Gig Harbor girls pick apart Peninsula zone in 37-34 win

For about a quarter, the Gig Harbor girls analyzed the Peninsula zone defense they were facing Wednesday night. Then they set about cracking it.

A barrage of cross-court passes and high-low post action followed, resulting in plenty of layups, open jumpers and a 37-34 3A SSC victory for the Tides against their local rivals.

The final score was closer than the play on the court would have indicated, however, in part because a lot of those open jumpers resolutely refused to go down for the Tides, who had to settle for a 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter after a steal by guard Meghan Edwards turned into a layup the other way for freshman star Baylee Young.

That’s when junior forward Kiki Mamea took over, acting as the fulcrum of the offense in the high post and converting a slew of layups to finish with a team-high 13 points. The Tides had built a 20-14 advantage at the break, and then kept the Seahawks at bay going into the fourth quarter with a 27-23 margin.

“It was huge, just getting the ball inside. We talked about that at halftime,” head coach Michael Guinasso said. “In the first half we shot a bunch and if the shots aren’t going in, you’ve got to work the ball inside. We haven’t had that problem this year where shots aren’t going in, so it was kind of an adjustment for us.”

Another adjustment was having to play without Young, who was stuck to the bench with foul trouble for large portions of the game. She returned in the fourth quarter, however, splashing a triple and chipping in 5 late points to close out the victory.

Those buckets turned out to be vital, as the Seahawks weren’t about to go quietly. With 5:56 remaining in the game, Peninsula launched a 7-0 run fueled by a triple from Brooke Zimmerman (who finished with 6 points) and repeated forays to the rim and free-throw line by junior guard Linsey Lovrovich (a game-high 21 points, 7 of 12 from the line), who attacked the basket with near impunity all night. The Seahawks inexplicably led for the first time since the first quarter, 30-29, with less the four minutes to go.

It was short-lived, however, as Young (7 points) canned a baseline jumper and then the three-pointer to push the margin back in Gig Harbor’s favor, 34-30, with 1:34 to play. From there, it was relatively clear sailing as Peninsular turned the ball over multiple times down the stretch.

“We were really trying to keep our energy up, and we didn’t want to keep our heads down,” Mamea said of the Tides’ closing determination. “Just continue to keep pushing and play our game, and not let the crowd or anything around us affect us.”

And while the game won’t be remembered by the Gig Harbor faithful as the prettiest of affairs, Guinasso had a positive takeaway from the night’s gritty performance.

“We’ve been talking about a family atmosphere that we’re building where everyone does a job, and everyone stepped up today,” he said. “It’s been good – it was kind of eye-opening, where nobody hit a shot and we still were able to play good enough defense to get it going.”

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 1:26 AM.