the first half for Peninsula.
Daniels also hit two 3-point baskets and fellow guard Jalon McCullough knocked down 3 of 4 3-point tries and scored nine of his 11 points in the first half.
“I thought our guards made some timely shots,” Pirates coach Mitch Freeman said.
“Kevin was terrific underneath. And he hadn’t played that well in recent games, so this was perfect matchup for him to catch the ball underneath and score.”
The youthful Baker is still feeling his way through his freshman season, Freeman said.
“He’s a true card player,” Freeman said.
“He doesn’t have a whole lot of emotion to him outwardly, but he has it, he just expresses it a different way.
“He has a great hands, and can really finish around the basket as well as any big man that we have had here.”
Peninsula’s big lead was helped by Whatcom’s seeming inability to buy a bucket in the first 10 minutes, but the Orcas finished the half strong on a 14-3 run before Peninsula’s Cole Rabedeaux drained a corner 3 for a 42-27 Pirate lead at halftime.
“We showed some of our youth at the end of the first half and in moments of the second half,” Freeman said.
“We weren’t able to get into rhythm plays and we became very stagnant and were settling for shots instead of creating and putting them on their heels and attacking and finding each other.
“Those quick shots led to putting more pressure on the defense. And when we weren’t having success on the defensive end it led to some doubts in our minds in terms of how we were playing offensively.
They kind of changed things up, threw two different types of zone at us. And they were playing looser, they had a bit of a nothing-to-lose mentality and it started to give us some fits.”
Peninsula spent the second half fending off strong performances from Whatcom guards Deon Thomas and Alex Martin.
Thomas scored all 14 of his points in the second half and Martin had 10 of his 19 after the break.
Omar Lo provided a lift for the Pirates, scoring all nine of his points in the second half and grabbing six of his nine rebounds.
Still, Whatcom kept inching closer, as Peninsula turned the ball over against the Orcas’ multiple-defensive looks.
“We had 13 turnovers in the second half alone,” Freeman said.
Whatcom pulled as close as within seven of Peninsula, at 63-56 with six minutes to play.
But the Pirates’ Alex Baham hit a three and Daniels followed with another basket from long range to put Peninsula up 69-56 with 4;39 to go.
The Pirates opened up an 82-64 lead with two minutes left, but the Orcas finished the game on a 12-2 run to account for the final margin.
“We needed every point of that 23-point lead. We hung on and we showed toughness down the stretch.”
For their efforts, Freeman said his players earned a short break.
“We are giving the guys two days off completely and we will come back Saturday and watch film and get after it,” he said.
Peninsula 84, Whatcom 76
Whatcom 27 49 — 76
Peninsula 42 42 — 84
Whatcom (76) — Martin 19, Thomas 14, Anderson 13, Lewis 11, Hayes 7, Honeycutt 6, Lootens 4, Murphy 2.
Peninsula (84) — Baker 19, Daniels 15, McCullough 11, Baker 10, Baham 9, Lo 9, Rabedeaux 5, Velez 4, Losee 2, Day.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
