Peninsula’s men are off to a .500 start on the young season after splitting a pair of games in the First Federal Pirate Classic last weekend.

The Pirate men (3-3) built up a 14-point lead against Tacoma on Dec. 3 but they weren’t able to hold off a Trojans’ comeback as Tacoma won 86-83 in the finale of the Pirate Classic.

Peninsula had a 48-34 lead after Colby Jackson made a bucket to open up the second half. The Trojans then slowly whittled the lead down, finally catching the Pirates at 62-62 with eight minutes left. The game see-sawed back and forth down the stretch with four lead changes and six ties.

Tacoma had an 81-79 lead when the Pirates’ Kaelin Crane hit a bucket with 38 seconds left to tie it. But, the Trojans had a bucket, a steal and three free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the game.

Five Pirates had double figures in scoring. Jackson led with 22 points, while Eli-Sha Sheppard had 13, Crane 12, and Trent Warren and Marky Adams 11 each.

In Saturday’s game, the Pirates got off to a fast start to win their Pirate Classic opener against Green River 82-61.

Jackson led a balanced attack, shooting 8 for 10 for 19 points. He also added six assists. Adams shot 6 for 7 and had 15 points with eight rebounds. Warren scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds, Crane had 12 points and Sheppard 11 points.

The Pirates shot 58 percent from the floor (34 for 59).

The Pirates built up a huge lead in the first half at 44-16. Even though they gave up the final seven points of the half, they still took a 21-point lead into the break, then built the lead up to 65-37 midway through the second half.

Green River never got closer than 13 points at 71-58 with three minutes left.

The Pirates (3-3) next play at Centralia at the Triton Classic on Saturday, Dec. 9.

PC women start 0-2

An injury-depleted Peninsula women’s squad kicked off the season with a pair of losses at last weekend’s annual First Federal Pirate Classic.

On Dec. 1, PC held a one-point lead at halftime (31-30) but ran out of steam in a 52-44 loss to Centralia.

Ashlynn Sharp led PC with 14 points but Centralia held the freshman guard from Las Vegas, Nev., to 5 for 21 shooting.

Jamellia Clark had 12 points and nine rebounds and Tiffani Smith added 11 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

A day later, the Pirates (0-2) fell 68-57 to the Yakima Yaks. Clark posted a double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds in a losing effort. Sharp added eight points, seven rebounds and six steals, and Smith chipped in 13 points.

Peninsula is at Highline Dec. 6 and plays Wenatchee Valley at the Raiders Holiday Invite in Tacoma on Dec. 8.