PORT ANGELES — There’s a reason the Peninsula College men’s basketball team circled, underlined and maybe even bullet-pointed Shoreline sophomore Anjaylo Lloyd on the squad’s scouting report heading into Wednesday’s NWAC contest.
Lloyd, the current NWAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week and the No. 2 scorer in the conference, posted 47 points in Shoreline’s 82-76 win over the Pirates in a game that decided the North Division’s third seed to the NWAC Tournament.
Peninsula’s Nate DeSpain, right, drives down court as Shoreline’s Anjaylo Lloyd runs interference on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
A tourney berth is still available for the Pirates (9-5, 19-7) but they must win a loser-out, winner-to-NWAC’s contest against Edmonds (9-5, 17-11) at 4 p.m. Saturday for the North Division’s fourth and final tourney seed.
Small deficiencies hampered Peninsula against the Dolphins.
“[I was] disappointed in our attention to detail,” Pirates coach Donald Rollman said. “That’s what hurt us.
“Obviously when No. 10 [Lloyd] gets going like that, he’s tough to stop and he made a lot of tough shots, but he got two or three layins in the beginning because we were late to our help-side position and that’s what got him going. If he doesn’t get those opportunities, now those 40-footers don’t go in like that later.”
Peninsula’s Davien Harris-Williams, front, shoulders past Shoreline’s David Perkins during Wednesday night’s game at Peninsula College in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Lloyd was nearly unstoppable despite the best efforts of a rotating cast of Peninsula defenders headed by Sequim’s Nate Despain.
He had 26 points at halftime, including five 3-point baskets, to put Shoreline up 43-32 on the Pirates at the break. Lloyd ended up knocking down 8 of 12 3-point attempts, 16 of 25 shots all told from the floor and was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.
The scorching shooting continued for Lloyd after the break, and after an old-fashioned 3-point play and another made 3, Peninsula trailed 51-35 two minutes into the second half.
That’s when the Pirates rattled off a 20-2 run keyed by 3s from Everett Torres-Kahapea, five straight defensive stops and a short baseline jumper from KeAndre Hunter-Holiday to take their first lead of the game, 55-53 around the 10-minute mark.
But Lloyd had an answer, first tying the game up at 55 before stepping back to drill a deep 3 from beyond NBA range, let alone NWAC.
Peninsula’s Ty Artis, right, looks to pass as Shoreline’s Jassem Cumlat defends on Wednesday night in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
“We battled to get back into it and go up by two and then [Lloyd] gets hot again,” Rollman said.
Rollman wanted a timeout after taking the lead, but the referees couldn’t hear him in the loud Pirate gym.
“I just wanted to make sure we understand the flow and rhythm of why we were hot because we were doing things the right way defending our butts off, rebounding the basketball and pushing in transition and executing our actions,” Rollman said. “Sometimes when you start feeling that rhythm and flow, you lose sight of what you are doing and it’s just go, go, go. And give them a quick breather, too, for Dave [Davien Harris-Williams] and Nate [Despain].”
Peninsula hung around, but ultimately any comeback bid was stopped in its tracks by Shoreline buckets — but not by Lloyd.
“We were right there at the end and again it was attention to detail,” Rollman said. “We miss out on a guy we know we have a lane out on on a shooter and then we allow a backdoor, we can give up backdoors, but we can’t let them score on the backdoor.”
Peninsula’s Jaylin Reed, left, pulls down a pass as Shoreline’s Keilyn Myers sets up to block on Wednesday at Peninsula College. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Harris-Williams led Peninsula with 16 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Despain had 13 points, four steals and three assists and Malik Moore had a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds — returning to the game after a scary moment when he fell to the court clutching a knee early in the second half.
Now a loser-out contest awaits at home against a tough Edmonds team.
An opportunity exists, in Rollman’s opinion.
“They are physically taxing and put a lot of pressure on you,” he said of Edmonds. “It’s tough and it’s going to hurt.
“But we can look at it two ways: be upset and have a bad practice and give up, or continue to fight. Come in, realize the opportunity we still have in front of us, and I expect the guys to come in, watch some film and be ready to go.”
Shoreline 82, Peninsula 76
Shoreline 43 39 — 76
Peninsula 32 44 — 82
Shoreline (76) — Lloyd 47, Myers 13, Valentine 10, Stillwell Jr. 5, Teclemariam 3, Perkins 2, Kadiric 2.
Peninsula (82) — Harris-Williams 16, Despain 13, Moore 13, Torres-Kahapea 11, Gurske 9, Hunter-Holiday 7, Reed 7, Thomas, Artis.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
