KENT — It took Alison Knowles a couple of times to get it right.
After three straight years of going winless in postseason play, the Port Angeles senior guard didn’t have much experience cutting down nets.
Now, it’s beginning to look like she and the rest of the Roughrider girls basketball team are just getting started.
Port Angeles dropped the Eatonville Cruisers 52-38 to claim the Class 2A West Central District championship Monday at the ShoWare Center in Kent.
When the ceremonial net cutting rolled around following the game, Knowles was handed the scissors first.
“I kind of went up there like, ‘Uh, I don’t know what to do,’” said Knowles of her two trips up the ladder to cut down the net, the first one a snip short.
“Me just being up there to take it . . . I can’t even take the smile off my face, I’m so happy.”
The last Port Angeles girls team to cut down the nets at districts was the 1999 edition.
After winning their fourth postseason game in a row Monday morning, this year’s Riders got to do the same before a throng of fans at the brand-new 6,000-seat arena in Kent.
For a trio of seniors who had lost their first eight playoff games dating back to their freshman season, it was a celebration four years in the making.
Among that group of four-year players: Knowles, guard Jessica Madison and forward Taylyn Jeffers.
“It feels great finally coming out here and proving ourselves,” said Madison, Monday’s high scorer with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
“I think we know we can do it, and we’re just playing really well together as a team, and our defense is clicking.”
With Monday’s win, 10th-ranked Port Angeles (21-4 overall) earned the district’s top seed into the regional round of the 2A state playoffs.
The Riders will get two shots at a spot in the eight-team tournament at the SunDome in Yakima on March 3-5.
That begins with a winner-to-state game against Northwest District No. 2 Lynden (20-3) on Friday at Foss High School in Tacoma.
A loss there would put Port Angeles in a loser-out game Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School.
“I kept saying, ‘Ladies, once we get that win [in the playoffs], then we’re going to roll,” Port Angeles head coach Mike Knowles said, referencing the Riders’ streak-busting sub-district playoff win against Foster two weeks ago.
“That’s really what we’ve been doing. It’s always been, ‘We can do it.’ We just didn’t believe.
“Now we believe.”
Defensive showing
Port Angeles’ defense and free-throw shooting ended up being the difference Monday.
The Riders hit 18 of 21 shots from the charity stripe (13 of 14 in the fourth quarter) while holding Eatonville to 27-percent shooting (14 of 52) from the field.
Hounded by Port Angeles defenders all morning, Cruisers leading scorer Becca Schrimpsher was limited to just 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
“Our defense, I’ve never seen it as good as it has been lately,” Alison Knowles said. “It just feels so good to just finally click.”
The Riders forced 19 Eatonville turnovers while playing primarily half-court man defense all game.
Several of those giveaways led to easy baskets on the other end for the Rider offense.
That included a steal by freshman Krista Johnson with 1:25 left in the fourth and Eatonville trailing 45-37 that Madison converted into a fastbreak layup on the other end.
It was a momentum-killing play for the Cruisers, who got as close as eight three times in the fourth quarter, only to be turned away on each occasion.
“We stayed with our basic defense, our normal defense, but our help side was there this game and everyone was on top of it,” Madison said.
Port Angeles took control of Monday’s game from the outset, going ahead 10-6 after one quarter with three baskets from Madison.
The Riders dominated the boards in the second quarter with a 12-4 rebounding edge to extend that lead to 20-13 by halftime.
They came out of the break with an 8-0 run, sparked by 3-pointers from Knowles and Johnson, to jump ahead 28-13.
Alison Knowles (5 of 6) and Madison (7 of 8) knocked down free throws the rest of the way, and the defense took care of business on the other end to lock up the Riders’ third district win in five days.
“To win here . . . you gotta make free throws, and we did that,” Mike Knowles said. “We had our shooters at the line. Alison and Jess, when they go to the line, those kids can shoot.
“I was proud that those guys stepped up and kept that lead.”
The Riders shot just 33.3 percent from the field (16 of 48) on the game but handled Eatonville’s full-court press well enough to turn the ball over just 16 times.
Knowles finished with 12 points and two assists, while Kiah Jones added seven points, seven rebounds and one block.
Jeffers came up with six points and eight rebounds, and Johnson had five points and three assists.
“After we won that first game [against Foster at sub-districts], it felt like, ‘We can do this now,” Alison Knowles said.
“We got that first win. We just took off after that.
“We believe in ourselves and our teammates are so supportive, and we’re just all in it together.”
Port Angeles 52, Eatonville 38
Port Angeles 10 10 15 17 — 52
Eatonville 6 7 12 13 — 38
Port Angeles (52)
K. Jones 7, Knowles 11, Madison 23, Johnson 5, Jeffers 6.
Eatonville (38)
Voss 1, Stead 7, Bass 5, Hoesel 5, Fairhart 6, Schrimpsher 11, Hill 3.