NWC MEN LEARN IN EARLY SEASON

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Three games in five days saw the Northwest College men's basketball team finish with a 2-1 record, defeating the Utah Rebels 96-59 on Friday before losing to NJCAA No. 13-ranked Salt Lake Community College 96-74 on Saturday.

The Trappers then returned home on Tuesday night and earned an 88-76 win over Miles Community College to open the season 1-0 at Cabre Gym.   

NORTHWEST 96, UTAH REBELS 59
Starting out their weekend in Riverton the Trappers (3-2) matched up with the Utah Rebels.

Northwest started out strong, building a 12-8 lead over the first four minutes.

The Trappers quickly pushed it out to 28-15 over the next four minutes.

"We didn't really know much about them going in and I was a lot more concerned about just how we played," coach Andy Ward said.

The lead quickly swelled to 20 over the next four minutes, as the Trappers held the Rebels scoreless and made it 35-15.

Northwest didn't allow the rebels to score until just under eight minutes remained when the scoreline was 41-17.

The remainder of the first half Northwest continued to dominate, leading 58-30 at the break.

Early on Northwest quickly pushed the lead to over 30 at 64-33 as the Trappers continued to press the initiative.

The Trappers finished the contest in dominating fashion, earning a 96-59 win.

"I didn't like the way we got back in transition," Ward said. "We're back, but we're not ready, or we're not all the way back … But I thought we did some good things. We scored the ball pretty well. Those games are tough because you don't know who you're playing, don't know what to expect."

Drew Larson led with 23 points and nine rebounds, Tate Monroe added 14 points, Colin Hayes and Trey Rinn each had 12 and Preston Condie had 11 as five Trappers scored in double figures.

Tessi Thong and Eli Patterson led with five assists.

Carter Clark led with six steals.  

SLCC 96, NORTHWEST 74
The win on Friday was followed by one of the toughest early season matchups for the Trappers, taking on the No. 13-ranked Bruins (3-1).

Early on the Trappers and Bruins were exchanging baskets back and forth, with SLCC leading 14-9 midway through the first half.

Turnovers plagued the Trappers early, but shooting kept them in the game trailing 19-14 nine minutes in.

Northwest cut into the SLCC advantage, getting it as low as two points at 25-23 before the Bruins stretched the lead out once again.

Northwest again cut the lead to two trailing 32-30 and even down to one trailing 34-33, before the Bruins extended the lead before the break.

A late run by SLCC pushed the advantage out to double digits, but Northwest cut it to eight trailing 43-35 at halftime.

Northwest remained within striking distance early in the second half, trailing 49-44 just four minutes in.

An 11-2 run helped the Bruins establish a double digit lead, as Northwest needed an offensive spark.

That spark did not come, as SLCC quickly pushed it over 20 points as the Trappers trailed 73-49 with 9:30 remaining.

"They have a lot of weapons," Ward said. "They spread us out quite a bit. We were kind of back and forth changing our defenses, but we never really could get consistent stops. We scored it a little bit better in the first half, and then in the second half, we turned the ball over and that put them in transition a little bit."

Northwest never found a way back into the contest, getting outscored 53-39 in the second half and falling to the Bruins 96-74.

Larson led with 19 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds at six alongside R'Zha Whittle who added 14 points.

Hayes added 14 points as the third Trapper in double figures.

Thong led with four assists, Patterson led with two steals.   

NORTHWEST 88, MILES CC 76
Playing in Powell for the first time this season the Trappers matched up with the Pioneers (3-3) in Cabre Gym on Tuesday night.

Northwest jumped out to an early lead, building a 10-4 advantage into a 20-11 lead seven minutes into the game.

A basket out of a timeout gave the Trappers a double digit advantage, before a difficult scoring stretch allowed Miles to work its way back into the game. 

"I thought we were undisciplined," Ward said. "We took ill-advised shots. We didn't run anything crisp, and didn't make them guard through a possession at all. We were just content to take a quick early shot."

The Pioneers cut the lead down to six several times and eventually a single possession, but the Trappers held off the visitors much of the first half.

Northwest nearly pushed it to double digits before the break, but the score stood at 39-33 at halftime.

A strong second half start had the Trappers attacking and creating better chances, pushing the lead back to double digits at 46-36 just over two minutes in.

Northwest continued to maintain the lead between 8-12 points despite hot shooting from beyond the arc by the Pioneers, as Northwest led 60-51 midway through the half.

