By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College women beat Olympic 57-46 to remain undefeated in NWAC North Division play, but they were left crossing their fingers hoping the victory didn’t come with a too-heavy price.
Putting a pall over the win were scary injuries to two sophomore starters, Anaya Rodisha and Jenise McKnight, who were both hurt on the same play late in the fourth quarter in a pile up under the Olympic basket. They both injured their knees and had to be carried off the court.
“It was sobering in the sense that we have two of our toughest games coming up. It’s something you can’t control. Those kind of things happen,” said Pirates coach Allison Crumb.
She said the pair would be evaluated by doctors and the team would adjust and go forward based on the severity of their injuries.
It was the fifth straight win for Peninsula and the eighth victory out of their last nine.
The Pirates got off to a hot start, taking a 16-0 lead in the game’s first five minutes. Rodisha, Alicia Dugan, Sephora Yayouss and Tiffani Smith all hit 3-pointers during that explosive start. The Pirates eventually opened the lead up to 24-7 early in the second quarter with Tai Thomas a dominant force inside early, scoring eight points in the first 12 minutes. She finished with 11.
“We were playing basketball. We were communicating and playing our game of basketball,” Thomas said about the first quarter. She said her teammates did a great job finding her inside and setting her up with good shots.
After the first few minutes, the game slowed down to a low-scoring defensive battle. Olympic rallied, thanks to 16 second-half points from Taylor Sunkel, but the Pirates managed to keep the lead in double figures almost the entire game.
Crumb said the Pirates didn’t play well for three quarters.
“It was hard to match what we did in the first quarter,” she said.
“It was great to start out strong [but] we lost a lot of our energy. At this point of the season, a win is a win.”
Smith was huge for the Pirates in the second half, scoring 10 points to help keep the Rangers at bay.
Olympic briefly cut the lead to 47-38 with about six minutes left, but the Pirates returned with four points from Smith and Yamelei Rodriguez to put the game out of reach at 51-38.
Smith led the Pirates with 13, while Thomas scored 11 and Rodriguez 10. McKnight had eight rebounds.
Jewell Johnson and Trish Reeves, 2014 graduates of Port Townsend High School, also played in the contest for Olympic.
Reeves scored two points and grabbed an offensive rebound, while Johnson had two rebounds and a steal.
Peninsula (11-5, 3-0) is tied for first place with Skagit Valley (3-0, 13-4). The Pirates host rival Bellevue (2-1, 10-6) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Peninsula 57, Olympic 46
Olympic 7 12 13 14— 46
Peninsula 20 12 14 11— 57
Olympic (46) — Sunkel 18, Davies 8, Borgonia 8, Carter 7, Gordon 3, Reeves 2.
Peninsula (57) — Smith 13, Thomas 11, Rodriguez 10, Dugan 7, Rodisha 6, Yayouss 5, Barnes 3, McKnight 2
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
