By Eric Trent
The Peninsula women’s basketball team ran away in the final five minutes of all four of their NWAC tournament games to propel themselves to their first ever Northwest Athletic Conference championship in school history.
“It’s surreal. I don’t think it’s fully set in yet. I’m just proud of this team. It’s amazing to see the hard work and the strength of this team, as a unit, come to fruition,” Head Coach Alison Crumb said. “The fact that we got here makes me proud, if not more proud than winning it. It wouldn’t change how proud I am of these girls if we lost this game. It’s just icing on the cake.”
On Saturday, the Peninsula College women’s basketball team had two players with double-doubles and pulled away from a fiesty Portland squad, running roughshod in the final five minutes to secure an 81-60 opening round win.
On Sunday, the Pirates reeled off a 22-7 run in the final eight minutes, taking advantage of Highline’s offensive miscues and overcoming foul trouble to power past the Thunderbirds 70-55 and push themselves into the semi-finals.
On Monday, the Pirates took advantage of their deep bench, doubling Umpqua in points off the bench and getting six players with double-digit scoring, finally exhausting a talented Riverhawk team and pulling away in the last 7 minutes to deliver an 84-70 win and advance to the championship round.
Tuesday night, championship night, the Pirates took a 36-32 lead over the Lane Titans going into the locker room at halftime, then erupted for 49 points in the second half, drowning the Titans in a rain of 3s, knocking down 33 points off of 3-pointers and rocketing themselves to an historic 85-75 win, claiming their first ever NWAC Championship.
“We never felt like we were the underdog in any game,” Crumb said.
“It feels awesome. The hard work really pays off. I would never have gotten MVP without my teammates,” Madison Pilster said. “I’m so proud of my team and my coaches. We never lost our cool, never lost faith in each other. The bench was wonderful, they kept cheering us on. Everyone was really positive. We just kept fighting.”
“It feels amazing. I’ve never won a championship in high school. To come here and win Region and NWAC, I couldn’t help but cry on the court,” Miranda Schmillen said.
“We took care of teams in the last seven minutes of every game in this tournament and that’s a championship team. Winners do that. They hang in there, then find times when they can capitalize and they finish,” Crumb said. “They deserve this.”
“They’ll be connected for life because of this. The trophy is awesome, but that powerful connection is even better. I’m just happy they have that,” Crumb said.
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