Peninsula's Onakpoma Scores 39 in Pirate Win

Everett, WA – The Trojans returned to the Walt Price Center on Saturday afternoon fresh off a road win over Olympic College on Wednesday.  EvCC is 2-2 in north region play, winning both games on the road and still searching for that first north region win at home. 

The Pirates have been playing good basketball as of late but suffered a shocking 35-point loss to Skagit Valley just 3 nights prior.  Peninsula did not seem to have much of a hangover from the lopsided loss and got off to a fast start through the first ten-minutes of the game.  EvCC was held to just 6 of 15 from the floor and had 6 turnovers while the Pirates were over 55% including three threes. 

The deficit grew to 16 points before Everett used an 11-0 run scored by four different Trojans to get back to within five with 3:42 remaining.  The two teams exchanged buckets over the next few minutes and Peninsula went into the half with 45-39 lead.  EvCC continued to struggle taking care of the basketball and had 12 first half turnovers, but converted on 88% of their free throws and eventually improved their shooting from the floor to 45%.  Derek Smith led EvCC in scoring with 12, while Raefe McEnroe had 9 points and 6 rebounds. 

Second half action picked up where the first left off, and Everett took a one-point lead five minutes in. The Pirates locked back in and regained the lead, thanks to Ese Onakpoma who had 25 points through 28 minutes of play, 14 alone in the second half.

Peninsula was able to keep the lead through the next ten minutes, though never led by more than six and the two teams continued to exchange buckets.  Everett needed to get stops in the final five minutes and came up with some big plays but still found themselves trailing by two, 83-81 with two minutes to play.

Down the stretch, EvCC couldn't get the big shots to fall when they needed them and Peninsula held on to win 95-85.  Ese Onakpoma ended the game with 39 for the Pirates, a new season high.  The Trojans were led by Derek Smith's 26 points, and Raefe McEnroe tied a career high with 23 points and added 12 rebounds for his 4^th double double of the season.  Ethan Martin scored 10 with 7 assists and Jailin Johnson put up 17 and had 8 rebounds and 4 assists. 

Everett falls to 2-3 in the north region standings, but five teams are within a game of each other and still very much alive in the hunt for one of the four playoff spots available.  The assignment will not get any easier against Whatcom next week.  The Orcas are coming off of a huge upset win over Skagit Valley and also recently knocked off Edmonds.  Tip off is set for 7:00pm on Wednesday, January 31^st with Everett still looking for that first home win in north region play.