NWAC Alaska Airline Poll

1. Lane (10-0)

2. Umpqua (10-1)

3. Wenatchee Valley (9-2)

4. Peninsula (9-4)

5. Spokane (9-3)

6. Bellevue (6-3)

7. Walla Walla (10-2)

8. (tie) Columbia Basin (6-6)

8. (tie) Treasure Valley (9-4)

For two games, Peninsula looked like the team that ran away with the NWAC title in 2014-2015.

Then they ran into the Lane Titans.

Peninsula’s Pirates (9-4) took two of three at their own Peninsula Crossover tourney, held Dec. 17-19 in Port Angeles, falling only to the top-ranked Lane squad from Eugene, Ore.

In the tourney opener, Peninsula’s defense held South Puget Sound to just 24 percent shooting in a 64-45 victory.

Cierra Moss scored 15 points, Imani Smith had 11 points and three steals, and Zhara Laster grabbed 13 of the team’s 57 rebounds in the victory.

A day later, the Pirates jumped to a 32-20 lead by halftime and went on to top Big Bend’s Vikings, 60-47. Moss and Smith led a balanced attack with 11 points each. Laster had nine points, 11 rebounds and five steals, Alicia Dugan and Tai Thomas had eight points, and Smith added six steals. PC’s defense shone once again, holding the Vikings to 29 percent shooting (16-of-55) from the field and forcing 26 turnovers.

In the tourney final, however, Lane proved too much. Peninsula raced to a 24-16 lead but were out-scored by nearly 40 points as the Titans rolled to an 84-53 win.

Moss, who was named to the all-tournament team, led Peninsula with 17 points. Laster added 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Titans (10-0), who held Peninsula to 17-of-73 shooting from the field and 3-of-25 from the 3-point stripe (23 and 12 percent), got 32 points from tournament MVP Shelby Snook.

Peninsula is off until the conference schedule starts up Jan. 9, when the Pirates travel to Edmonds.

PC kicks off their home conference schedule Jan. 13 against Whatcom.