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Peninsula Soars in Heavyweight Bout with Wilson
By Steve Dion

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Peninsula senior JaQuori McLaughlin

The primetime matchup of the 2015 Showare Shootout featured a heavyweight bout between Peninsula and Wilson. The guard matchup of Seahawk JaQuori McLaughlin and Ram David Jenkins Jr. presented itself early as the two led their teams in scoring with 21 and 28 apiece. Austin Kingman allowed the Seahawks to go into halftime with momentum as the senior forward rushed down the floor in the final moments of the second quarter to finish at the cup at the buzzer. PHS ran into the locker room energized and with a five point lead in hand. Could Wilson strike back in the second half?

The intensity heated up as the second half progressed. Jimmy Ritchie and Kingman made big contributions for the Seahawks recording 13 points apiece. Additonally, McLaughlin showed his exceptional scoring ability knocking down several acrobatic shots. Wilson countered with Emmitt Matthews Jr. who finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Jenkins helped the Rams tie the game up a 37 apiece midway through the third. Moments later, Wilson was leading and did so until 3 minutes left in the fourth when Peninsula roared back. A 25 point fourth quarter gave the Seahawks a late lead which put Wilson in desperation mode in the waning moments. Jenkins and Matthews made clutch shots to keep Wilson alive, but cold-blooded free throws by Ritchie held off a Ram miracle. Peninsula escaped with a narrow win against a top Narrows opponent.

The Final Score
Peninsula 63, Wilson 61

Top Performers:
Peninsula
JaQuori McLaughlin- 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Wilson
David Jenkins Jr.- 28 points