PORT ANGELES — The lessons were harsh in Alison Crumb’s first year at the helm of the Peninsula College women’s basketball program.
Young, inexperienced and thrust into the job a few months before the school year, the former Port Angeles High School and Peninsula standout took her lumps.
Young players pulled in different directions as the then 24-year-old head coach struggled to reach them.
Predictably, the Pirates stumbled, not only finishing last in the NWAACC North Division with a 2-14 conference record, but also closing out the year on a 7-game losing streak.
“I think when I realized we were going to be really bad it was hard for me,” said Crumb, a part of the Pirates’ last two playoff teams as a player (2005) and assistant coach (’09).
“We were probably not the favorite in all but one game, and actually accepting that, I don’t think I accepted it very well.
“It became a little overwhelming.”
A year later, Crumb said she’s starting to feel more comfortable where she’s at.
She’s learned a few things she needed to learn as a first-year head coach, and she’s ready to start applying them to a Pirates program that fell a long way in just two seasons.
“I’m less worried about trying to make everyone else happy on this team,” Crumb said.
“I’ve just come out more of like, ‘This is what I want, this is what I expect and this is what we’re going to do. Deal with it.'”
While that approach may sound a little harsh, it’s something Crumb saw as necessary.
After all, one of the things that did the most damage to the Pirates last season was the lack of a cohesive team concept.
A tug of war between Crumb and some of the players on the team led to disjointed performances on the court.
While sophomore point guard Danika Goodwin — one of four returning players from last year’s squad — stopped short of saying players played for themselves, she didn’t exactly give last year’s team a ringing endorsement.
“I definitely wouldn’t say that last year everybody played for the team,” Goodwin said.
“You can take that however you want.”
Added Crumb:
“Last year was just all thrown together [with] a lot of freshmen and a lot of really strong personalities who didn’t necessarily like to hear what they needed to get better on.
“This group I think the returners, they’ve come with a little humility.
“We got our [butts] kicked all last year, so they are ready to learn and get better, and they want to be here.
“They are not going to keep fighting the system.”
Unfortunately, for Peninsula, that symmetry has yet to manifest itself very often in game situation early in the season.
The Pirates are off to the same 1-5 start that they were at this time last year, with all five losses coming by double digit margins.
That included a 121-59 loss to top-ranked Lane Community College last weekend at the Red Raider Classic in Lakewood.
Part of that can be attributed to injuries, which have plagued the Pirates since the start of the season, Crumb said.
While seven players have logged minutes in all six games, nearly half the team has missed practices because of ailments.
That includes the team’s leading scorer, freshman guard Megan Smith (13.3 points per game) of Coupeville.
Meanwhile, Goodwin, the team’s on-the-court leader, has missed three games because of chronic tendinitis in one of her ankles.
Those two players’ health, according to Crumb, will play a big role in just how competitive this year’s team will be.
“If those two can consistently be in the game, we’ve got some good role players and we’ve got some good people out there and I think we can compete in our league,” she said.
“Do I think we’re going to blow past people and we’re the favorites winning the North? No.
“But I think our goal is to get to the tournament, and I think it’s totally attainable.”
Of course, as the Pirates’ record indicates, there’s still a long ways to go.
With Crumb integrating seven new freshmen into the program, the coach still spends a lot of practice time going over play execution.
The good news, according to Goodwin, is that at least everyone seems willing to learn this time around.
And with a coach who’s already learned her fair share in such a short time, that just might all add up to something once everything is said and done.
“We all come from completely different backgrounds, and we’re all willing to change how we play to benefit the whole team, which is opposed to last year when it wasn’t quite as selfless,” Goodwin said.
“We all have the same goal in the end.”