Sequim Gazette staff
For the first time in Peninsula College’s 54 years of athletics, their four sports teams at Peninsula College each won region championships.
Following the Pirate soccer teams’ North Region titles in the fall, Peninsula College’s men’s and women’s basketball teams did the same this winter.
PC women
The defending champs are hitting their stride at just the right time.
Peninsula’s women are riding a nine game winning streak after a big win at Shoreline on Feb. 27.
Already with a No. 1 seed to the NWAC playoffs, Saturday’s 81-46 win locked up the outright North Division title for the Pirates.
Zhara Laster led four Pirates in double figures with 13 points, Jenise McKnight and Imani Smith had 12, and Anaya Rodisha added 10 in the victory.
Darrien Dolquist-Larson led Shoreline with 12 points,
On Feb. 24, the No. 5-ranked Peninsula avoided a three-way tie for first in the North Division with an 80-68 win at Skagit Valley.
A loss could have sent PC to a No. 3 seed and first round road game to Spokane. Instead, the Pirates turned an 18-14 lead after one quarter to a 40-29 cushion by halftime. Rodisha, Smith and Cierra Moss each scored 17 points and Laster finished with 12. Rodisha hit a game-high four 3-pointers and the Pirates held Skagit to just 1-for-18 from long range.
Emily Yost scored 18 and Jordyn Turner and Jenika Anglim each had 11 for Skagit Valley.
The win marked the fourth time in Peninsula’s 19-year women’s basketball history a Pirate team has won at least 21 games.
PC men
Coming into conference play, the Peninsula men were 7-7, unranked and off the NWAC title radar.
Now they’re headed into the NWAC tournament with a division title, top-five ranking and a chance to improve on their third-place conference tourney finish in 2015.
Despite a loss at Shoreline on Saturday, the Pirates (11-3 in conference play, 18-10 overall) jump into the postseason with eight wins in the last nine games.
On Feb. 24 — despite already having clinched the North Division crown — PC head coach Mitch Freeman and his staff were not about to take their foot off the proverbial gas pedal. The Pirates went up 33-31 at the half and held on for a 78-73 victory at Skagit Valley.
Ryley Callaghan led the Pirates with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, Dimitri Amos had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremiah Hobbs also put together a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
Tyler Kidd led the host Cardinals with 22 and Steve Shpreyregin added 15.
Three days later, with their playoff spot secured, PC rested several starters in a 74-63 loss to Shoreline’s Dolphins.
Deonte Dixon led Peninsula with 12 points and five rebounds in less than 17 minutes. Alex Baham chipped in 10 points.
Jason Smarr led Shoreline with 18 points and nine rebounds.
On to the tourney
The new format for the 2016 NWAC basketball Championship Tournament starts with a single-elimination first round on March 5.
Peninsula’s women take on Treasure Valley, the fourth-place finisher from the East Region, at 3 p.m. in the opener, followed by PC’s men taking on Chemeketa at 5 p.m.
First-round winners advance to an eight-team modified double-elimination tournament in Everett Community College, with the women starting March 10 and men March 11.
Tickets for the first-round playoffs are $10 for adults, $7 for students, children of ages 7-12, and seniors 60-over, and free admission to children 6 and younger.
The winners then advance to an eight-team modified double-elimination tournament at Everett Community College, with the men opening play on March 11.
