BY GERARDO BOLONG
Contributing Writer
After four quarters of fist-tightening basketball produced a 42-42 standoff in Burien on Thurs., Feb. 8, the final determination of victory in a first round 2018 West Central District game was decided inside of the final 30 seconds of a four-minute overtime.
With 23.6 seconds remaining in OT Nick Hovland rebounded and scored inside to bring the Pirates close at 48-47.
Following a Roughrider time out before the back court inbounds play, Garrett Edwards cleared his defender like a wide receiver in man-to-man coverage, caught the baseball pass from back court before driving the rest of the way from mid court to nail a lay up for a 50-47 PA lead.
The Pirates turned the ball over, resulting in Andrew Borde's game clinching free throws at the 7.4 second mark.
HHS fired away ineffective 3-pointers as the final buzzer signaled a death knell to a courageous a Pirate comeback .
"The defense turned the corner a little when we switched to man defense," said HHS head coach Shane Stenesen. "We had unforced errors with our passing. It's all about focus. I'm proud of the effort. Sometimes, it just doesn't go well. The good part is that it's double elimination and we know all the teams."
Port Angeles (14-7) goes on to face No. 1 - seeded Foss at Foss High School at 7 p.m. on Feb. 10.
Highline (14-8) begins a possible three-game road to regionals with a loser-out, 7:45 p.m. game at Wilson High School on Feb. 14, against the loser of Franklin Pierce against Lindbergh, both of whom the Pirates have already played.
The Roughriders and the Pirates each experienced deep pockets of wild shooting from the field and from the free throw line in an even first half, but hot shooting from 3-point range and the Pirate propensity for turnovers enable Port Angeles to claim a 29-21 halftime lead.
These factors escalated the Roughriders to 35-24 before the Highline defensive press energized the offense as the Pirates sailed within 35-29.
At this point, HHS had good shot chances that simply would not drop.
Six-foot, seven-inch Liam Clark's two-hand dunk was countered by Gerald Hood's 3-pointer and Port Angeles took a 37-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
Trailing 42-33 with 5:28 remaining in regulation, Highline rallied behind Perkins and Hood to climb within 42-41 with 3:26 left.
Defenses created chaos for missed shots until Nick Hovland converted the second of two free throws for the 42-all score with 1:44 left.
No further scoring happened before overtime, but with 3.7 seconds appearing, Gary Johnson stole the ball and was fouled while going to the hoop.
Incredibly, in Highline's favor, Johnson missed both free throws, eventually getting HHS to overtime.
With 2:29 remaining, Clark scored a basket on a second of two put back shots and later scored a lay up for a 46-42 PA advantage.
Nikola Rosa knocked down a corner 3-ball with 54 seconds left as Highline trailed only 46-45. Kyle Benedict went to the hoop to stretch the lead to 48-45 with 35.3 to go as a prelude to the closing action.
David Perkins' double figures 16 points was augmented by Hovland's 11. Hood added nine.
Payton Schmidt scored 15 points for PA based largely on 3-pointers. Clark pounded for 10 points.
