KENNEWICK — Lance Von Vogt clutched the net in his hands as he answered the question.
The Peninsula College men’s basketball team just claimed its first championship in four decades with a dramatic 80-76 victory over Pierce College in the NWAACC final on Tuesday night at the Toyota Center.
And the first-year Pirates head coach was left to ponder what it all meant for a man who hadn’t even stepped foot on the Port Angeles campus until last spring.
“It doesn’t matter what season you’re a coach, anytime that you win a championship and you’re tearing down the net at the end of the year, it’s going to be a great experience,” said Von Vogt, who was an assistant at Arizona Western College this time last year.
“This was a terrific year. And I’m hoping we can make this a regular occurrence. I just hope I didn’t set myself up that they expect it every single year.”
In a school year in which the men’s soccer team also won an NWAACC title, who knows what Pirates fans might start to expect.
After Tuesday night’s victory, however, that didn’t seem to matter to any of the current Pirates, all but three of whom were new to the program this winter.
They had just eked out their fourth straight single-digit victory to claim the 16-team tournament, with sophomore Mitrell Clark sinking 8 of 10 free throws in the final four minutes to secure the championship.
That included 4 of 4 freebies in the last minute from the player who had a game-high 28 points and was eventually named tournament MVP.
“Great players make great plays, and I feel that I’m a great player,” said Clark.
“I have a lot of confidence and my team believed in me when nobody else did.”
Much as it had throughout the tournament, Peninsula’s defense came up big in the waning moments once again Tuesday night.
While it was Clark who was the defensive hero with two late steals in the team’s opening game of the tournament — a 58-54 win over Yakima Valley — it was freshman Sammeon Waller who made the game-saving play against Pierce.
With less than 10 seconds to go and the Pirates hanging on to a 78-76 lead, the 5-foot-11 guard came from behind to swat away a layup attempt by 6-6 forward Brandon Thomas.
Clark grabbed the loose ball, was fouled and hit two free throws on the other end to put the game away and start the Pirates celebration at mid-court.
“That was all instincts,” said Waller, who had 22 points, six assists and that one big block
“We needed that play, and I had to make it. It was either do it big or go home. That’s what it was.”
Peninsula (22-7 overall) ended up beating the second-, third- and fourth-place team on the way to the championship.
That included victories over top-ranked Tacoma (fourth) in the quarterfinals, fourth-ranked Spokane (third) in the semis and sixth-ranked Pierce on Tuesday.
And while none of those wins might have matched the drama of the Pirates’ last title-clinching win — a 132-130 overtime win over Lower Columbia in 1970 — there were more than enough tight moments.
With each game decided by six points or less, the Pirates earned each victory the hard way.
“Coach always says ‘Win the day.’ And we won the day. We won the year,” Clark said.
“These are my teammates and they are also my brothers. That’s what helped us win this game, this tournament and throughout this whole process. We had a lot of adversity and we pushed through it.”
Against Pierce, the tide turned when the Pirates were forced to play at their smallest because of foul trouble.
With posts DeShaun Freeman (6-7) and Jerry Johnson (6-10) forced to sit for stretches in the first and second halves, the Pirates played a small ball lineup of Clark, Waller, Thad Vinson (6-3), Anthony Williams (6-3) and Jeremiah Johnson (6-5).
In the first half, that resulted in a 12-6 run to close out the half, highlighted by back-to-back Waller 3-pointers, that turned a two-point deficit into a 35-31 lead.
After Freeman and Johnson each were whistled for their fourth fouls early in the second half, that same unit stretched the Pirates lead to 59-48 with an 8-2 run sparked by three Clark baskets (two of which were 3s).
“At that point I look to my guard to pick up the tempo,” Von Vogt said. “We played small ball for a couple of games. We didn’t have any bigs.
“We just had to play small ball, so we practiced that in game situations. I think it paid off right there. It was no different. It was like, ‘We’ve done this before.’”
Peninsula finished the game 12 of 22 from the 3-point line, with Clark draining 4 of 6 from distance and Waller 5 of 8.
Vinson was 2 of 5 from downtown on his way to a 12-point night, while Freeman finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in limited action.
Freeman scored four of those points during a 9-4 Pierce run that brought the Raiders back to within two at 61-59 with 7:54 to play.
Peninsula would never pull away by more than six the rest of the way, with Pierce eventually tying the game at 76 with 45 seconds remaining following 3-pointers from Michael Stepovich and Alix Hernandez.
Clark drew a foul on a drive into the pain on the very night play, sinking both free throws. The Pirates then came up with two straight defensive stops, the last coming on Waller’s block with five seconds remaining.
“This is my first [championship],” Waller said. “Being an all-state player I never won a championship.
“Individual accolades don’t matter. What matters is a ring and a championship. That’s what everybody is going to remember you for.”
Once the Raiders’ final desperation 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer, the Pirates ran onto the court and hopped together in celebration, chanting “PC” over and over again to a throng of supporters who made the 330-mile jaunt to Kennewick.
It was Peninsula’s 15th win in 17 games, a run preceded by a 7-5 start that molded Von Vogt’s first Pirates squad into a champion.
“Toughness, heart, overcoming adversity . . . they just played with great character,” Von Vogt said. “It didn’t matter what happened on the floor as far as injuries, as far as fouls, they respond to the adversity in a positive way.
“This was not out best game. This was the worst game we played at this tournament, but we found a way to win. That’s the mark of great teams.
“This team right here is a great team.”
The highest the Pirates had placed at the NWAACCs prior to this season was third in 2004.
The 1970 team played in a Washington-only association of community colleges. And Peninsula scrapped athletics for an extended period of time before resuming them in 1997.
Now, the Pirates have two championships in less than five months.
“I love this team,” Waller said. “I wouldn’t trade them for nothing.”
Peninsula 80, Pierce 76
Peninsula 35 45 — 80
Pierce 31 45 — 76
Peninsula (80)
Freeman 11, Vinson 12, Jerem. Johnson 7, Clark 28, Waller 22.
Pierce (76)
Davis 14, Doss 3, Laine 15, Stepovich 6, Hernandez 16, Thomas 15, Doughty 2, Van Essen 5.
