PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend’s third-quarter press helped the Redhawks turn a halftime tie with Klahowya into a 54-50 Olympic League 1A Division girls basketball victory.
“Third quarter we pressed them a bit and that was pretty effective,” Port Townsend coach Scott Wilson said.
“It led to some fast-break points and some steals and got us a 44-33 lead after three quarters.”
Wilson said Kaitlyn Meek’s defense at the top of the press stood out.
“Kaitlyn gets attention for her offense but she is a very solid defender,” Wilson said.
The Eagles turned the tables on the Redhawks in the fourth quarter, putting on their own pressure and chewing off chunks of the Port Townsend lead.
“Klahowya is really well coached by Scott Eberhard, and they figured out our press and were able to break it, so we pulled it off and then they started pressing us in the fourth quarter. And that was effective for them and led to their comeback,” Wilson said.
“The final two or three minutes were pretty frantic. Kaitlyn fouled out with over three minutes to play, so credit has to go to the rest of the team for hanging in there even as Klahowya was making their big comeback.” Meek finished with 15 points.
Sophomore Jaz Apker-Montoya led Port Townsend with 16 points.
“She hit some 3s and he had been struggling with that, particularly against North Mason. And when Kaitlyn came off the floor there late Jaz really stepped up.”
Wilson also praised the play of senior post Jenna Carson, calling her a “rock” on defense.
“She’s always there to pick it up on defense and she kept a cool head in the final stretch,” Wilson said.
“And Jordyn King scored and played solid defense for us.”
Port Townsend (1-0, 2-1) visits Quilcene today.
Port Townsend 54, Klahowya 50
Klahowya 9 14 10 17— 50
Port Townsend 11 12 21 10— 54
Klahowya (54) — Ladner 20, Bumbalough 6, James 5, Mills 4, Aparicao 4, Eberhard 3, Fuller 3, Rouse 2, Schultz 2, Smith 1.
Port Townsend (54) — Jaz Apker-Montoya 16, Kaitlyn Meek 15, Jenna Carson 11, Jordyn King 8, CC Nielsen 2, Mackenzie Lake 2, An Nguyen, Izzy Hammett.
Port Angeles 45, North Mason 22
PORT ANGELES — The defending league champion Roughriders cut down on turnovers and pulled away in the second half in the Olympic League 2A Division opener for both teams.
“We were plagued by 15 turnovers against North Mason’s zone in the first half; we brought that down to six turnovers in the second half,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said.
“In addition to better passing against zones, we’ll need to work on better shot selection. Many of our possessions resulted in early missed 3-point attempts (we were only 25 percent from the 3-point line, 5-for-20) or too many instances of dribbling into zone defenders and putting up highly contested shots.”
Cheyenne Wheeler led the Riders with 10 points. Mikkiah Brady added nine points and Natalie Steinman scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds.
Kyrsten McGuffey and Nizhoni Wheeler led Port Angeles with six rebounds apiece. McGuffey added four steals while Nizhoni Wheeler had three takeaways.
“The positives from the game were our rebounding effort and good movement in our zone defenses, resulting in a high number of deflections and steals,” Poindexter said.
The Riders (1-0, 2-0) visit North Kitsap (3-1) tonight.
Port Angeles 45, North Mason 22
North Mason 5 6 2 9— 22
Port Angeles 12 7 15 11— 45
North Mason (22) — Simonson 5, Womack 4, Carstensen 2, Kallinen 2, Green 2, Filer 2, Garrett 2, Griffey 2, Rock 1
Port Angeles (45) — C. Wheeler 10, Brady 9, Steinman 8, Politika 4, Long 3, Gray 3, Lunt 2, McGuffey 2, N. Wheeler 2, Robideau 1, Edwards 1, Wenzl.
Coupeville 41, Chimacum 28
COUPEVILLE — Chimacum managed just 10 points in the second half as Coupeville broke open an 18-18 halftime tie in the Olympic League 1A Division opener for both teams.
“It may be possible tired legs caught up with us in the second half,” coach Trevor Huntingford said.
“Four of our girls logged incredible minutes Friday night in OT and Monday in OT, and [Wednesday night] we played well for 2-and-a-half quarters and we seemed to just go a little flat at the midway point in the third.”
Huntingford thought his team played well defensively for the most part and got the shots they wanted offensively until breaking down midway through the third period.
Chimacum’s game Thursday night at North Mason was cancelled.
The Cowboys (0-1, 2-2) visit Forks (1-3) tonight. Chimacum topped Forks 42-36 in overtime last Friday.
Coupeville 41, Chimacum 28
Chimacum 9 9 5 5— 28
Coupeville 7 11 9 13— 41
Chimacum (28) — M. Nisbet 13, Dowling 8, Trafton 3, G. Yaley 2, A. Yaley 2.
