Community Sports

Sports Beat | Postseason edition of Fish Basket set for Valentine’s Day

Peninsula earned a spot in the Class 3A West Central District III boys basketball tournament on Feb. 7 with a 71-65 upset of Silas.

The Seahawks (6-15, 3-13 PSL) face a familiar opponent next: Gig Harbor (13-8, 10-6). The Tides, seeded No. 5 at the district tournament, host the 12th-seeded Seahawks at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at Gig Harbor High.

The Tides won the only previous matchup this season between the two local teams, 45-29 on Jan. 16 behind 18 points from center Michael Masini.

But Peninsula looked like a different team in its six-point win over Silas last week. For comparison, the Rams beat the Seahawks by 24 points in their previous matchup on Dec. 9.

In the rematch, the Rams slept on the Seahawks before waking up in the fourth quarter. By then, the nightmare was about to end their season.

Isaac Smith of Peninsula. Photo by PHS basketball.

Up and down season

The Seahawks are like a box of Valentine’s chocolates, as in you never know exactly what you’ll get. They beat the Nisqually Division’s top team, Lakes, on Jan. 8; but turned around to lose to Capital, previously winless in league play, a couple weeks later.

Fittingly, Peninsula plays Gig Harbor on Valentine’s Day. The Seahawks would like nothing better than to serve a sweet defeat to the Tides on their rivals’ home court that ends their season.

However, the Tides have won 11 straight over Peninsula. The Seahawks have previously tried to slow the pace and grind out wins over the Tides, but that tactic may be changing.

In the Jan. 16 game, Peninsula generated just 29 points. Lightning-quick point guard Tariq Taylor, who had 10 points, was the only Seahawk in double figures.

Yet against Silas, Taylor ran up and down the floor as the Seahawks scored 71 points. Athletic lane-fillers AJ Alexeev and Isaac Smith attacked the basket against the up-tempo Rams, possibly previewing a new strategy that the Seahawks may employ against the Tides.

AJ Alexeev of Peninsula. Photo by PHS basketball.

Masini power

Gig Harbor’s emphasis will be on getting Masini shots, shots and more shots. Masini, a senior, averages 25 points per game. The Tides’ second-leading scorer is senior Ty Buchanan, who averages close to eight.

The Tides were not operating on all cylinders in their last contest of the season, losing to Mount Tahoma 74-63 on Feb. 4 in Tacoma. The Thunderbirds have some talented players, but I suspect Tides coach Billy Landram was not happy with his team‘s last performance.

The Tides’ guards struggled to keep players in front of them defensively and sometimes failed to close out out with high hands. The Seahawks could exploit that with some solid shooters, including Smith, who hit seven three pointers in a game earlier this season.

The team that best controls pre-game jitters and handles the emotional stress of a big game will have an advantage as the intensity will be high.

If the Seahawks can limit Masini’s touches or get him into foul trouble, they will have an advantage on the glass. Another key will be to get shots for senior Alexeev, Peninsula’s leading scorer at 15.1 points per game.

For the Tides, a key may be implementing full court pressure or a half court trap. The Seahawks have had trouble advancing the ball versus pressing teams like Timberline and Lincoln.

Click here to buy tickets for Gig Harbor-Peninsula game.

Jack Brown of Gig Harbor. Photo by Vincent Starr.

Peninsula girls wrestling wins third straight league title

Seven Peninsula wrestlers won individual championships, and the Seahawks won a third consecutive conference title, at the Puget Sound League girls wrestling championships at Silas High School on Feb. 5 and 6.

A six-point loss to Lakes a couple of weeks back denied the Seahawks the Nisqually Division regular-season championship. Peninsula responded by defeating Lakes and every other team in the league the next time they took the mat.

Sometimes, a late-season loss is not a bad thing, especially for a team like Peninsula, which had been No. 1 in the Class 3A rankings for much of the season and owns a 2024 state championship trophy. The Seahawks finished second at state in 2025.

All 13 wrestlers on the Peninsula varsity qualified for Mat Classic, the state tournament held Feb. 19 and 20 at the Tacoma Dome. The seven individual conference champions includes two reigning Class 3A state champions.

Bailey Parker of Peninsula. Photo by Veronica Foley

One is 155-pound wrestler Bailey Parker, who has a chance to be the school’s first three-time state wrestling champion. Parker walked out of the Silas gym with the fourth league championship of her decorated high school career.

