TRAPPER MEN FALL SHORT AGAINST SNOW

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Welcoming in one of the top teams in the country over Thanksgiving weekend, the Northwest College men's basketball team competed but came up short against visiting Snow College on Saturday 79-67.   

SNOW COLLEGE 79, NORTHWEST 67
Squeezing in only one contest over the break the Trappers (6-4) took on the now NJCAA No. 2-ranked Badgers (8-0).
The Trappers started out well, taking the lead and building it to 9-3 over the first three minutes after a Nayel Girard jump shot.
Snow quickly rallied and tied the contest several times before bursting ahead and taking a 19-12 lead with 13 minutes left.
Northwest rallied in a constant back-and-forth first half, regaining the lead 25-24 on a Tate Monroe 3-pointer with just under nine minutes left.
"I thought our guys did a good job in a lot of respects," coach Andy Ward said. "I thought we played particularly well in the first half, especially offensively, and that was kind of the difference."
After exchanging baskets the rest of the first half, the Badgers led 39-38 heading into the locker room.
Snow started the second half strong, pushing the lead to 47-40 over the first three minutes.
Northwest did not allow the visitors to escape early in the second half, closing the gap to a three point game at 57-54 on a Travis Theran Archibald 3-pointer with 11:54 remaining.
From that point forward the Badgers shut down the Trapper attack, holding Northwest to one point over the next seven minutes and
establishing a comfortable double digit advantage at 69-54 with five minutes left.
"They took us out of some things in the second half, but I thought our guys showed a lot of grit, a lot of toughness against a good team," Ward said.
Northwest found some offense late but was unable to cut the lead down to single digits, falling to the visiting Badgers 79-67.
Snow held the edge in a number of categories, but the main difference in the contest came in rebounding where the Badgers outrebounded Northwest 39-26 and just held the advantage in offensive rebounds 13-8.
"That was our No. 1 key was that they're such a strong rebounding team. They're big and they're pretty relentless on the glass," Ward said. "I don't think it was for lack of effort, we just didn't come away with enough of them. I thought they got a few of the loose balls that we should have got. But, that to me was really the story was the rebounding category."
Ward said the Trappers could've beaten the Badgers if they had more possessions, as they took eight less shots, three less free throws and committed two more turnovers than their opponents.
"We took pretty good care of the ball, they took better care of the ball," Ward said. "They ended up with more possessions, but on a points per possession basis we had more points per possession. We just didn't get enough possessions. It came down to a little bit of difference in the turnover category and rebounds."
Mateo Trujillo led the Trappers with 13 points, five assists and two steals.
R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle led Northwest with six rebounds and Logan Woolstenhulme had two blocks.    

WESTERN WYOMING CLASSIC
Northwest heads out on the road this weekend following its four game homestand, taking part in the Western Wyoming Community College Classic on Friday and Saturday in Rock Springs.
The Trappers will get an opportunity to see some Region IX South teams, starting with Northeastern Junior College (5-4) at 3 p.m. on Friday.
The Trappers then match up with Otero College (0-10) at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
"I hope we can do a better job of obviously rebounding," Ward said. "I thought that Snow exposed us a little bit with their pressure, and pressure us out of some things. So we're been working on better offensive execution, timing, screens, cuts, just having a better sense of our looks. What options we are looking for, and then doing those things."
This weekend kicks off a flurry of action for the Trappers as they will play seven games over the next two weeks, including two at home on Dec. 12-13, before heading into the winter break.
"Just trying to refine some of those things. We always talk about winning in rebounds, good shots, free throws and turnover ratios. We're just staying focused on that, if we win in those four areas, I think the outcome will take care of itself," Ward said.

SNOW COLLEGE 79, NORTHWEST 67
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Mateo Trujillo 13, Travis Theran Archibald 9, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 9, Logan Woolstenhulme 8, Nayel Girard 7, Braydon Bradshaw 7, Trey Rinn 5, Tate Monroe 5, Eli Patterson 4
Rebounds — R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 6 (3), Logan Woolstenhulme 5 (2), Eli Patterson 4, Nayel Girard 2 (1), Trey Rinn 2, Braydon Bradshaw 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2 (2), Mateo Trujillo 1, Tate Monroe 1, Isaac Wolfe 1
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 5, Nayel Girard 2, Isaac Wolfe 2, Tate Monroe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1
Steals — Mateo Trujillo 2, Eli Patterson 1
Blocks — Logan Woolstenhulme 2