Star senior McLaughlin leads senior-heavy Peninsula squad

Peninsula High senior guard JaQuori McLaughlin is bigger, stronger and more explosive than he was last season, when he averaged 23 points, five rebounds and four assists per game.

That’s scary news for the rest of the Class 3A South Puget Sound League.

McLaughlin, who signed his letter of intent last month to play basketball at Oregon State next year, added about 12 pounds of muscle in the offseason, according to Peninsula coach Jake Jackson. Couple that with an experienced, senior-heavy roster, and the Seahawks figure to be a dangerous team this season.

“We have five stud seniors who all have college offers,” Jackson said. “Between that talent and their size — the smallest guy is 6’4, and that’s JaQuori. They have so much height and skill and size. They’ve been with us since day one. They’ve been through the whole program and it’s their year to shine. We put a lot of time in. I’m excited to go through with them.”

The other seniors with college offers are center Jimmy Ritchie, forwards Austin and Garrett Kingman, and Josh Keough.

McLaughlin said this year’s team is on the same page — already.

“It feels great,” he said. “We bond on the court and off the court. We really have that connection, like a brotherhood. We have each other’s backs, and it feels good this year.”

McLaughlin feels like his offseason weight training and practice will help his overall game.

“I just worked on getting stronger, more explosive,” he said. “(It’s about) becoming a more consistent shooter, trusting my teammates and getting them more involved in the offense.”

Peninsula will have scoring threats all over the floor, but McLaughlin will have the green light to take over a game when he sees fit.

“He has built-in audibles,” Jackson said. “We give him a lot of discretion and autonomy on offense. Defensively is where he’s made the biggest strides. He’s been a more vocal leader on defense, demanding stops. That’s the biggest growth we’ve seen from him.”

Peninsula took second in the SPSL 3A last season, conceding the title to Auburn Mountainview, which also returns a senior-heavy team this season.

“We want to show everyone in our league that we’re the powerhouse in our league,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve got pretty much everybody coming back. Auburn Mountainview does, too. We feel like we can beat them if we play the right way.”

Peninsula also came up short of getting to the Class 3A state tournament, losing to Kennedy Catholic in the district tournament.

“We felt like they smacked us in the mouth a little bit,” McLaughlin said. “We just want to get to the Tacoma Dome and show everyone what we can do.”

Jackson emphasizes taking it one game, one possession at a time and living in the present. But the ultimate goal of winning a state title is in the back of his mind, too.

“They’re very motivated,” Jackson said. “It’s a process. It’s going to take time to get to where we want to be. We have to live in the present but our goal is to get to the Tacoma Dome. We have the pieces to go very far. We have the size and the skill. Our depth is phenomenal. It’s one thing to have depth, it’s another thing to have depth with chemistry — guys accepting their roles. Guys are really hungry, with last year’s loss to Kennedy. We were one win away from state regionals. We should’ve done that. Our guys are very hungry and they haven’t forgotten what’s happened.”

Peninsula opens its season on the road at Bonney Lake on Tuesday, Dec. 8. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 9:46 AM with the headline "Star senior McLaughlin leads senior-heavy Peninsula squad."