PORT ANGELES — Finally all of the learning the hard way paid off.
Finally it was Chimacum that finished a win, while the other team was having a rough learning experience.
The Cowboys used an 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to defeat the Port Angeles boys 56-49 in the second game of a nonleague basketball doubleheader at Port Angeles High School.
The Port Angeles girls routed Chimacum 59-26 in the opener.
Wednesday’s win was only the second of the season for Chimacum boys, and last year they only had three wins.
“It’s huge. They’re not really used to winning,” Cowboys coach Jim Eldridge said.
“Last year we had a good team, we were in a lot of games and losing them, but we’ve just got to find a way to win those close games.
“So this is huge to know that we can do this.”
Port Angeles controlled the first half, but Chimacum’s John Carthum banked a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to cut the Roughriders’ lead to 25-20.
Those were Carthum’s first points of the game. He opened the third quarter with five straight points to tie the game at 25-25.
The teams swapped leads seven times over the next quarter and a half.
Port Angeles led 39-37 with 5:08 remaining in the game. That’s when the Cowboys went on their 11-0 streak to take a 48-39 lead with 2:05 to play.
“We just, in second half, shut them down on defense,” Carthum, who went on to lead Chimacum with 14 points, said.
“And everyone coming together and being in the game the entire way, I think that helped us a lot.”
Brendon Naylor added 12 points for the Cowboys, Orion Weller had 10 and Matthew Koenig scored nine.
While the Riders struggled to score to halt Chimacum’s decisive run, the Cowboys were racking up points by passing over Port Angeles’ press defense.
Eldridge said that Chimacum works on the press break every day in practice, and it showed in the Cowboys’ execution.
Port Angeles first-year coach Kasey Ulin said his team’s press execution was lacking in the final period.
“I thought we did a very good job for three quarters of the game in the press,” Ulin said.
“But still, we got the trap we want and our guy didn’t come over and rotate and steal it. Then all of a sudden, they break it and we don’t sprint back.
“It’s just little fundamental things and mental toughness things.”
Hunter Hathaway hit a 3-pointer for Port Angeles to end Chimacum’s big run.
The Riders tried to fight their way back into the game, but the closest they could get was five points.
Hathaway topped Port Angeles with 16 points. Lambros Rogers had 13 points and Grayson Peet added 11.
“That’s one thing I know we’re doing: we’re playing hard,” Ulin said.
“But sometimes it’s not smart. And basketball is a game of playing hard, but it’s intelligence . . . and if you don’t apply both of them, you struggle.”
Next up for the Riders (1-2, 4-7) is a road game against rival Sequim (2-2, 6-5) today at 7 p.m.
The Cowboys (1-0, 2-8) have an important game of their own. They host Olympic League 1A foe Klahowya (1-0, 2-8) today at 7 p.m.
“The boys are playing more intense; they seem to want it more,” Eldridge said.
“It’s contagious now; they like the feel of winning. So hopefully we can keep going.
“Hopefully this carries over, the enthusiasm and the momentum.”
Chimacum 56, Port Angeles 49
Chimacum 4 16 13 23— 56
Port Angeles 9 16 9 15— 49
Individual scoring
Chimacum (56)
Hitt 3, Porter 4, Koenig 9, Weller 10, Carthum 14, Naylor 12, Dotson 4.
Port Angeles (49)
Peet 11, McGoff 5, Hathaway 16, Rogers 13, Frith 4.
Girls Basketball
Port Angeles 59, Chimacum 26
PORT ANGELES — The Roughriders seized a big lead early on, but didn’t simply cruise from there. They kept going.
“It’s not easy to play a game like that, when you get a big lead,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said after Wednesday’s game.
“I didn’t think that we coasted, I didn’t thing that we stood around, I thought we worked hard on defense, and we had a lot of integrity.
“I liked all of it.”
The Riders scored the first 12 points of the game before Chimacum’s Bailey Castillo scored off an inbound pass with less than 2 minutes to play in the first quarter.
Port Angeles went on another 12-0 run to lead 24-2 before Castillo scored the Cowboys’ next points with 4:42 left in the first half.
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t really understand what happened at the beginning,” Chimacum coach Trevor Huntingford said of his team’s slow start.
“We’ve been really up and down this year.”
The Riders had three players score in double figures: Nizhoni Wheeler had 14, Emily Johnson had 13 and Hayley Baxley finished with 11.
Baxley also had a team-high nine rebounds, and Johnson led Port Angeles with six steals and had seven rebounds.
Katyn Flores didn’t score for the Riders, but dished out five assists, while Maddie Boe scored five points and had four assists.
“I think it was really good team bonding, like we really came together as a team and got our groove going for Sequim,” Baxley said.
Port Angeles (1-2, 5-6) faces the rival Wolves (2-2, 5-6) today on the road at 5:15 p.m.
Chimacum (1-0, 2-7) plays at Olympic League 1A foe Klahowya (0-1, 0-10) today at 7 p.m.
After missing last season due to injury, Castillo came off the bench to lead the Cowboys with 12 points.
“Once nice thing out of [Wednesday’s game] is Bailey Castillo keeps getting healthier and healthier, and she looks better and better game after game after game,” Huntingford said.
Port Angeles 59, Chimacum 26
Chimacum 2 6 9 9— 26
Port Angeles 15 13 13 18— 59
Individual scoring
Chimacum (26)
Snyder 6, M. Nisbet 2, Snider 3, Castillo 12, McKinlay 2, S. Nisbet 1.
Port Angeles (59)
Boe 5, Lunt 9, Johnson 13, Steinman 4, Baxley 11, Robideau 3, Wheeler 14, Flores.
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
