Second to one.

Peninsula’s women came within 10 points of taking the Piece College Tournament, falling in the finals 64-54 to Skagit Valley Sunday afternoon.

Britney Yamane scored 15 points, all on three-pointers, and teammate Brittany Bridges had 12 points and nine rebounds, but the Pirates (4-2) couldn’t overcome a 39-22 deficit at halftime.

Ashley Grater led the Cardinals with 14 points.

The Pirates advanced to the final after outlasting a poor-shooting Olympic squad on Saturday night, 62-49.

Bridges and Sam Flett led the way. Flett, a 5-foot 6-inch sophomore guard, hit for 14 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals while Bridges, the 5-foot 10-inch sophomore post, snatched 15 rebounds and scored 13 points.

Yamane added 10 points and a game-high six assists for the Pirates.

Shayvonne Barrett led the Rangers with 21 points but also had 10 turnovers. Olympic was just 16-of-65 from the field (24.6 percent).

In the opening game on Friday night, Peninsula played spoiler to Pierce College, the tournament hosts, downing the Raiders 74-53.

The Pirates held Pierce to just 29-percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers.

Peninsula’s guards proved too tough for Pierce, as Yamane sank 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds while backcourt mate Krystal Tolliver – all 5 feet, 4 inches of her – went for nine points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Flett came off the bench for 11 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.

Bridges added 11 points and five steals.

The Pirates had 29 points off turnovers and outrebounded Pierce 60-37.

Kaylah Scott led the Raiders with 15 points.

Peninsula is back on the court Dec. 13 at South Puget Sound in Olympia and at Centralia on Dec. 6. Their next home game is Dec. 30 when they

host Tacoma.

Men tripped up at Highline

If early season results are any indication, Peninsula’s men have their work cut out to defend their NWACC North Division crown.

The Pirates shot just 36 percent from the field, 20 percent from three-point range and made eight free throws in a 66-51 loss at Highline Dec. 4.

Jake Pappaleus led Peninsula with 13 points while Jesse Bean and Cody Killian chipped in with eight points each, and Harmeet Mahal had four points, seven rebounds and five assists.

It wasn’t nearly enough. Highline’s Kelly Edwards scored a game-high 22 points, draining all four three-point tries, helping the Thunderbirds lead 29-22 at halftime and open up a 17-point second-half lead.

"Seems like we take two steps forward, two steps back," Peninsula coach Peter Stewart said. "We have to get better. We’ll continue to work at it."

The Pirates are back in action against Walla Walla Dec. 12 in Moses Lake before taking on hosts Big Bend Community College the next evening.