The Trappers continued to execute better on offense, holding off the Pioneers with a 76-66 lead with 3:40 remaining.

Northwest did not allow any comeback attempts, as the Trappers shot 59% in the second half as a team to finish with the 88-76 win.

"We were a little bit more patient," Ward said. "We worked the ball down the middle of the floor a little bit more. We got the ball in the paint, played some inside out … We took 15 threes in the first half and made four, and took seven in the second half and made four. So I liked that a lot better."

Hayes led with 21 points, while Kaden Christensen, Thong and Larson each had 11 points as the other Trappers in double figures.

Condie had seven rebounds, Thong had nine assists and Hayes led with two steals.   

RETURN TO CASPER
Northwest will head back out on the road this weekend, heading back to Casper for the second time in three weeks.

The Trappers start the weekend against Northeastern Junior College (1-1) at 3 p.m. on Friday, getting a preview of a Region IX South opponent.

"We'll go to work on them Wednesday and start getting ready for them," Ward said. "It's early, and we've made a lot of mistakes through these first five games, and we've got to get those corrected."

On Saturday, the Trappers will take on Fort Hays Tech Northwest (1-0) out of Kansas at 2 p.m.

The Trappers will return home next weekend for the Coach Collins Heart of a Champion Classic on Friday and Saturday.        

NORTHWEST 96, UTAH REBELS 59
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Drew Larson 23, Tate Monroe 14, Colin Hayes 12, Trey Rinn 12, Preston Condie 11, Kaden Christensen 9, Eli Patterson 6, R'Zha Whittle 6, Tessi Thong 2, Carter Clark 1
Rebounds — Drew Larson 9 (5), Preston Condie 7 (5), Tate Monroe 6 (3), Eli Patterson 5 (4), Ants-Kristjan Kalmus 5 (4), Carter Clock 3, Colin Hayes 2, R'Zha Whittle 2, Kaden Christensen 1
Assists — Tessi Thong 5, Eli Patterson 5, Tate Monroe 4, Carter Clark 4, Drew Larson 4, Preston Condie 3, R'Zha Whittle 2, Kaden Christensen 1, Colin Hayes 1, Trey Rinn 1, Ants-Kristjan Kalmus 1
Steals — Carter Clark 6, Tate Monroe 2, Tessi Thong 2, Preston Condie 2, Kaden Christensen 1
Blocks — Tate Monroe 1, Eli Patterson 1, Drew Larson 1    

SLCC 96, NORTHWEST 74
Points — Drew Larson 19, Colin Hayes 14, R'Zha Whittle 14, Preston Condie 7, Carter Clark 6, Tate Monroe 4, Eli Patterson 4, Kaden Christensen 2, Tessi Thong 2, Trey Rinn 2
Rebounds — Drew Larson 6 (2), R'Zha Whittle 6 (3), Kaden Christensen 3, Ants-Kristjan Kalmus 3 (2), Tessi Thong 2 (2), Colin Hayes 2 (1), Preston Condie 1, Tate Monroe 1, Carter Clark 1, Eli Patterson 1
Assists — Tessi Thong 4, Kaden Christensen 3, Preston Condie 3, Carter Clark 3, Drew Larson 2, Tate Monroe 2, Eli Patterson 2, Trey Rinn 1
Steals — Eli Patterson 2, Kaden Christensen 1, Tessi Thong 1, Colin Hayes 1, Carter Clark 1, Trey Rinn 1
Blocks — Kaden Christensen 1    

NORTHWEST 88, MILES CC 76
Points — Colin Hayes 21, Kaden Christensen 11, Tessi Thong 11, Drew Larson 11, Preston Condie 8, Trey Rinn 6, Eli Patterson 6, R'Zha Whittle 6, Tate Monroe 5, Carter Clark 3
Rebounds — Preston Condie 7 (2), Drew Larson 6, Tessi Thong 5 (2), Colin Hayes 4, Trey Rinn 4 (3), Kaden Christensen 2, Carter Clark 2 (2), R'Zha Whittle 2 (1), Tate Monroe 1 (1), Eli Patterson 1, Ruben Bos 1
Assists — Tessi Thong 9, Preston Condie 4, Kaden Christensen 2, Colin Hayes 2, Eli Patterson 2, Drew Larson 1, Carter Clark 1, Trey Rinn 1, Ruben Bos 1
Steals — Colin Hayes 2, Preston Condie 1, Tate Monroe 1, Trey Rinn 1, R'Zha Whittle 1
Blocks — Preston Condie 1, Eli Patterson 1