Pirates fall in NWAC title game heartbreaker

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 30, 2022

One shot. That’s all that separated Peninsula College’s basketball squad from a title.

But in the end, Lower Columbia had the final answer in a see-saw battle between two of the top teams in the Northwest Athletic Conference.

Chinedu Nnadi sank a 3-pointer from the wing as the buzzer sounded to give the Red Devils a 76-75 win in the NWAC title game on March 27, ending Peninsula’s bid for the conference crown.

Despite a significant shooting disparity, Peninsula had leads late in both regulation and overtime thanks to a relentless defense that forced 31 turnovers.

With Peninsula up three points with 21 seconds to go, Lower Columbia’s Michaela Harris sank a 3-pointer to knot the game at 60-60 and send the game into overtime.

There, the Pirates and Red Devils traded leads with no team getting ahead by more than three points. Sequim high grad Hope Glasser, who was named to the All-Tournament Second Team, sank a pair of free throws with 36 second left to give PC a 74-73 lead. After a Red Devil turnover, Ituau Tuisaula made one of two free throws, setting up Nnadi’s bizzer-beater.

Port Angeles High grad Millie Long, who was named to the All-Tournament Team’s first team, had 22 points and seven rebounds while Glasser added 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists. Tuisaula, an All-Tournament first-teamer, chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds.

Peninsula shot 27-of-74 from the floor (36.5 percent) and hit just one of eight from 3-point range but made up for it in offensive rebounds (20) and steals (19). Lower Columbia drained nine-of-15 (60 percent) from long range.

Peninsula (25-4), the North Region champions, came in with a 14-game winning streak before falling in heart-breaking fashion. The Pirates knocked off Clackamas in the semifinal on March 25.

Lower Columbia (26-1) upended previously undefeated Lane in the other semifinal and finished the season with a 16-game winning streak and their first NWAC title.

Overcoming Clackamas

Midway through the fourth quarter in Saturday night’s semi-final, the Pirates looked to be in deep trouble. The Pirates hadn’t shot well all night, they weren’t hitting free throws and after starting the fourth quarter shooting 0-for-8 from the floor, they had fallen behind an offensively powerful Clackamas team 54-46 with 5:30 left in the NWAC semifinals.

Then Long drove into the lane and hit a basket and was fouled for a three-point play.

And that one play seemed to change the tone of the entire game. It began a remarkable 20-4 run over the next five minutes by the Pirates. Peninsula allowed a deep 3-pointer by Clackamas in the final seconds, but it didn’t matter as the Pirates beat a shell-shocked Cougars team 67-61 to advance to the NWAC finals.

“It was a super fun game to be a part of,” Peninsula coach Alison Crumb said.

Crumb said she wasn’t that concerned when the women got down eight points midway through the fourth quarter.

“I wasn’t that worried. We were playing such good defense,” she said. “I took a timeout and told them, ‘Our shots are not falling tonight. We have to get something out of our defense.’ That five-minute mark was a real gut check.”

Long, who hadn’t really regained her scoring touch after spraining her ankle a couple of weeks ago, completely took over in the fourth quarter. She scored 14 points in the fourth, going 3-for-4 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the final five minutes. Long finished with 23 points, five assists and five steals, while shooting 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Glasser was also big in the fourth. She didn’t have a great shooting game, but she had a steal and hit two crucial baskets in the fourth quarter, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.

“I really think they [Clackamas] thought we were going to fold,” Crumb said.

She said Glasser and Long hadn’t shot well until that fourth-quarter surge, but that during a timeout, Crumb told them, “We’re going to ride this out. Win or lose, I want you two in the game.”

Tuisaula had 10 points and 18 rebounds, 10 of them offensive rebounds, and two blocks. Madison Cooke, a former Port Angeles High standout, had nine points, five rebounds and three steals.