PORT ANGELES — In a game not nearly as big as the one two days before it, the Peninsula College men’s basketball team played big enough to gut out a win.
The seventh-ranked Pirates dominated the boards and knocked down free throws well enough to beat a feisty Edmonds Tritons team 72-55 in NWAACC North Division play Wednesday night.
Sophomore guard Thad Vinson scored a game-high 19 points, and freshman post DeShaun Freeman had 10 points, 18 rebounds, two blocks and two thunderous dunks to push Peninsula to its ninth win in 11 games.
“We did what we needed to do, which was hold serve on our home court,” said Pirates coach Lance Von Vogt, whose Pirates were ranked for the first time this year Tuesday.
“The schedule we played since coming off the break has been difficult, with just the number of games and lack of time off and as much travel as we had.
“I think it showed up with our intensity tonight.”
Coming off an 83-75 win over then No. 2 Whatcom on Monday, and playing in the team’s sixth game in 14 days, Peninsula (5-1 in North, 10-5 overall) didn’t appear to bring the same energy to the gym against last-place Edmonds (0-5, 2-11) on Wednesday.
Still, the Pirates used their size and physicality to keep Edmonds at arm’s length in a game they led from start to finish.
Led by Freeman’s beastly night on the boards, the Pirates out-rebounded the Tritons by a 49-24 margin.
That included 16 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second-chance points for the Pirates compared to just four and four, respectively, for Edmonds.
“We’ve got some size and we’ve got some high energy guys,” Von Vogt said. “It’s tough for other teams to rebound against us for 40 minutes.
“I just thought our size was superior to theirs. At some point they just stopped going to the offensive glass because they just figured they weren’t going to get a board.”
Peninsula’s tight man-to-man defense gave Edmonds problems as well, with the Tritons hitting just 41 percent of their field goal attempts.
The Pirates were at their best in the first half especially, when the Tritons shot just 35.7 percent from the field.
“We start every practice with defense and rebounding,” said Vinson, who had five rebounds in addition to a pair of 3-pointers. “Whenever someone comes into this gym, we want them to think we’re a good defensive team.
“Of course, we are athletic guys and we have offense but we want to be known for defense.”
Peninsula built its original lead near the end of the first half with a twin towers lineup that featured Freeman (6-foot-7) and Jerry Johnson (6-10).
Johnson broke the game open with back-to-back 3-pointers near the top of the key during a 10-0 run that extended Peninsula’s lead to 31-18 with five minutes left in the half.
A few minutes later, Johnson’s fellow North Beach High School alum Vinson knocked down a pair of 3s of his own to fuel a 10-2 run that gave the Pirates a 41-23 halftime edge.
Johnson fed Vinson for the first one after kicking out a post entry pass to the wing.
Then Vinson nailed the next one off the dribble, capping a 5-of-6 showing from beyond the arc for the Pirates during the first half.
“That’s what we talked about, enforce our will on the interior in the paint,” Von Vogt said. “In the first half we were able to do that.
“In the second half with the fouls and the rotation getting mixed up [because of foul trouble with the starting guards] we kind of never had a beat. “
Indeed, Peninsula spent much of the second half grinding out free throws and getting defensive stops.
The Pirates made just two field goals during the first 10 minutes of the half — one a spectacular fast break alley-oop from Mitrell Clark to Freeman — while allowing the Tritons to get back within 10 at 48-38.
Edmonds got as close as nine at 59-50 after Matt Reading scored five straight points on an old-fashioned 3-point play and spot up jump shot, part of an 18-point night for the 6-8 sophomore.
But Clark responded with one of his two second half 3s a couple of possessions later, and the Tritons would never threaten again.
“I think that anybody who was at Monday’s game and was at tonight’s game would see that there was more intensity on the floor for 40 minutes against Whatcom then what we saw tonight,” Von Vogt said
Peninsula ended up hitting just 29.6 percent of its shots (8 of 27) during the second half.
Three of those baskets cam from Clark, who finished with 13 points, three assists and one turnover. Johnson added 11 points as one of four Pirates in double figures on the game.
Peninsula hit 22 of 29 shots from the free throw line, including 12 of 16 during the second half after Edmonds was put in the bonus earlier than midway through the frame.
“It felt like we were coasting, and it wasn’t our best performance,” Vinson said.
“I think that we played a really good team [Monday] and we knew this team wasn’t as good as them, and everyone took the night off it seemed like.”
Peninsula travels to Everett (2-3, 2-10) on Saturday.
Peninsula 72, Edmonds 55
Edmonds 23 32 — 55
Peninsula 41 31 — 72
Individual Scoring
Edmonds (55)
Cassell 8, Overstreet 16, Demisse 3, Clevenger 3, Samuelson 2, Reading 18, Pullum 5.
Peninsula (72)
Freeman 10, Musgrow 1, Vinson 19, Jacobson 5, Friday 3, Clark 13, Williams 5, Waller 5, Jerry Johnson 11.
Women Edmonds 73, Peninsula 47
PORT ANGELES — The Pirates’ slide continued in NWAACC North Division play Wednesday night.
The Tritons (2-3, 6-7) never trailed as Taylor Christian dropped in 22 points to help hand the cold shooting Pirates (1-5, 4-11) their fifth straight loss.
Peninsula knocked down just 18 of 60 field goal attempts as it missed an opportunity to gain ground on a team sitting right above it in the North.
“This was a huge game for us, that’s kind of why it’s so frustrating,” Pirates coach Alison Crumb said. “In those types of games you get psyched and play more intense and with more enthusiasm. And we didn’t do that.
“Something is missing. It’s not talent. We have the players to be successful in this league, we just don’t have the team yet. We just have nine individuals running around.”
The Pirates went down by double digits by the end of the first half, trailing 37-27 at the break, and never could find their way back.
Turnovers (20) and poor shooting (18 of 60 from the field) doomed Peninsula from ever being able to mount a significant run against the Tritons (2-3, 6-7).
“I think we get down and we start playing for ourselves,” Crumb said. “We don’t play as a team, and therefore everyone starts taking their own shots.
“There’s no movement. There’s no cohesiveness. There’s no unity. And it’s like that on the defensive end, too.”
Shawna Thein had 12 points and five assists to lead the Pirates offensively.
Callie Monfrey added 12 points and Danika Goodwin 11 points and eight rebounds, with just three other Pirates getting ink in the scorebook.
Edmonds, on the other hand, spread the ball around to seven different scorers, with four reaching double figures.
That included Taylor Christian, who came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field.
“There was a good portion of this game where we were in the ballgame and we just made really bad decisions when it counts,” Crumb said.
Edmonds 73, Peninsula 47
Edmonds 37 36 — 73
Peninsula 27 20 — 47
Individual Scoring
Edmonds (73)
Christian 22, Clark 13, Batts 10, Haberman 10, Johnson 9, Williams 6, Hope 3.
Peninsula (47)
Thein 12, Monfrey 12, Goodwin 11, Smith 8, Pullen 2, Jackson 2.