The Kingston girls basketball team hosted the Olympic League frontrunners, Port Angeles, for its Senior Night Feb. 1.

Kylie Sandstrom, Jayla Moon, Khi Tall Bull and Isabelle Chiquiti were honored.

“I’m happy for them,” coach Charles Deam said. “They set a good example for the younger girls, and it was nice that we competed with the top team and everyone contributed.”

The celebration was short-lived as the Buccaneers lost 53-34.

Kingston stayed close in the first few minutes when Harmony Tyson made three layups in transition. In addition, Moon nailed her first three-point shot of the night to make it 17-9 heading into the second quarter.

The Bucs defense held strong in the second quarter, allowing only 11 points in eight minutes. Yet, Moon and Taizah Franklin were the only scorers, making five points as The visiting Roughriders still led 28-17 at halftime.

“We played pretty good defense,” Deam said. “We were rotating well and didn’t lose the shooters. In the second half, we were losing them more and not rotating quickly enough. They got a lot of layups off of that.”

The Roughriders lead extended to 20 points halfway through the third quarter. Besides failing to rotate on defense, the Bucs offense fell apart.

“If we hit some free throws and take care of the ball, it would have been a closer game,” Deam said. “Turnovers hurt us.”

Bull and Tavyn Belgarde combined for all six points in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Bucs had a spark of energy when Belgarde and Bull nailed two three-pointers in a row.

Yet, Port Angeles continued to dominate all over the court. Despite the loss, Kingston has a berth into the district playoffs as one of the top four teams in the Olympic League.

“That is a perfect game leading into districts because they will probably be the two seed in districts,” Deam said of PA. “You want to play a team with that skill set to be ready.”

Buc Jayla Moon scores a three pointer.