Peninsula sails by Shoreline

Before the game, the Shoreline Dolphins made the baskets rattle with showboat dunks.

In the game, however, Dominick Lozano’s long-range stroke made the Shoreline visitors’ heads rattle.

Lozano, Peninsula College’s sharp-shooting specialist, sank seven three-point shots in nine tries and finished with 30 points as the Pirates rolled to a 92-76 win Jan. 30 in Port Angeles.

Clay Greenland added 23 points and nine rebounds, helping Peninsula (7-2 in NWAACC play, 16-6 overall) stay in a tie with Everett for second place in the NWAACC North.

The Dolphins kept it close in the first half behind strong performances from Justin Grisby and Jaron Brown, trailing 44-40 at halftime.

The Dolphins (3-6, 11-10) pulled to within 62-61, but Peninsula was able to pull away late. The Pirates outworked the larger Shoreline squad on the boards (30-25) and capitalized on their visitors’ inconsistent offense.

Ernie Grimes, the Pirates’ top bench player, had a big night with 15 points and starter Jesse Bean chipped in with eight assists. Greenland also had five assists, four steals and was perfect on all nine free throw tries.

Brown led Shoreline with 22 points and Grisby was 5-of-6 from three-point range. Parys Fox added 18 points and seven assists.

Peninsula hosts a Bellevue Bulldogs team Feb. 6 that handed the Pirates one of their two conference losses in December (65-54). Peninsula travels to Olympic Feb. 9.

NWAACC North Division standings (as of Feb. 5)

Team Conf. Over.

Whatcom 9-1 17-5

Everett 8-2 16-6

Peninsula 7-2 16-6

Bellevue 7-3 15-7

Edmonds 4-6 7-13

Olympic 3-7 5-14

Shoreline 3-7 11-11

Skagit Vly. 3-7 6-14

Seattle 0-9 3-17