Foul trouble and reliance on three-points shots that weren’t falling helped the Pirates dig a big hole last Wednesday.
Quick hands and fleet feet dug them out.
Bethany Holt had nine of Peninsula’s 24 steals as the Pirates erased a seven-point halftime deficit to topple Shoreline 76-67 on Jan. 30.
Sam Flett led Peninsula (5-4 in NWAACC conference play, 9-9 overall) with 17 points, including two key buckets and four free throws in the final minutes to secure the win.
Holt added 16 points to go along with her near-record of thefts — Ellie Scilley holds P.C.’s single game mark with 10 in 2000 against Wenatchee — while Britney Yamane chipped in with 16 points, six assists and four steals.
Guard Krystal Tolliver, now a staple of Peninsula’s starting five, had eight points, eight assists and four steals.
Shoreline (1-8, 3-15) led throughout the first half, building a 32-21 lead in the dregs of the first half before the Pirates mounted their comeback. Spearheaded by a campaign to double-team the Dolphins’ ball-handler until she picked up her dribble, then sliding back for a steal, the Pirates opened the second half with a 20-6 run, capped by Tina Knight’s jumper.
Brittany Bridges, Peninsula’s top post player, fouled out with six minutes remaining but Holt and company held serve maintaining at least a three-point lead for the remainder.
Flett, a 5-foot-6 guard from Wellpinit, cut through Shoreline’s defense to make it 68-63 after the Dolphins missed a shot with 50 seconds left, Flett sank four consecutive free throws, sealing Peninsula’s fifth conference victory.
Early on, it was all Shoreline as Bridges and Flett, Peninsula’s top scorers, both racked up three fouls in the first half.
“(Shoreline) played a great half of basketball … (but) we did not play our style of basketball,” Peninsula coach Tiffany Darling said. “I felt like they came up here with really nothing to lose and our girls stepped on the floor afraid to lose, knowing that this was a must-win situation for us in the playoff race. Early on we settled for the outside shot.”
The Dolphins’ Jena Walentowski, who scored just six points on 1-of-8 shooting in the two teams’ first match-up, had 19 first-half points.
“She just ate us alive,” Darling said. “We had some missed defensive assignments on her. We just let her touch the ball way too many times in the first half.”
Walentowski had just five points in the second half.
The Pirates host Bellevue Feb. 6 and travel to Bremerton Feb. 9 to take on the Olympic Rangers.
NWAACC North Division standings (as of Feb. 5)
Team Conf. Over.
Everett 8-2 15-7
Seattle 7-2 14-6
Bellevue 7-3 12-10
Skagit Vly. 6-4 14-7
Peninsula 5-4 9-9
Olympic 5-5 8-12
Whatcom 5-5 9-11
Shoreline 1-9 3-16
Edmonds 0-10 0-19
