Lady Pirates on their way to success
By Halle Nottage
The Peninsula College women’s basketball team is currently 17 games deep into their season and holds a record of 11 wins and six losses. The returning North Division Champions have been doing quite well during this regular season, particularly after battling through quite a tough preseason in which they faced several NWAC Tournament teams, including the 2019 Northwest Athletic Conference champions Wenatchee Valley.
The lady Pirates currently have eight games left until they enter NWAC playoffs, which will begin on March 8th.
Head Coach Alison Crumb has a positive take on the season thus far, “I think it’s been going pretty good, we’ve had some learning moments, obviously. I think we’ve had a couple games that’d we’d like to say that we won that we didn’t win, but we learned a lot from them and have grown.”
This is Crumb’s ninth year as the head coach of the PC women’s basketball team, and her ninth year of championship chasing. The last time the PC women’s team lifted an NWAC trophy was in 2015 under Crumb’s leadership, a moment the team to be relived again this upcoming March.
However, there is still quite a ways to go. Crumb had several things to say, about success this season. “Just learning from our mistakes. We know who we are, we won’t change too much in a month, but we have to sharpen what we do, eliminate mistakes, make sure we’re good with time and score, and ingame things.”
The lady Pirates picked up another win against Everett this past Saturday, which was an important three points to gain in their hopeful return to the North Division title.
In regards to the win and their eventual improvement, Crumb noted, “Learning from games like this, or losing on Wednesday, and just making sure that when we see these teams again that we’ve improved more than they’ve improved, and just make sure we’re as sharp as we can be come March.”
This season has also brought several players into the spotlight for the team, with Crumb first and foremost acknowledging that their current record is a result of a full team effort, with everybody contributing to its success thus far.
However, she did note that there are several individuals who’ve come forward with their best and have been keys to the team’s success. “Lei is our leading scorer, so she takes on a lot. She plays a lot of minutes, often she guards the better guards.”
Leilani Padilla, sophomore, and has put many points on the scoreboard for the Lady Pirates this season, as a team leader she is one of three captains.
In addition to Padilla, Crumb acknowledged sophomore Logan Luke.
“Logan works incredibly hard, and she’s so tough, she’s probably our best defender, and her leadership qualities are just awesome.”
Luke is also a captain this season, alongside Padilla and Cassandra White, who is also a sophomore. Crumb’s returning sophomore class has been quite strong this season, but ultimately, she said, “the team is at its best when everyone is contributing.”
The lady Pirate’s next home game is on Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. against Bellevue college in the gym.
Photo by Chelsea Sanders
The Rocket League team posts first win
The Rocket League team posts first win
The Rocket League team posts first win
By Saki Kambe
“The Rocket League team of Nicholas Charters, Stuart Koehler, and Drew Eckard posted a historic first win in the inaugural season of Peninsula College esports competition Thursday, stopping Zero Conditions 3-0 in dominant fashion,” said Rick Ross, associate dean of athletics and student programs.
Head Coach of the esports team Charlie Morrow said that the three players have worked so hard on improving their communication, mental game, and defense for the past few weeks. “It’s definitely paid off,” she said.
The Pirate trio are 1-1 in Black Line Championship Series play and take on the University of Connecticut on January 24, Ross said.
Peninsula College, which has teams competing in Overwatch, League of Legends and Rocket League, is completing its esports arena, which is shared with media classes, and plans to invite fans and begin streaming games this quarter.