Pirate men sail into NWAACC semis

With two games remaining, the defending NWAACC champs are still on the road to repeating.

Peninsula’s Pirates used a pair of huge games from their go-to sophomores to get past Spokane in overtime in the quarterfinals of the NWAACC tournament in Kennewick on Sunday.

DeShaun Freeman scored 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and J.T. Terrell added 31 points as the Pirates forced overtime, then outscored the No. 1-seeded Sasquatch 20-15 in the extra frame.

Peninsula moved on to the tournament semifinals Monday night, squaring off against Chemeketa. The winner was slated to take on either Tacoma or Big Bend in the championship on Tuesday night, while the semifinal losers would challenge each other for third or fourth place on Tuesday afternoon.

Freeman, the 2011 NWAACC tournament MVP, sank 15 of 24 shots from the field and added three blocks.

Terrell, who is headed to USC next season, sank three 3-pointers. Though he made just nine of 24 shots from the field, he got to the free-throw line 14 times, hitting 10.

The Pirates also got solid contributions from Sam Waller (10 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Dudley Ewell (nine points).

Peninsula (25-4) outscored Spokane 20-8 in points-off-of-turnovers.

Preston Wynne led Spokane with 28 points and 13 rebounds.

P.C. closes out Cougars

It took one run and some steady play for Peninsula to take down Clackamas in the first round of the NWAACC tournament.

Terrell led Peninsula with 20 points while Freeman added 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Pirates advanced past the Cougars 74-65 Saturday morning.

“DeShaun was absolutely terrific,” Peninsula coach Lance Von Vogt said.

A 3-point shot from reserve Daniel Sims capped an 11-2 Peninsula run that put P.C. ahead 20-11.

Brett Ball, Clackamas’ leading rebounder (10 per game, fifth in the NWAACC), fouled out with six minutes remaining. The Cougars would cut P.C.’s lead to eight on several occasions, but with less than two minutes remaining, Peninsula had pushed the lead to 15.

“A very good team win; I’m glad with the way the guys responded to the tournament with a 10 a.m. tip,” Von Vogt said.

Taylor Dunn, fifth in the NWAACC in scoring with 21.9 points per contest, led Clackamas with 15 points and nine rebounds.

“We really limited their key player, Paul Walter,” Von Vogt said, noting the top Cougar had just six points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.