Men’s basketball: PC falls in nail-biter vs. No. 2 Everett

North Region standings

Team Rec. Over.

Everett 8-1 20-4

Bellevue 6-3 17-7

Peninsula 5-4 15-9

Whatcom 5-4 12-11

Edmonds 4-5 16-8

Shoreline 3-6 7-13

Skagit Valley 3-6 9-14

Olympic 2-7 12-10

Peninsula couldn’t quite hold on to a six-point lead against one of the top teams in the NWAC, missing a chance at a big late-season road victory.

The No. 2-ranked Everett Trojans got big games from Markieth Brown Jr. (27 points) and Tori Odom (19 points on 8-for-8 shooting) to upend Peninsula in Everett on Feb. 10.

Peninsula, who held a 43-37 advantage at half, was led by Eli-Sha Sheppard’s 22 points. Colby Jackson had 17 points and Cameron Burton added nine points, six assists and four rebounds in the loss.

Three days earlier, the Pirates (5-4 in conference play, 15-9 overall) failed to score for nearly four minutes at the end of their Feb. 7 game at Shoreline but held on for the win anyway, knocking off the Dolphins 70-69 in an NWAC North Division contest.

Trailing 34-32 at halftime, the Pirates surged ahead 70-65 on a Burton layup with 3:53 to play.

Peninsula then withstood a series of errors — three turnovers, four missed shots from the floor and a missed free throw over the final three minutes of play — to come out on top and sweep the season series against Shoreline.

The Pirates defense forced five missed shots by Shoreline and getting key blocked shots from Kaelin Crane and Marky Adams down the stretch.

Burton led Peninsula with 19 points, while Jackson added 18 and Sheppard chipped in 10 off the bench.

The Pirates were 10-for-18 on 3-pointers while Shoreline was just 2-of-13 from the same range. PC also earned 17 trips to the free throw line, Shoreline just four.

Looking ahead

Peninsula hosts the Olympic Rangers on Feb. 14 and Bellevue Bulldogs on Feb. 17. The Pirates are at Skagit Valley on Feb. 21 before hosting Edmonds on Feb. 24 and rounding out the regular season at home on Feb. 28 against Whatcom.

The NWAC tournament is March 10-11 and 17-18 in Everett.