PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles boys basketball team found themselves in a fair amount of trouble early in the second quarter against a solid Sehome team that had just hit three 3-pointers in a row.
The Mariners, who came in to Friday night’s game with a 13-4 record and ranked in the top 10 in the state in RPI, went on an 11-0 run during that stretch to blow open a tight game and take a 30-18 lead with 3:30 left in the first half.
It forced the Roughriders to dig deep and battle back. Port Angeles finished the half on a 14-4 run, then blew up in the third quarter with another 20-8 run. The Riders went on to win a hard-fought 68-64 win over the Mariners in a game added to make up for games lost earlier this season to COVID.
Coach Kasey Ulin said the Riders showed a lot of grit and resilience to knock off what is likely a state tournament team.
“Out character was tested tonight,” said coach Kasey Ulin. “They [Sehome] made a lot of shots early.”
Sehome had one big player in the post, 6-foot-5 Gavin Ortega, who scored 19 points. The rest of the team is made up of lanky long-armed kids who shoot a lot of 3-pointers. And the Mariners made a few early.
During the 14-4 second-quarter run, the Riders got three offensive rebounds and putbacks from Jeremiah Hall, John Vaara and Xander Maestas.
In the wild third-quarter, Parker Nickerson went off. He missed a 3-pointer, then passed up another open three. Then he got in a rhythm and drilled three straight from beyond the arc and added a fast break lay up as he scored 11 points in the quarter. The Riders also got two blocks and four points from Vaara during the run as Port Angeles managed to open up a 54-44 lead.
“Parker has the ‘It’ factor,” Ulin said. “As a sophomore, he fits in well starting with four seniors.”
The fourth quarter slowed down into a defensive slugfest as both teams struggled to score. Sehome managed to cut the score to 59-57 with 1:30 left in the game. On the next possession, Maestas hit the shot of the game. With Sehome playing tough defense and the shot clock running down to zero, Maestas calmly hit a 22-foot 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 62-57 with 59 seconds left.
“Tough teams will make tough shots,” Maestas said. “I saw the shot clock running down and no one was putting their hand up for the ball, so I shot. I was confident it would go in.”
“That’s a huge shot at that time of the game. We needed a great play. It was great to see him step up,” Ulin said.
Sehome was forced to foul and the Riders hit their free throws down the stretch, going 8-for-8 in the quarter and 6-for-6 in the final 31 seconds. Maestas hit a pair and Wyatt Dunning hit four straight in that final half-minute.
Dunning led the Riders with 20 points, while Maestas had 18. Vaara had 13 and Nickerson 11.
With the win, the Riders jumped to No. 9 in the 2A RPI rankings. Sehome is ranked No. 8.
The Riders (10-1, 13-4) played today, their fourth game in five days, against Sequim (4-8, 5-11) after press deadline. They host a good third-place Bremerton squad (8-2, 9-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Port Angeles 68, Sehome 64
Seh. 17 17 12 18 — 64
PA 16 16 22 14 — 68
Sehome (64) — Ortega 19, Kepley 16, Storms 13, Lawrence 11, Garrison 5.
Port Angeles (68) — Dunning 20, Maestas 18, Vaara 13, Nickerson 11, Wheeler 3, Hall 3.
