Port Angeles’ Brock Hope eyes the basket while being guarded by a North Kitsap defender Tuesday night in Port Angeles. Hope finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Roughriders overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Vikings. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)

Port Angeles’ Brock Hope eyes the basket while being guarded by a North Kitsap defender Tuesday night in Port Angeles. Hope finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Roughriders overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Vikings. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)

PREP BASKETBALL: Port Angeles rallies from 14 down to beat North Kitsap

PA girls move into tie for second place with win

PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles’ patience was rewarded with every defensive stop and each offensive rebound followed by scores, as the Roughriders put together a painstaking comeback from a 14-point third-quarter deficit and sent North Kitsap packing with a 61-54 Olympic League victory.

“They just refused to quit and that’s really been the theme the last couple of weeks,” coach Kasey Ulin said.

“Defensively, we were phenomenal in the second half. We kept coming back with more and more efforts from all our guys. They were so resilient and they kept believing in each other.”

Port Angeles opened the game with a 12-0 run before the Vikings got going, eventually taking a 36-24 halftime lead and going up by as much as 40-26 in the third.

The Riders held North Kitsap scoreless over 3 minutes, 21 seconds of the third quarter and managed to shave the deficit down to 48-40 entering the fourth.

Port Angeles received contributions from multiple players down the stretch.

Brock Hope controlled the paint in the back end of the Riders’ 2-2-1 press and didn’t allow any second-chance shot opportunities.

“Brock gets better every week,” Ulin said. “He had 15 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks and four assists. That’s a big-time game.”

“We knew we had to win the glass, that was the game 44-23 advantage on the boards and we had 22 offensive rebounds to their four, so we were getting unbelievable effort after every play.”

Keatyn Hoch had two baskets following offensive rebounds, the second putting Port Angeles up for good at 50-49 with a running one-hander in the lane with 3:45 to play.

Hoch also locked down North Kitsap’s Jordan Williams, holding him to four points.

“He really made Jordan work for tough shots, he’s a talented player and Keatyn did a good job of limiting his touches and making him have to expend a lot of energy to even get the ball,” Ulin said.

Standout Gus Halberg led the way with 20 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and four assists.

Halberg connected on two big 3s in the fourth and finished the game out at the free-throw line in the final minutes.

Port Angeles (3-8, 8-10) has dealt with injuries, illness and heartbreak this season with five league losses by a combined 13 points. The win was huge for keeping the Riders’ playoff hopes alive as they are just one game behind both North Kitsap and Olympic.

“Last night was one of the happiest, most rewarding evenings I’ve had as a coach,” Ulin said. “To see them stick with the process with what they’ve gone through is really fulfilling.”

Port Angeles 61, North Kitsap 54

NK 20 16 12 6 — 54

PA 16 8 16 21 — 61

Port Angeles (61) — Halberg 22, Hope 16, Sohlberg 9, Hoch 8, Miller 7, Angevine 2.

Girls basketball Port Angeles 33, North Kitsap 28

POULSBO — Port Angeles weathered a scoring drought that nearly stretched to a full quarter with free-throw shooting and clutch defense to win a 33-28 grinder of an Olympic League girls basketball matchup with North Kitsap on Tuesday.

Teanna Clark came through with four free throws in the final two minutes, the first pair tying the game up at 28-all, and the second giving Port Angeles a 31-28 lead with 21 seconds left.

Lexie Smith stole an inbounds pass and ran out for a score to seal the winning margin.

The victory puts the Roughriders (8-3, 11-6) into a three-way tie for the league’s No. 2 playoff spot with the Vikings (8-3, 12-6) and North Mason (8-3, 11-5) with three games left in the regular season.

Smith shined for Port Angeles on both ends of the floor.

“Lexie had a stellar all-around game: 17 points on 63-percent field goal shooting, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and two steals,” coach Michael Poindexter said.

Smith’s presence inside also altered several other shot attempts.

“She was primarily responsible for guarding the Vikings’ best player, Avery Kline, who ended up with just two points on the night. Lexie, Teanna Clark, Morgan Politika and Becca Manson had outstanding defensive games for us. Teanna had seven steals to go along with her four assists.”

Port Angeles visits rival Sequim (2-8, 3-11) at 5:45 p.m. Friday.

Port Angeles 33, North Kitsap 28

PA 11 7 7 8 — 33

NK 8 11 2 7 — 28

Port Angeles (33) — Le. Smith 17, Li. Smith 7, Clark 4, Stevens 3, K. Moses 2, Politika, Alward, Doherty, Manson, Moses.

Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News
Port Angeles’ Brock Hope eyes the basket while being guarded by a North Kitsap defender Tuesday night in Port Angeles. Hope finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Roughriders overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Vikings.

Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News Port Angeles’ Brock Hope eyes the basket while being guarded by a North Kitsap defender Tuesday night in Port Angeles. Hope finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Roughriders overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Vikings.

More in Sports

Jay Cline/Peninsula College Athletics
Peninsula College's Cinco McNeal completes a slam dunk during the Pirates 75-74 overtime loss to Bellevue on Wednesday.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Peninsula College falls in OT thriller to Bellevue

Peninsula College sent its NWAC North Division men’s basketball… Continue reading

Emily Matthiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group 
Sequim’s Solomon Sheppard is surrounded in the paint by three Bremerton basketball players during a contest Monday at Rick Kaps Gymnasium.
PREP BASKETBALL: Sequim boys fall to Bremerton, will take No. 3 seed into district tourney

Bremerton and Sequim produced another thrilling boys basketball contest, the… Continue reading

The Klahhane Xcel Gold team from left, includes Lainey DePiro, Raynee Ciarlo, Lorelei Sanders and Emily Bair. Four out of the six Xcel Gold members got 9.0 or higher in the floor exercise at the Realm Classic meet in Everett this weekend. (Klahhane Gymnastics)
GYMNASTICS: Klahhane gymnasts shine at Realm Classic

The Klahhane Gymnastics Xcel Team competed at the Realm Classic… Continue reading

East Jefferson
PREP BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: East Jefferson girls win to lock up .500 season

Forks girls lose playoff opener; play again tonight

Sequim's Jericho Julmist drives to the basket against Bremerton in Sequim on Monday night. In on the play is Sequim's Zeke Schmadeke. Sequim won 66-61 to earn a share of the Olympic League title. (Emily Mathiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL: Big night for Sequim and Port Angeles

Wolves earn share of league title; Riders punch postseason ticket with win

Sequim Wolves
PREP BASKETBALL: Sequim boys earn share of Olympic League title

The Sequim boys basketball team overcame a hot-shooting Bremerton squad… Continue reading

Ethan Melnick, Sequim basketball.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Ethan Melnick, Sequim basketball

Sequim has been getting big contributions all year from Solomon Sheppard and… Continue reading

Sequim’s Gracie Chartraw dribbles against North Kitsap on Friday in the Wolves’ final home game of the year. (Emily Mathiessen/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
PREP BASKETBALL RECAP: Sequim boys, PA girls victories set up huge games

Snow and icy roads disrupted the basketball schedules of… Continue reading

The Port Scandalous Roller Derby League begins Feb. 22 at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club.
AREA SPORTS BRIEFS: Roller derby season opener set for Feb. 22

The Port Scandalous Roller Derby League will begin with… Continue reading