PORT ANGELES — The Peninsula College men’s basketball team dug out of a deep early hole to beat Edmonds 78-75 and improved to 19-1 on the season.
Meanwhile, the Peninsula College women, after beginning North Region play 0-2, won their fourth game in a row, scoring 52 points in the second half and crushing Edmonds 86-50.
In the men’s game, the Tritons came in to the game 5-0 in the North Division and 15-3 overall. Edmonds got off to a 10-0 lead in the first half. The Pirates fought back, thanks to three straight 3-pointers, two from Roosevelt Williams Jr. and one from Mikey Medlock Jr., at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. Those three buckets cut a 40-30 Tritons lead down to 41-39.
The game remained close the rest of the way with neither team able to build a big lead. The Pirates and Tritons were tied at 74-74 in the finals 38 seconds when Peninsula’s Malik Jackson made two defensive rebounds on Edmonds misses and was fouled both times. He went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final half-minute of the game to help seal the win.
Williams led all scorers with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He made three 3-pointers for the game. Jackson shot 9-for-11 from the free-throw line and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Max d’Amato had 13 and Ese Onakpoma 12.
Peninsula (6-0, 19-1) has another tough test coming up later this week, playing at Everett (4-2, 17-4) on Wednesday.
Peninsula 78, Edmonds 75
Edmonds 40 35 — 75
Peninsula 33 45 — 78
Edmonds (75) — Zevenbergen 21, Lee 15, Frolich-Fair 13, Carandang 10, Johnson 6, Echiverri 5, Dupree 3, Stone 2.
Peninsula (78) — Williams 27, Jackson 19, D’Amato 13, Onakpoma 12, Medlock 3, Olmstead 3, Dean 1.
Women’s game
The Peninsula women got big games from Ituau Tuisaula, Millie Long and Jenilee Donovan in crushing the Tritons.
Tuisaula had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 7-for-9 from the field. Long led the team with 19 points, five assists and four steals. Donovan had 13 points, six assists and six steals. Adam Kaganak and Tati Kamae each added nine points.
The Pirates shot 20-for-30 (66.7 percent) from the floor in the second half.
Peninsula (4-2, 12-4) next plays at Everett (0-6, 3-13) on Wednesday.
Peninsula 86, Edmonds 50
Edmonds 8 13 14 15 — 50
Peninsula 16 18 28 24 — 86
Edmonds (50) — Brown 12, Walters 10, Slippern 8, Young 6, Carter 3, Jacobo 3, Brucelas 2, Spotted Horse 2.
Peninsula (86) — Long 19, Tuisaula 15, Donovan 13, Kaganak 9, Kamae 9, Selden 8, Marini 5, Moss 3, Vaaia 3, Brown 2.