By Oly Archibald
BELLINGHAM — It was just another normal night in men’s NWAC Northern Conference play, as the 9th-ranked Peninsula Pirates once again went down to the final seconds to pull out a 79-78 “pull-your-hair-out” overtime win over Whatcom. Not even a Hollywood screen writer could write this one up and make you believe it.
In a typical game of scoring runs, the Pirates always came back. The Orcas went out to a 10-2 lead, but the Pirates went on a 20-5 run to take a 22-17 lead. The Orcas made a run and led at the half 30-25. The Orcas led from 2 to 10 points until late in the 2nd half when the Pirates took their first led.
Leading 67-65 with 20 seconds left and the Orcas with the ball, the Orcas turned the ball over and Pirate forward Antonio Odum found himself open for a wide-open lay-up. Instead, Odum circled back out to the wing to run out the last 11 seconds. About the time an Orca defender showed up, Odum threw a pass to Ese Onakpoma. With 8 seconds left, Onakpoma missed a dunk which Orca point guard Noah Madsen grabbed and went coast to coast and laid the ball up. The Pirates were called for goaltending and the game went into overtime.
In overtime with the Pirates leading 79-78, the Orcas had the ball for the last 20 seconds but could not score and the “Cardiac Pirates” had another last second win on the road.
The biggest hero of the game was 6’6″ sophomore Antonio Odum out of Las Vegas. Odum had the biggest game of his career hitting for 23 points and he pulled 10 rebounds. Javon Ervin hit for 17 points with some clutch “NBA Show Time” shots late in the game to keep the Pirates ahead. Ese Onakpoma hit for 16 points. Aiden Olmstead hit some big shots for 10 points and Wyatt Dunning had 9 points.
Sophomore forward Antonio Odum scored a career high of 23 points in the Pirates 79-78 over time win
The Pirates now 6-2 and 13-9 host Edmonds Saturday at 4:00.
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The 4th-ranked Peninsula Pirate women do not believe in close games, blowing out Whatcom last night 87-69. They simply blow everyone out and take no prisoners. The games have become so one-sided the pirates at Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean would be envious of the pillaging and plundering from these Peninsula Pirates.
It’s fitting a Pirate living on the shores of the wild Pacific Ocean and made many Class 1B high school opponents walk the plank in frustration. Former Neah Bay Red Devil Allie Greene again fired her cannon and came away with 14 points hitting 4 of 8 shots from the 3-point line.
The big story was freshman Laney Suaava out of tiny Palmer, Alaska. Suaava, who has been backing up Jelissa Julmist, came off the bench to hit for a career high of 18 points while pulling down 5 rebounds. Jelissa Julmist hit for 9 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Ciera Agasiva scored 13 points. Lexie Mackey hit for 12 points while pulling down 7 rebounds. Shania Moanau scored 15 points.
The Pirates (8-0; 15-2) host Edmonds Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
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In Middle school basketball action, the Steven’s Stampeders 8th grade team went 7-0 with a 25-21 win over Forks. Sariah Doherty led the way with 13 points. Madison Smith scored 5 points, Storey Schmidt scored 4 points and Maddy Walton scored 3 points.
The Steven’s 7th grade team continues to improve but came up on the short side losing 32-17. Allison Leitz led the way with 8 points. Kya Baker, Nyah Langdon and Maelyn Benedict each scored 2 points and Darcey Ring hit for 3 points.
Steven’s has big games at home against Sequin on Monday.
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The Roughrider boys basketball team has an early playoff game tonight with Bremerton. It’s a league make-up game, but with both teams tied for 2nd place with 10-3 records the winner will clinch 2nd place in league which will have an influence on the RPI rankings and the District tournament seatings.
You can hear the game live on KONP Newsradio with the Les Schwab Tires pre-game show starting at 6:45.
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The Olympic League Champion Roughrider 12-1 girls get to travel to Bremerton in what will most likely be a blow out against the 1-12 Knights. Tipoff is at 7:00.