Fresh start boosts Pirates spirit
By Halle Nottage
One of the most complicated phenomena that Junior College athletics programs face is the fact that they must rebuild their teams each year. Half the team moves on, and new athletes come in, which changes many things inside and outside the playing atmosphere.
Peninsula College men’s basketball is no exception to this occurrence, with only three of last year’s seven freshman returning.
However, despite practically starting from scratch Head Coach Donald Rollman has led his team into a solid record, having gone 7-3 in conference play, and 17-5 overall.
This currently has Peninsula in third place within the North Region standings, and in position to clinch a playoff position as well as holding the potential to win the North Region as well.
Rollman seems to have an optimistic outlook. “We’re right in the thick of things. Our goal is to focus on ourselves and ultimately you just wanna get there. If we have the opportunity to win conference then we’ll push ourselves to take advantage of that.”
“Our current goal right now is to win each game we need to win and stay focused, if we can take care of the business that is in front of us and control our own destiny, which is something we’ve talked a lot about. Then we’ll see how pieces fall into place. We aren’t out of the way of a conference championship but we’re also not in the playoffs yet either. It’s a really tough league this year, there’s really 5 or 6 teams gunning for 4 spots,” he said.
This season has had its fair share of highs and lows for the young team, but throughout each low has come a period of learning that has influenced their recent winning streak. A large part of that influence has come from a group effort.
“A lot of guys have done a lot of good things, it hasn’t been one or two guys that have carried us. It’s been a group effort, which is ultimately what you want because one or two guys can win you a game but they’re not gonna win you a championship. So if you have championship aspirations it’s gotta come from all 15 guys you have,” Rollman said.
In addition to this, Rollman has also noted that they have had several stand out players. Two of those players include sophomores Davian Harris-Williams from Tacoma, Wash., and Malik Moore from Las Vegas, Nev.
“Davian and Malik are two guys who got a lot of significant playing time last year, and a really big piece of what we do and both of them are having really really good years,” Rollman said.
Besides those two players, Rollman noted that several freshman have also done quite a few good things for the team, Jaylin Reed from Lodi, Calif., Everett Torres-Kahapea from Kailua, Hawaii, Nate Despain from Sequim, Wash. as well as sophomore transfer Marquis Gurske from Bremerton, Wash.
On these players, Rollman said, “Jaylin Reed has done an incredible job, Everett Torres-Kahapea has given us a good boost at times. Nate is just Nate, he’s such a hard worker and such a great kid. Marquis is a transfer who came in off a torn ACL and has done a really good job and has been playing extremely well lately”
Altogether, the Peninsula Men’s Basketball team has clearly become a force to be reckoned with, a particularly special win occured Feb. 12 the number one team in the North, Skagit Valley.
After 40 minutes of nail-biting play, Peninsula came out on top winning 74-73. There are currently four games left in season, with two home games left to be played on Feb. 19 and 26.
PC’s Davian Harris-Williams lets loose a shot against Bellevue.
Super Smash Bros up next
One of the most increasing sports in the world, eSports, short for electronic sports, can be played in the comfort of your own home. It is a team-based video game competition and can be watched either online or in person. Peninsula College has joined the eSports wave and our team has finally started playing on campus.
In fact, Charlie Morrow ,the eSports head coach, explains that things have been going very well for the new team. In Fall quarter, 2020, they plan to start recruiting for a Super Smash Bros team to play against other college, eventually starting tournaments, also open to students and the general public. They plan to stream and invite the public to watch the games very soon. As for now, the team is competing against other colleges in room M133.
As PC eSports team continues to progress, they have enlisted Jeremiah Johnson, assistant athletic director, to design a jersey for them. The team has upcoming games for the next few weeks. However, Morrow said that “unfortunately with eSports, everything is somewhat on the fly when it comes to scheduling for matches. It’s hard to advertise our games because we have our set schedule, but we don’t know who were playing until about three days before our game, or we don’t know when we are competing. considering we are playing schools from all over the country in the different time zones, scheduling can be a bit of a challenge.”
If students are interested in tuning in on PC’s eSports team live action game, they can find them on Twitch.tv, which will be set up by or before spring quarter. If interested in joining the colleges eSports team Marrow explains the basic skill sets they are looking for are, to be knowledgeable of games, to have some competitive experience in gaming and having any kind of existing experience on a gaming team is a super plus as well. Inaction being able to be a team player is a absolute must.
By: Jamila Lopez