MOUNT VERNON — The Peninsula College men didn’t get any preseason rankings, but perhaps after sweeping three opponents by large margins this weekend at the Skagit Valley Turkey Trot Tournament, the Pirates will start getting votes as they have started the season 5-0.
Peninsula didn’t just win, the Pirates won all three games by double digits. And in two of the three games, they completely dominated the second half.
The Pirates began the tournament by beating Douglas College from New Westminster, B.C. 84-68 on Friday. They beat Northwest Indian College 72-48 on Saturday, then beat Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Big Bend 80-48, outscoring Big Bend 40-18 in the second half.
Coach Donald Rollman thought the Pirates didn’t play that great against Douglas and NWIC, but put it all together against Big Bend.
“We weren’t completely satisfied with the first two games. Big Bend was our best game of the season by far,” Rollman said. “We put it together for 40 minutes for the first time this season.”
And even in the Big Bend game, the Pirates didn’t shoot particularly well, going just 7-for-34 (20.6 percent) from 3-point range.
They still won by 32 points, mostly because the Pirates dominated on boards, outrebounding Big Bend 47-24 and 18-4 on the offensive boards. Thus, they got off 69 shots to Big Bend’s 46.
Roosevelt Williams Jr. had a great weekend, scoring 18 against Big Bend, 26 against NWIC and 18 against Douglas, leading the Pirates in scoring all three games. He shot 12-for-14 from the field against NWIC.
Mikey Medlock Jr. scored 18 against Big Bend, 16 against NWIC and 16 against Douglas. He hit four 3-pointers against NWIC and three against Douglas, though he struggled with his outside shooting against Big Bend.
Aiden Olmstead had 13 rebounds and 10 points against Douglas and averaged 10.0 rebounds a game over the weekend. Max D’Amato scored 14 points against Douglas and 12 against Big Bend.
Rollman said Ese Onakpoma also had two monster dunks during the tournament. His best game was against Big Bend with 11 points.
Peninsula (5-0) next plays in the Pirate Classic in Port Angeles with a 5 p.m. Saturday game against Lane College and a 4 p.m. Sunday game against Mount Hood.
Peninsula 84, Douglas 68
Doug. 33 35 — 68
PC 43 41 — 84
Douglas (68) — Sidhu 17, Johnson 14, thomson 10, Dhillon 8, Pamintuan 7, French 4, Hutchison 3, Bohmert 3, Pedro 2.
Peninsula (84) — Williams 18, Medlock 16, D’Amato 14, Olmstead 10, Ervin 8, Jackson 7, Onakpoma 4, Dean 4, Johnson 3.
Peninsula 72, NW Indian 48
NWIC 27 21 — 48
PC 34 38 — 72
NWIC (48) — Lane 24, Rogers 13, Bobb 6, Rodriguez 3, Carlos 2.
Peninsula (72) — Williams 26, Medlock 16, Onakpoma 6, Jackson 5, Johnson 5, D’Amato 4, Olmstead 2, Odum 2, Tinsley 2, Dean 2.
Peninsula 80, Big Bend 48
BB 30 18 — 48
PC 40 40 — 80
Big Bend (48) — Macfarlane 15, Frye 10, Sears 8, Panelo 5, Goldsmith 5, Ellison 5.
Peninsula (80) — Medlock 18, Williams 18, D’Amato 12, Jackson 11, Onakpoma 11, Olmstead 7, Ervin 2, Dean 1.