PORT ANGELES — Defensive effort did the heavy lifting for the Peninsula College men basketball team in an 83-69 triumph over top-ranked Skagit Valley at home Wednesday.

“We obviously shot it really well, but defensively, we got back to ourselves, and we got Isaac Garcia back on the court and off the training table battling injury,” Pirates coach Donald Rollman said.

“Holding them to 20 points in the first half is pretty fantastic based on how good a team they are.”

Peninsula ran out to a 42-20 halftime advantage on the Cardinals and ended up shooting 56 percent for the game and 53 percent on 3-point shots.

“We played free-flowing basketball,” Rollman said. “We didn’t really make any tough contested shots. We made the right play and created good shots all night.”

Rollman said Garcia is the team’s defensive catalyst and having him back in the starting lineup is a boost for the team’s confidence.

Mikey Medlock canned 6 of 7 shots off the bench, including 3 of 4 on 3-point tries for 15 points.

“He earned that with his defense,” Rollman said.

Keandre Hunter-Holiday also had a good night with seven points, eight rebounds and four assists.

“He does so much for us, he’s the anchor for us in terms of communication,” Rollman said.

Peninsula (5-3, 13-7) hosts Olympic at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Peninsula 83, Skagit Valley 69

SV 20 49 — 83

PC 42 41 — 69

Skagit Valley (69): Collins 12, Clark 11, Gyan 11, Barrett 10, Miller 9, Harris 5, Quarles 4, Cain 3, Hall-Scriven 2, Hayes 2

Peninsula (83): Sampson 16, Medlock 15, Williams Jr. 12, Harris 10, Reed 10, Rodgers 2, Johnson 2, McCullough 2, Welsh 2, Dean 2, Moore.

Pirate women win

PORT ANGELES — Sequim’s Hope Glasser and Port Angeles’ Millie Long steered the Pirate women to a 64-47 win over Skagit on a tough-shooting night for both squads.

Peninsula shot 40 percent from the floor, while the Cardinals were held to 35 percent shooting.

Glasser led all scorers with 19 points and added six rebounds and two steals.

Long had a tremendous all-around game with 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Peninsula (7-1, 16-3) hosts Olympic at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Peninsula 64, Skagit Valley 47

SV 8 13 11 15 — 47

PC 20 13 18 13 — 64

Skagit Valley (47): Plautz 12, Buchert 9, Watson 7, Johnson 7, Allison 5, Gonzalez 3, Herrera 2, Thomas 2.

Peninsula (64): Glasser 19, Long 17, Kaganak 9, Smith 6, Camacho-Villafuerte 6, Kamae 5, A. Brown 2.

Peninsula Daily News