TACOMA — The Port Angeles girls basketball team had 64 minutes to earn a trip to Yakima.
In the end, it could have used another two.
The Roughriders dropped a pair of Class 2A state regional games this weekend, losing to Lynden 53-34 Friday night at Foss High School before falling to Tumwater 57-47 in Saturday’s loser-out matchup at Mount Tahoma High School.
Five days after claiming their first West Central District championship since 1999, the Riders’ season came to an end.
“This is a sucky time of year,” red-eyed Port Angeles head coach Mike Knowles said outside the Riders locker room.
“It doesn’t matter when [your season ends], it’s just hard.”
While the first game was nearly all Lynden (22-3 overall) from start to finish, the second came down to the final minute versus Tumwater (20-4).
Unfortunately for the Riders — who cut a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to four twice inside of two minutes to go — they simply ran out of time.
“We were always fighting back, but it was just never enough,” said senior guard Jessica Madison, who had 22 points in her final game as a Rider.
“If we had another couple of minutes, we’d have a different outcome.”
Port Angeles came into this weekend’s regional round with two chances to punch a ticket to that 2A Elite Eight tournament next week.
Instead, the Riders (21-6) were sent home by teams that were ranked fifth (Lynden) and eighth (Tumwater), respectively, in the state’s final AP poll.
“We didn’t get knocked out of this state tournament by two weak teams at all,” Mike Knowles said.
Saturday night
A night after shooting just 25.4 percent from the field, the Riders struggled once again to knock down shots (11 of 41) against Tumwater.
While the T-Birds weren’t setting the nets on fire themselves (17 of 50), they did hit 6 of 12 3-point attempts to steadily build a lead through 26 minutes.
Mackenzie Cooper scored the last two of her team-high 19 points to put Tumwater ahead 43-30 with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter.
With their season hanging in the balance, the Riders responded with a 14-5 run fueled by 3-point plays from Madison, Taylyn Jeffers and Krista Johnson, putting the score at 48-44 with 1:38 to go.
After Tumwater sank 3 of 4 free throws, Madison buried a 3-pointer in transition to bring the Riders back to within four at 51-47 with 44 seconds left.
Port Angeles was forced to foul at that point,and the T-Birds never again provided an opening.
The Evergreen League runners-up sank 8 of 8 free throws in the final minute and 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter.
“They had a lot of pressure on top, and it took us a while to handle it,” Jeffers said.
“We beat them that fourth quarter, but they beat us the other three. That’s what it comes down to is who plays the most minutes.”
Tumwater finished with four players in double figures, led by Cooper’s 19-point, four-rebound effort.
Point guard Katie Bergquist added 13 points, while guards Jordyn Richardson and Tayler Weiks each had 11.
Madison was the lone Rider in double figures, with Kiah Jones, Alison Knowles, Johnson and Jeffers all scoring six points apiece.
Jeffers also hauled in a game-high 15 rebounds against Tumwater’s tall front line.
Port Angeles out-rebounded the T-Birds 34-30 on the night, but also turned the ball over 17 times to Tumwater’s 10 under constant full-court pressure.
“We didn’t expect them to come out and press us and put the pressure on us like they did,” Knowles said.
“We’re not used to starting the game at halfcourt like we were doing. We just didn’t handle that very well.
“Once we settled down and started handling it better and getting ourselves in the flow . . . then we made a run.
“I was proud of them. They could have quit and they didn’t. They fought right until the last minute.”
Friday night
Lynden used its size and depth to run away from the Riders in Friday night’s matchup.
To be more specific, they rode a career night from 5-foot-11 forward Kortney Grattic (28 points, 15 rebounds) to a blowout victory.
“They did a tremendous job on [Lions leading scorer] Hannah Shine and limited Hannah to five,” Lynden head coach Rob Adams said. “To do that, they had to give something else up, and we were able to take advantage of some of our size.”
Lynden out-rebounded Port Angeles 38-23 on the night, with Grattic and 6-1 post Amber Stokes (nine points, eight rebounds) controlling the inside for the Lions.
Lynden shut down Madison on the other end, holding her to a season-low eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Port Angeles’ star guard didn’t score her first points until there was 2:35 left in the third quarter.
By that time, the Lions — who held Port Angeles scoreless for eight minutes in the first half — were ahead 38-16 and well on their way to a spot in the 2A Elite Eight.
“We had a meltdown, we didn’t play well,” Mike Knowles said. “We really just died in the second quarter.
“Every loose ball just didn’t go our way, and it was one of those nights. Unfortunately, it had to happen at this time. That’s a good team, though.
“That’s probably the best team we’ve gone against all year.”
Jones led the Riders with 10 points and six rebounds.
Port Angeles hit just 14 of 55 field goal attempts while turning the ball over 16 times.
“It was [Grattic’s] game, it was her night,” Mike Knowles said. “She got a lot of loose balls off the rim that just happened to be in her hands, and they cycled the ball well and got her the ball inside.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t trying. We were defending with everything we had. It just wasn’t that kind of a night.”
Of course, things got only a little better the next day.
And after reaching state for the first time in seven years, and winning the Olympic League for the fourth year in a row, the Riders ended up two-and-out.
It was a bitter pill for the Riders’ three seniors (Madison, Jeffers and Alison Knowles), as well as their coach.
“I’ve been coaching a long time, and I’ve had a lot of teams go a long ways. I’ve only had one other team win a district championship, and they went two-and-out in the state tournament just like this.
“It’s a great group of kids, and I’d take them again and run another season with them.”
Lynden 53, Port Angeles 34
Port Angeles 7 3 11 13 — 34
Lynden 10 14 18 11 — 53
Port Angeles (34)
K. Jones 10, Knowles 3, Walker 3, Madison 8, Frazier 2, Johnson 3, Jeffers 5.
Lynden (53)
Lomas 1, Biesheuvel 1, Tapia 2, Stokes 9, Shine 5, Grattic 28, Groves 7.
Tumwater 57, Port Angeles 47
Port Angeles 8 8 7 24 — 47
Tumwater 10 13 14 20 — 57
Port Angeles (47)
K. Jones 6, Knowles 6, Madison 22, Johnson 6, Rodocker 1, Jeffers 6.
Tumwater (57)
Richardson 11, Weiks 11, Bergquist 13, Cooper 19, VandenHazel 3.