PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College freshman Deonte Dixon sat through first four men’s basketball games, waiting to step on the floor and play in his first game at the college level.
Dixon made his debut Saturday and made his presence felt late, crashing in from the wing to rebound a missed runner by Ryley Callaghan for a putback basket at the buzzer that gave the Pirates a 61-60 win over Centralia.
“It feels good. I’ve been craving to play for the longest,” Dixon said.
“We tried to get an open look, a drive to the basket, and my point guard Ryley drove and got to the basket and missed and I just came down and crashed the boards.
“Definitely just trying to go get a rebound and a tip-in.”
Callaghan had taken the ball in bounds in the backcourt and headed upcourt, going to his right around the screen of fellow freshman Malik Mayeux to unleash a runner from about 10 feet.
Dixon and teammate Domach Domach converged on the right side of the glass, with Dixon catching the ball and deftly sliding home the game-winner off the glass and in.
Callaghan and Dixon led the Pirates with 14 points apiece.
“Deonte is going to be a big part of our future and I’m happy he could have such a great finish here in his first game,” Peninsula coach Mitch Freeman said.
Mayeux scored a dozen and hauled down seven rebounds for Peninsula and Domach was an active presence with nine points and seven rebounds.
The game, the nightcap of the four-team First Federal Pirate Classic, was a back-and-forth affair with 12 ties and 10 lead changes.
Peninsula’s largest lead, 31-21, came with 3:08 to go before halftime after a 12-0 run over 4:09 of game time.
But a 7-0 Centralia run to finish out the half closed the gap to 31-28 at the break.
The Pirates pushed their lead to 36-28 out of the locker room but the Trailblazers heated up, knocking down five 3-point shots and hitting open jumpers to take a 55-52 lead with 6:49 to go.
Peninsula’s cold shooting went Arctic in the second half before Dixon rained down a 3 from the top of the key to tie the game 55-all with 6:24 to go.
The Pirates shot just 25.6 percent from the field in the second half, and 21 of 70 (30 percent) and 8 of 34 from beyond the 3-point line for the game.
A big basket from post Jonah Cook gave Peninsula a 59-55 lead with 2:28 to play.
The Trailblazers wouldn’t go away, pulling within two on a free-throw line jumper from Zach Carras, before a free throw from Calvin Edwards tied the score at 58-58 with 58 seconds left.
The Pirates ran the shot clock down to 17 seconds and were looking to get Callaghan an open look off a screen, but the ball was tipped over to Jeremiah Hobbs who was forced to rush a baseline jumper with the shot clock ticking down.
On the final Trailblazers possession before the game-winner, Dixon fouled Centralia guard Calvin Edwards underneath the hoop with 8 seconds to play.
“Defensively, we were supposed to stay in front of our man, and I kind of let my man get by me and they called a foul on me and he made his free throws,” Dixon said.
But Dixon atoned for his mistake, shaking off the rust from his wait and finding himself in the right place at the right time for the game-winning buzzer beater.
Peninsula (2-3) will visit Moses Lake for the Big Bend Classic starting Friday.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 5250 or at mcarman@peninsualdailynews.com.
