Forget the preseason.

Peninsula looked nothing like the 1-8 team it was one week ago, thanks to a strong 79-54 win against Shoreline Saturday night in both teams’ NWAACC conference openers.

Jesse Bean led Peninsula (1-0 in NWAACC, 4-8 overall) with 17 points and eight assists while Cody Killian chipped in with 16 points and three steals.

After opening the season with a win, Peninsula lost eight in a row but now owns a three-game winning streak.

Up seven points on Shoreline’s Dolphins Saturday night, the Pirates weren’t about to be shown up in front of their home crowd. The Pirates outscored Shoreline 44-26 in the second half, hitting 11-of-20 from three-point range. Killian did most of the damage, stroking four of nine from beyond the arc. Bean, Harmeet Mahal and Jake Pappuleas each sank two three-point shots and had just 12 turnovers in 40 minutes.

After struggling mightily from the field in season’s early stages, Peninsula hit more than half (52 percent) of their shots against Shoreline. On the other side, the Dolphins made just 20-of-53 from the field, shooting under 38 percent.

Peninsula is back on the court Jan. 10 at Bellevue. The Pirates host Olympic on Jan. 14; game time is 7 p.m.

Pirates end slide, take

fourth at Holiday tourney

The shots finally are starting to fall.

Peninsula College men’s basketball team shot 54 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Blue Mountain 45-24 to win the consolation bracket finals at the Clackamas Holiday Tournament in Oregon City, Ore., on Dec. 31.

Bean led the Pirates with 24 points while Killian added 19 points and five steals.

The Pirates (3-8) finished fourth in the tourney, rebounding from a tough two-point loss to Lower Columbia in the opener two days earlier.

Against Blue Mountain on New Year’s Eve, Peninsula reversed a trend that saw the Pirates hit just one-third of their shots from the floor. Instead they hit 34-of-63 field goals and a sterling 20-of-23 from the free throw line.

"They kind of ‘got it’ – we stuck with our message, with … the right way to do things," Peninsula coach Peter Stewart said. "We scored 53 points (by halftime) and then it was, what do we do now? Blue Mountain cut (our lead) back to 10; to the kids’ credit, they came back out and built that lead back. If we continue to get that effort, we’re going to stay on our track."

Jamar Ransome led Blue Mountain with 18 points.

On Dec. 30, in the consolation semifinals, the Pirates earned their victory at the free throw line.

Peninsula sank 29 of 31 free throws – including a perfect 20-of-20 in the second half – to defeat Linn-Benton 83-74.

Bean led the Pirates with 20 points, going 12-of-12 from the charity stripe, while Chidi Antoinne had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Teammates Cody Smithson (14 points) and Christian Manzanza (six points, 10 rebounds) also had big efforts in the win.

"It was a hard-fought game for the kids," Peninsula assistant coach Brandon Lord said. "It’s a good win for them going into conference play."

Peninsula out-rebounded the Spartans 53-30 with 28 of those offensive boards, helping the Pirates overcome 36-percent shooting from the field.

The win snapped an eight-game slide for Peninsula, that hadn’t won since a season-opening 79-72 win at home against Big Bend. Since that opener, the Pirates have held halftime leads in six of those eight losses only to fall behind late.

NWAACC North

Division standings

Team Conf. Over.

Everett 1-0 3-7

Olympic 1-0 9-1

Peninsula 1-0 4-8

Skagit Vly. 1-0 6-5

Seattle 0-0 3-7

Bellevue 0-1 11-3

Edmonds 0-1 0-5

Shoreline 0-1 6-6

Whatcom 0-1 7-4