NWC MEN SHOOT TO TWO WINS
BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune
Exceptional shooting helped the Northwest College men's basketball team extend its winning streak to three games in Casper this past weekend, defeating Northeastern Junior College 88-73 on Friday and Fort Hays Tech Northwest 94-87 on Saturday.
NORTHWEST 88, NORTHEASTERN 73
Playing in Casper for the second weekend this season the Trappers (5-2) were looking to carry their momentum from a Tuesday win against the Plainsmen (1-3).
Over the first five minutes the teams exchanged baskets, with Northwest holding the slight advantage up 7-5.
The next four minutes saw Northeastern go on a small run, and the Trappers responded, but trailed 11-10 with 11 minutes left in the half.
Scoring picked up significantly over the next five minutes for both teams and Northwest took the lead. Then Northeastern started hitting more 3-pointers and eventually reclaimed the lead and pushed it to 27-23 with 5:40 left in the half.
Northwest quickly responded over the next 3:30 minutes, going on a 13-2 run capped off by a Tessi Thong layup before a timeout with 2:09 left.
The lead reached double digits on another Thong layup with 1:30 left in the half.
Eli Patterson's jumper with 40 seconds left accounted for the final points of the half, as the Trappers led 44-33 at halftime.
Both teams started out just like the first half ended, as the Trappers maintained their double digit lead now up 54-44 four minutes into the second half.
Northeastern cut the lead over the next five minutes despite both teams scoring well, making it as close as four points down 62-58 with 11:30 remaining.
Northwest responded with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes, pushing the lead back to double digits at 73-60.
"I thought we got good shots. I thought we ran our action pretty well," coach Andy Ward said. "I thought we were pretty patient and executed."
The Trappers carried that momentum and pushed their lead even further, making it an 18 point advantage on a Drew Larson 3-pointer with six minutes remaining with the score at 81-63.
Over the final minutes neither team had significant scoring, as Northwest cruised late to an 88-73 win.
"We ended up shooting 58% for the game and 41% from three — can't complain about that, those are pretty good numbers," Ward said.
Thong and Preston Condie led the Trappers with 18 points each, leading five Trappers in double figures. Larson had 14 while Kaden Christensen and R'Zha Whittle each had 11.
Carter Clark and Colin Hayes led Northwest with four assists each, Thong led with three steals and Christensen added two blocks.
NORTHWEST 94, FORT HAYS TECH 87
After the win on Friday the Trappers turned their attention to the Tigers (1-2) on Saturday to try and finish the weekend 2-0.
Once again scoring was hard to come by early, with Fort Hays Tech leading 10-5 after the first five minutes.
The Tigers expanded their lead over the next three minutes, pushing the lead as far as 18-10 with 12 minutes left before the Trapper offense got going.
"I think I had our guys in the wrong frame of mind through a lot of the game," Ward said. "Their team, they're smaller and their guards are the strength of their game. They drive the ball really well, it's hard to stay in front of them. We were in our match up zone for almost the entire game, and I thought that would be important for us to keep them out of the lane."
Northwest picked up its defensive intensity, leading to opportunities over the next five minutes, cutting the lead down to a single point trailing 28-27 with 7:22 left in the half.
The Trappers continued their scoring spree, taking the lead on a 3-pointer by Tate Monroe, as both teams started to exchange the lead over the next four minutes.
Northwest got the final push it needed before the break, leading 49-45 at halftime.
Early in the second half the Tigers fought back, closing the gap down to one, as Northwest led 55-54 with 16 minutes left.
That gap held over the next seven minutes, as scoring from both teams did not slow down with the Trappers leading 72-71 with nine minutes left.
Scoring continued back and forth over the next four minutes, with Fort Hays Tech taking a slight lead up 83-81 with 4:42 left.
Northwest responded to regain the lead at 87-86, with both teams looking for an advantage in the final 1:38.
The Tigers tied the score on a free throw, but free throws over the final minute by Larson and Thong helped Northwest seal the contest with a 94-87 win.
Northwest excelled at the free throw line, going 25-31 from the charity stripe to offset the hot shooting of the Tigers who went 17-40 from 3-point range.
"I do think that we did keep them out of the lane, but we just didn't get out. I think we were so concerned about the drive that we didn't do a good job of contesting shots and getting to the shooters at the perimeter," Ward said. "We had a size advantage. I thought we could get in the lane, either through the drive or through the post up, and I thought we did a pretty good job there. And we made our free throws, which was nice to see."
Thong led with 23 points, Hayes had 20, Larson had 18 points, eight rebounds and three steals, Monroe had 12 points and Condie had 10.
Five different Trappers had two assists each.
HOME TOURNAMENT
The Trappers will return home this weekend, hosting the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic on Friday and Saturday.
"I was very close to coach [Jay] Collins, and so it'll always be emotional for me," Ward said. "It's great we can honor him this way. He loved the game of basketball and coaching and left his mark on a lot of student athletes. I just want to be able to remember him that way and what he did for me and for a lot of former student athletes that he coached."
Northwest will start with a game against Bismarck State College (3-4) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
"They're well coached, they'll compete," Ward said. "We've got to get back on defense, take away easy baskets. We've got to rebound the ball better and hopefully we'll keep shooting the ball well."
In between the women's and men's games the Heart of a Champion Award and the Jay Collins Memorial Scholarship will be awarded.
On Saturday the Trappers will take on a high-powered Dawson Community College (6-1) team at 4 p.m.
NORTHWEST 88, NORTHEASTERN 73
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Tessi Thong 18, Preston Condie 18, Drew Larson 14, Kaden Christensen 11, R'Zha Whittle 11, Eli Patterson 6, Colin Hayes 4, Trey Rinn 3, Ruben Bos 3
Rebounds — Tessi Thong 4, Tate Monroe 4, Eli Patterson 4 (1), Drew Larson 3 (1), Colin Hayes 3 (1), Carter Clark 2, Ruben Bos 2, Kaden Christensen 1 (1), Trey Rinn 1, Ants-Kristjan Kalmus 1, R'Zha Whittle 1 (1)
Assists — Carter Clark 4, Colin Hayes 4, Tessi Thong 3, Kaden Christensen 2, Preston Condie 2, Drew Larson 2, Eli Patterson 1
Steals — Tessi Thong 3, Drew Larson 2, Carter Clark 1, Tate Monroe 1, Eli Patterson 1, Colin Hayes 1
Blocks — Kaden Christensen 2, Ruben Bos 1, R'Zha Whittle 1
NORTHWEST 94, FORT HAYS TECH 87
Points — Tessi Thong 23, Colin Hayes 20, Drew Larson 18, Tate Monroe 12, Preston Condie 10, R'Zha Whittle 8, Ruben Bos 3
Rebounds — Drew Larson 8 (2), Tessi Thong 4 (2), Preston Condie 3 (1), Tate Monroe 3, R'Zha Whittle 3 (1), Colin Hayes 2, Carter Clark 1 (1), Trey Rinn 1, Ruben Bos 1
Assists — Kaden Christensen 2, Tessi Thong 2, Drew Larson 2, Tate Monroe 2, Colin Hayes 2
Steals — Drew Larson 3, Tate Monroe 2, Tessi Thong 1, Eli Patterson 1, Colin Hayes 1
Blocks — Tessi Thong 1, Preston Condie 1, Tate Monroe 1, Colin Hayes 1, R'Zha Whittle 1