SEQUIM — The Port Angeles and Sequim girls basketball teams struggled in a defensive battle for the first 15 minutes Friday night, until the Roughriders blew the game open with a 17-0 run over four minutes en route to 46-15 victory.

The win puts the Riders in a two-way tie for first place in the Olympic League with North Kitsap, with a very good chance to finish all alone in second by the end of the regular season.

“We weren’t getting any offense going, we were very tentative,” said Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter. “In the second half, we played with much more confidence and were much more assertive.”

The Riders after a 1-3 start to their season, are getting hot at the right time of year. It was their eighth win out of their past nine games. In the past four games, all wins, Port Angeles has allowed 26.8 points per game. It was the 13th game this season the Riders have allowed 36 or fewer points.

“Our kids are very consistent defensively. We need to transfer that to confidence in our offense,” Poindexter said.

Port Angeles had at least 20 steals and forced 47 Sequim turnovers. The Wolves were only able to get off 20 shots as a result.

Sequim head coach Joclin Julmist said his team has been struggling with illness. In fact, the Wolves had to forfeit their last game due to a lack of healthy players. The Wolves had to play this game without Gracie Chartraw, their main ball-handler and leading scorer, who is still out sick.

“We struggled getting the ball across the half-court,” Julmist said. “We weren’t able to do what we needed to do. The defense played pretty well. Offensively, we just couldn’t get anything going. That’s been the story of our season.”

The game got off to a slow start offensively as both teams’ defense dominated. Sequim had trouble scoring but the Wolves’ scrappy defense kept them in the game, down just two possessions at 12-6 with less than a minute left in the first half.

But the Riders’ defense took charge and Port Angeles started converting on its chances. A couple of steals in the final seconds of the half led to five straight points from Lindsay Smith on fast breaks.

Then Port Angeles forced a number of turnovers and created some easy baskets for themselves at the beginning of the second half, going on a 12-0 run to open the half in just three minutes.

Port Angeles ultimately ended up with a 24-0 run, stretching the lead to 36-6 at one point.

Port Angeles’ Lindsay Smith led all scorers with 19 points. Lexie Smith had seven steals, seven rebounds and hit 3-pointer, while Teanna Clark had a great game with 15 points and six steals.

Sequim was led by Libby Turella with seven points and three blocked shots. Taylor Heyting had five points, five rebounds and three steals, while Kaiya Robinson hit a 3-pointer.

Port Angeles (12-6 overall) has a favorable schedule to finish all alone in second in the Olympic League. The Riders are tied with North Kitsap at 9-3, but the Vikings still have to play first-place Bainbridge, which is unbeaten in league at 12-0. North Mason at 8-4, also has another game with Bainbridge. Meanwhile, Port Angeles has a home game at 7 p.m. Tuesday against last-place Bremerton (0-12) and a winnable road game Friday at Kingston (4-8).

Sequim (2-9, 3-12) next hosts North Kitsap at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Port Angeles 46, Sequim 15

PA 5 12 19 10 — 46

Seq. 3 3 0 9 — 15

Port Angeles (46) — Lindsay Smith 19, Clark 15, Lexie Smith 3, Stevens 3, Politika 2, Doherty 2, Moses 2.

Sequim (15) — Turella 7, Heyting 5, Robinson 3.