Lindsey Shipp, the reigning 170-pound state champion, also won a league title and will contend for another state championship at Mat Classic.

Other PSL champions included Georgina Johnson at 100 pounds, Kaila Johnson at 115 pounds, Justus Johnson at 120 pounds, Paige Powers at 135 pounds and Lyla Klingler at 140 pounds.

Other state qualifiers for Peninsula include Mya Robles, who finished third in the league meet at 105 pounds; Lily Robles, third at 120 pounds; Allison Otto, fifth at 110 pounds; Levity Howlett, fifth at 125 pounds; Aliyah Hagara, finished third at 145 pounds; and Olivia Howell, second at 155 pounds.

Lindsey Shipp of Peninsula. Photo by Veronica Foley

Grandorff wins 150-pound boys championship

Peninsula senior Nehemiah Grandorff, who is 32-5 on the season, pinned two of his four opponents at the league meet to win the 150-pound conference title.

As tough as nails on the mat as he is approachable and friendly off it, Grandorff has been a staple in coach Gary Griffin’s program since his freshman year.

Nehemiah Grandorff of Peninsula. Photo by Veronica Foley

Grandorff opened his league tournament by pinning a River Ridge wrestler in 30 seconds. He won by a 16-6 major decision in the next round, then pinned a Silas wrestler in 1:03 in the semifinals. Grandorff completed his league title by winning a grueling 4-2 decision in the final.

Seahawks teammates joining Grandorff at the boys state tournament are Ben Griffin, who finished sixth at 106 pounds; Johann Powers, fifth at 113 pounds; Bryce Tillman, third at 132 pounds; Tyler Sievers, finished fourth at 144 pounds; Aaron Nickels, seventh at 144 pounds; Cash Cano, sixth at 157 pounds; David Howard, third at 165 pounds; and Peyton Beckett, fourth at 175 pounds.

Two league titles for Gig Harbor

Juan Mateo won the boys 106-pound league title for Gig Harbor, while the Tides’ Ella Nimrick won the 110-pound girls championship.

Mateo racked up 71 points in just four matches. He won his opener 15-4, his second match 20-3, his semifinal 19-4 and the championship match 17-4. Mateo seemed to toy with his opponents by working on moves rather than going for pins that could have ended early matches within seconds.

Nimrick was the only girl on a boys team for three years until state qualifier Mi-Na Maya joined this season. Nimrick knocked on the door of a state title the last two years but could knock it down with an impressive performance this winter.

Juan Mateo of Gig Harbor. Photo by Veronica Foley

Coached by Moser and her assistant coach father Jeff Nimrick, Ella has received a ton of respect from her male teammates and from college coaches waiting to welcome her to their programs. She has a matter-of-fact attitude and never complained about having to wrestle against boys in practice.

Other Tide boys wrestlers advancing to state were Hayden Fernandez at 106 pounds; Jayden Muna and Matthew Justice at 113 pounds; Ethan Salazar at 126 pounds; Cyrus Maya at 132 pounds; Luke Young at 138 pounds; and Lucas Hayden at 165 pounds.

Elanor Nimrick of Gig Harbor. Photo by Veronica Foley

Tides girls basketball seeded third at district

Gig Harbor, ranked No. 4 in the WIAA Class 3A RPI rankings, lost the PSL championship game to No. 3 North Thurston, 47-31, on Feb. 7 at Foss High School.

The Tides (17-4, 14-2) struggled against the Rams’ suffocating defense. Despite the loss, Gig Harbor advances to the Class 3A West Central District III tournament as the No. 3 seed.

The Tides play at 6 p.m. Feb. 16 at home against either Thomas Jefferson or River Ridge. Click here for tickets.

Peninsula (9-12, 7-9) was eliminated at the Puget Sound League girls basketball tournament with a 61-47 loss to Lincoln on Feb. 7 at Foss.

The Seahawks beat the Abes, 48-44, on Dec. 5, but couldn’t replicate the win in the postseason.

The Seahawks should return several promising underclassmen who gained valuable varsity experience this season. The Peninsula JV team finished 16-1 and won a second straight Nisqually Division JV title.

Peninsula seniors included forward Julia Warfield and forward Beverly Dover, will continue her playing career at Occidental College.