In high school golf action the Port Angeles Boys lost a heart breaker to Olympic by 3 strokes 177-174.
Cale Wentz was on fire shooting a 41. Reid Schmidt shot a 44. Nate Anderson and Sky Gelder shot 46s. Max Gagnon shot a 50 and Kolby Charles shot a 59.
There is a big golf match tonight as the Roughriders travel to Sequim with the T time at 3 pm.
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In baseball action the Roughriders lost at North Kitsap 7-1. In Fast pitch action Sequim was drilled by North Mason 16-6.
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In tennis action Port Angeles travels to North Mason with a 4:00 start.
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In fast pitch action Sequim travels to Olympic and Port Angeles will host Kingston. Both games start at 4:00.
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The Peninsula Pirates men’s soccer team have signed Austin Collins from the First point Soccer Academy.
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Pirates find Gold Nugget Legacy Recruit in Big Sky country
New PC women’s signee Makena Patrick holding a trophy brook trout from one of her secret fishing holes
By Oly Archibald
The copper-tough town of Anaconda, Montana; population 9,500; sits on Highway 1 just a few miles over the hill west of Butte. Families heading West on I-90 to Yellowstone can see the old Anaconda smelter stack to the south, which at one time was the tallest in the world. Blue Ribbon trout stream, Rock Creek, runs to the west and its bigger cousin the Big Hole River runs to the south of town.
Peninsula Pirate women’s basketball coach Allison Crumb is rumored by opposing NWAC coaches to go incognito when recruiting her “gold nugget” recruits to not let on to who she is going after. If true, you have to wonder if Coach Crumb wore a Brad Pitt “A River Runs Through It” outfit when she recruited recent signee Makena Patrick, the 4th 1000 point scorer in the history of Anaconda Copperhead basketball.
Makena story is right off a Hollywood script that is fit for the Hallmark Channel. Blake Hempstead is the broadcast voice of Anaconda basketball on the stream Copperheadcountry.org. When Blake was asked what Makena was bringing to Pirate Nation he said this “A+, A+,A+, A team-first player that will do anything that is best for the team. No one will outwork her. The first to the gym and the last one out. She is a solid 5’8″ who lives in the weight room. She has a great wing span. She plays at the top of their 1-3-1 zone and completely shuts down the opponents offensive sets”.
Blake also added that halfway through Makena’s Junior year she was averaging 23 points per game and 9 rebounds per game and there is no doubt she was a solid 4-year school recruit.
Then in January of Makena’s junior year came a devastating knee injury that was felt throughout the community of Anaconda. Andy Saltenberger is in his 7th year as coach of the Copperheads. Andy said that a lot of athletes would of have thrown in the towel with what had happened to Makena. Makena, being the copper tough All-American kid that she is, gathered up with her support team and planned a serious rehabilitation plan.
In her senior year this past season Andy said “We brought her in slowly maybe 8-12 minutes a game for our December games keeping a close watch on her knee. By the end of the season, she was pretty much playing the entire game.”
What a season it was for the Copperheads as they went 21-6 and placed 4th in the Class B tournament. The Copperheads also went to state Makena’s freshman season.
Coach Saltenberg also said Makena loves the weight room and she is always in the film room watching game film with the staff.
Even though Makena did not play close to an entire game until the end of the season, Makena still averaged nearly 12 points per game and 6 rebounds per game. Makena is the 2024 Anaconda high school Salutatorian and carries GPAs of 4.5 and 3.9. and will be in the Peninsula College nursing program
For those of you sports fans who think blood lines matter, you will love this part of the story. Makena is the great grand daughter of legendary Peninsula Pirate basketball coach Curt Bagy. Coach Bagby, who grew up in the old logger-tough town of Forks, was a three-sport star who still has track records to this day. Curt’s brother Norm was another three-sport star as well as Norm’s son Ron who in the late 70s was an All-State track and football star who broke the schools rushing records at UPS in Tacoma.
Curt is in the Port Angeles high school Hall of Fame as an outstanding girls basketball coach and football coach. Curt is also in the Peninsula College Hall of Fame as the first women’s basketball coach at Peninsula College.
But the story gets better! Makena’s mother, Tiffany Hoch Patrick, is also in the Peninsula College Hall of Fame. Tiffany came to Peninsula from Thomas and Jefferson High School following two ACL reconstructions. She played for her grandfather Curt Bagby in the first year of Pirate basketball 1997-98. Tiffany averaged 14 points per game and 5 rebounds per game and led the team in 3-point shooting. She returned her sophomore year to lead the Pirates to 12 wins.
Peninsula is where Tiffany met Makena’s dad Kevin, who played for the Pirates men’s team. Tiffany was recently inducted into the Peninsula College Hall of Fame for being one of the leading influential athletes that created a culture of winning camaraderie and grit at Peninsula College that continues today.
Peninsula Pirate Athletic Director Rick Ross said this about the Patrick’s legacy. “Tiffany was a team leader, a coach on the floor and it was no surprise that she went into coaching after graduation from Peninsula and Central. Both she and Kevin were talented athletes with a very high basketball IQ. It was no surprise that Makena would grow up around the game representing the first of the next generation of Pirate Athletes coming our way since we resurrected intercollegiate basketball here in 1997”.
There are still Patrick’s coming up. Makena has two younger brothers, both hoopsters. Treyton is a sophomore and Kyson is an 8th grader.
The Patrick legacy continues with sophomore Treyton, Makena and 8th grader Kyson
Makena is coming to Peninsula College in a perfect situation. The Pirates return four starters with lots of depth and will be a strong Final Four contender. Makena can come in like all freshman do in the NWAC, learn the Pirate system, get in NAWC basketball shape in Allison Crumb’s grueling and productive conditioning program.
If Makena just does happen to find her soul mate like her parents did at Peninsula that would truly be a Hallmark movie classic. The Makena Patrick Story trailer previews this November and has been rated G for greatness!