Crescent 30, Port Angeles C 25
JOYCE — The Loggers earned their first win of the season and first for new head coach Kelly Serrianne and assistant Jonathan Whitehead in Wednesday’s game.
A 12-4 third quarter gave Crescent a 10-point cushion heading into the final frame.
“We played with high intensity and great defense,” Serrianne said.
“PA rallied in the fourth to score 11, but it wasn’t enough against [our] tough defense.”
Crescent 30, Port Angeles C 25
Port Angeles 6 4 4 11— 25
Crescent 6 6 12 6— 30
Port Angeles (25) — Peabody 11, Carnie 7, Reifenstahl 4, Robinson 2, Locke 1.
Crescent (30) — Hutto 12, Belford 6, Dodson 4, Brannan 2, Westfall 2.
Boys Basketball
Port Angeles 57, North Mason 54
BELFAIR — The Roughriders made the long trek down Hood Canal for their Olympic League 2A Division opener and came home with a win.
Port Angeles coach Kasey Ulin hopes his team learned a little about how to put away a feisty opponent as well.
“We had chances to extend our led of 10-11 points throughout the game but we were unable to put them away,” Ulin said of Wednesday’s game.
“We let them hang around, and give North Mason credit, they were scrappy and made some tough shots late in the fourth quarter. I am happy we were able to stick together and get a road league win. We showed some grit and toughness late in the fourth quarter which is something we talk about all the time, but we need to really improve in taking care of the basketball and knocking down free throws.
Port Angeles hit just 6 of 14 from the line in the game.
“We are still a work in progress. We have been dealing with injuries and some younger players stepping into new roles, [but] I am confident we will continue to get better,” Ulin said.
Luke Angevine led Port Angeles with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Noah McGoff added eight points and 10 boards.
Junior Andrew Borde scored eight more for the Riders (1-0, 2-0).
“He does a lot of things that don’t necessarily show up in the box score,” Ulin said.
“He was solid for us all night.”
Ulin also praised freshman forward Anton Kathol.
“Playing in his first varsity game he came up huge for us,” Ulin said.
“He had key rebounds throughout the game and had several offensive rebounds and a put-back in the fourth.
“He hit two free throws to put us up three with 8 seconds to go, and that allowed us to set our defense on the last trip of the game. I was very proud of Anton tonight, he stopped up to the challenge and took advantage of the moment.”
Port Angeles hosts North Kitsap (3-0), the second-ranked Class 2A team in the Tacoma News Tribune’s first prep poll.
Port Angeles 57, North Mason 54
Port Angeles 16 16 16 9— 57
North Mason 14 12 13 15— 54
Port Angeles (57) — Joslin 2, Borde 8, Peet 8, McGoff 9, Shamp 5, Angevine 10, Edwards 4, Clark 4, Kathol 7
North Mason (54) — Solis 17, Fischer 16, Briggs 13, Caldron 3, Dumont 4
Chimacum 48, Coupeville 40
CHIMACUM — The Cowboys (1-0, 1-3) picked up their first win of the season in their Olympic League 1A Division opener.
“We were able to start seeing glimpses of what our offense is capable of when we work as a team,” coach Justin Benton said.
“Senior guards Dylan Glessing and Aidan Hartnett did a great job of setting the tone defensively. They were able to involve their teammates and take timely, quality shots. Our seniors also continued to embrace their leadership roles on the team and have helped bring everyone together after some tough losses.”
Hartnett led Chimacum with 13 points, Glessing added nine and Peyton Hundley added eight.
The Cowboys knocked down 14 of 16 from the free-throw line in the win.
Chimacum visits Forks (4-0) tonight. The Spartans knocked off the Cowboys 63-29 last Friday.
Chimacum 48, Coupeville 40
Coupeville 8 10 13 9— 40
Chimacum 5 19 5 19— 48
Coupeville (40) — Smith 15, Shank 13, Wynn 6, Downs 4, Spark 2
Chimacum (48) — Hartnett 13, Glessing 9, Hundley 8, Purser 5, L. Dotson 4, Richey 4, Winkley 3, C. Dotson 2
Port Angeles C 57, Crescent 34
JOYCE — The Loggers (1-2) were sunk by the Roughriders C Squad at home.
“We didn’t play well at all, but I attribute that to the crazy week of weather and our schedule that hasn’t allowed us to practice for a week,” Crescent coach Chris Ferrier said.
“Bottom line, we get to come back tomorrow and get in the gym and get better.”
KC Spencer led the Loggers with 13 points and added four steals and six rebounds. McCabe Story hauled down 10 rebounds and scored seven points for Crescent. Neil Peppard led the team on the boards with 13, and also added four points.
Port Angeles C 57, Crescent 34
Port Angeles 12 15 18 12— 57
Crescent 6 15 8 5— 34
Crescent (54) — Spencer 13, Story 7, Peppard 4, McNeece 3, Johnson 3.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
