Port Angeles had more to play for and it showed as the Roughriders rolled up rival Sequim 74-46 in an Olympic League girls basketball game, wresting back control of the Rainshadow Rumble rivalry and clinching a league title.
It was the ninth straight for Port Angeles, who added a win over league cellar-dweller Bremerton two days later to clinch an outright Olympic League title at 13-1 (15-6 overall).
Sequim coach Joclin Julmist pointed to Port Angeles’ effort as key in deciding the rivalry game’s outcome.
“We didn’t match their intensity tonight,” Julmist said. “They shot the ball very well and killed us on the boards.
“We also didn’t do a good job taking care of the ball. We have to put this one behind us and get ready for [the] district [tournament].
Jolene Vaara scored 16 with nine rebounds for the Wolves, while Gracie Chartraw added 15 points and Bobbi Mixon had nine.
The Wolves (10-4, 12-5) received the No. 4 seed to the bi-district tournament and open with a home game at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14, against Enumclaw, the tourney’s No. 5 seed.
In Port Angeles’ big win last week, PA senior Paige Mason came up big on senior night, scoring 26 points with 12 rebounds and five steals. Her big night included an eight-point stretch to close the first half and put Port Angeles up 38-28 at the break.
Mason opened the second half with a 3-point splash, assisted by Lexie Smith as the Riders opened up a 9-0 run with additional buckets by Lindsay Smith and Izzy Felton out of the break to go up 47-28.
“We went on a roll,” Poindexter said. “We’ve been trying to build [Mason’s] confidence with the outside shot since last summer and early on in the season it wasn’t falling, but what we saw last night is not a surprise to us at all.
“And she was electric last night, completely active and comfortable out there which is nice to see.”
Sequim answered with a 9-2 run, but the effort seemed to sap the Wolves’ energy reserves and Port Angeles continued to pull away.
The Riders enjoyed a 16-5 advantage on the offensive glass and turned the ball over 16 times while forcing 25 Wolves turnovers.
Port Angeles also shot the lights out from outside, connecting on 9-of-20 shots from beyond the arc.
Lindsay Smith added 16 points and eight rebounds and big sister Lexie added 14 points, nine rebounds, six steals and four assists.
Izzy Felton, Port Angeles’ other senior, added 12 points, six assists and three steals.
Keith Thorpe/Olympic Peninsula News Group / Sequim’s Hailey Wagner, center, fights for an errant rebound with Port Angeles’ Lexie Smith, left, as teammate Jolene Vaara looks on, in a Feb. 6 match-up at Port Angeles High School.
Keith Thorpe/Olympic Peninsula News Group / Sequim’s Jolene Vaara reaches for the hoop surrounded by, from left, Port Angeles’ Lexie Smith and Paige Mason and teammate Hailey Wagner on Feb. 6 in Port Angeles.
Keith Thorpe/Olympic Peninsula News Group / Sequim’s Bobbie Mixon, right, moves the ball downcourt past Port Angeles’ Teanna Clark on Feb. 6 in Port Angeles.
