By Eric Trent
This time, the roles were reversed.
Last season, it was the Pirate men who were the no. 4 seed, upsetting the no. 1 seed in the first-round of the Northwest Athletic Conference playoffs.
Last night, it was the Pirates as the no. 1 seed, getting upset, 69-63, by a no. 4 seed, in this case, the Chemeketa Storm.
This time the stakes were much higher, as the first-round is now a loser-out format.
Despite Chemeketa shooting at a ridiculous 46.2% clip from beyond the arc in the first half, Peninsula carried a 37-33 lead going into the locker room.
But Chemeketa’s clutch shooting proved too much in the second half.
“It felt like the ball got sticky,” Ryley Callaghan said. “We just got stagnant on offense. It didn’t seem like we were the same team in the second half.”
Defensive lapses and lack of conversion on the offensive end plagued Peninsula as they lost the lead for good with 1:48 left.
“They were getting layups, and we were taking jump shots,” Callaghan said. “You can’t trade layups for jump shots.”
The Storm ended the game on a 6-0 run to close the door on Peninsula’s season, ending the game at 69-63.
“I think we set the bar very high for ourselves this season,” Jeremiah Hobbs said.
“We worked hard and despite our unconventional pre-conference games, we were able to focus down when it came to scouting reports and preparation for every league game,” Hobbs said.
Callaghan added, “We had a great year. It just ended too abruptly. I think everyone’s in shock.”
Deonte Dixon said, “I feel like we played hard, and overall we did good. But losing in the end hurts the most.”
Darrion Daniels led all scorers with 19 points. Ryley Callaghan had 16 points, and Deonte Dixon put up 14 points.
Dimitri Amos scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Eight sophomores played their final game for the Peninsula Pirates.
Ryley Callaghan; Deonte Dixon; Malik Mayeux; Jeremiah Hobbs; Dimitri Amos; Chris Reis; Zach Nibler; and Jonah Cook.
