NWC MEN DOMINATE REGION IX OPPONENTS

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

The Northwest College men's basketball team put together two strong games on the road against Region IX South opponents at the Western Wyoming Community College Classic in Rock Springs, defeating Northeastern Junior College 90-51 on Friday and Otero College 69-56 on Saturday.   

NORTHWEST 90, NORTHEASTERN JC 51
Hoping to bounce back in a pair of neutral site games against Region IX South opponents the Trappers (8-4) started with the Plainsmen (5-6) on Friday.
The Trappers came out on fire, immediately jumping out to a 12-3 lead over the first four minutes.
Northwest carried that early momentum to make it a 20-point game at 29-8 on a Braydon Bradshaw and-one with 10:37 remaining.
The Trappers continued pressing, and made it a 45-13 advantage on a Isaac Wolfe 3-pointer as Northwest cruised the entire first half en route to a 58-23 halftime lead.
"I thought we were really aggressive defensively. That kind of set the tone for us," coach Andy Ward said. "Our intensity was really good. We shot the ball well, we played probably our best basketball at least for the first half in that NJC game."
In the second half the Trappers quickly made it a 40-point game and led 67-27 on an R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle basket five minutes into the half.
Northwest cruised the entire second half and walked away with a 90-51 win.
"Second half we weren't quite as good defensively, and settled a little bit offensively and cooled off. We didn't attack as well," Ward said. "We scored it efficiently and did a good job defensively."
Mateo Trujillo led with 15 points and four assists, Whittle led with 13 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double and Tate Monroe added 10 points as the final double-digit scorer.
Eli Patterson led with four steals and Whittle had the lone block.     

NORTHWEST 69, OTERO 56
Continuing on Saturday the Trappers took on the Rattlers (0-12) , trying to go undefeated for the weekend.
Northwest again jumped out to a strong lead, and made it 9-0 on a Trey Rinn layup.
The Trappers made it a double-digit contest shortly after on a Bradshaw breakaway dunk with 13:38 left in the half.
Otero tried to cut into the lead, but the Trappers didn't allow them closer than six for much of the half as Northwest led 21-13 with 7:47 remaining.
The Trappers again pushed it to double-digits on a Trujillo layup at 25-15.
That lead extended to as many as 15, and the Trappers led 36-25 at the half.
"I thought the first half we did a pretty good job. Some of it wasn't quite as clean as Friday's game," Ward said.
Otero came out cutting the lead down to a single possession at 39-36, before the Trappers pulled away for good.
Northwest went on a 17-2 run finished by a Bradshaw tip-in and made it a 56-38 game with 9:15 left.
"They cut it to one possession, and we just went on a big run," Ward said. "We had a group of guys that I thought played really well together, got multiple stops in a row and scored in transition … That was a big segment of that game."
The Trappers made it a 20-point game at 62-42 on a Nayel Girard dunk as they looked to finish the game with just under seven minutes left.
Northwest finished the game with a 69-56 win to end the weekend 2-0.
"It was a good weekend. I thought we did a nice job in a lot of ways. We're still not rebounding the ball as well as we need to, and that's going to be really important as we head towards league (play)," Ward said. 
Travis Theran Archibald led with 13 points just ahead of Rinn with 12.
Trujillo, Bradshaw and Whittle each had five rebounds, while Girard led with six assists.
Patterson and Bradshaw had three steals each.    

ACTION PACKED WEEK
The Northwest College men have a busy week to finish the first semester, starting with a pair of home games against two difficult opponents this weekend.
Starting on Friday the Trappers will be looking for a little bit of revenge against Dawson Community College (7-4) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday after losing on the road to the Buccaneers 82-75 in early November.
Northwest then takes on Miles Community College (7-6) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"Dawson beat us at their place earlier in the year. I thought we controlled probably 30 minutes of that game. But they turned us over at critical moments," Ward said. "If we come out and play with the intensity that we had this past weekend, we're going to need to do that. Both teams are good. We've got to try and not stumble again on our home floor."
Competition doesn't stop at home this week, as the Trappers will head on the road to the Arizona Western College Chapman Winter Classic starting Tuesday in Yuma, Arizona.
Northwest starts against Cochise College (7-2) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, before taking on host and NJCAA No. 24-ranked Arizona Western (10-2) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Trappers finish first semester action with a game against Central Arizona College (4-5) at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
"We have five games in something like seven days. It's going to be a pretty important ending for our nonconference," Ward said. "We have one (nonconference game) when we get back in January, but this will be a big test for us."    

NORTHWEST 90, NORTHEASTERN JC 51
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Mateo Trujillo 15, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 13, Tate Monroe 12, Trey Rinn 9, Travis Theran Archibald 9, Braydon Bradshaw 7, Logan Woolstenhulme 7, Nayel Girard 5, John Hendricks 4, Richy Rodriguez 3, Isaac Wolfe 3, Monybuony Kor 2, Eli Patterson 1
Rebounds — R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 10 (4), Travis Theran Archibald 3, Mateo Trujillo 2 (1), Braydon Bradshaw 2 (2), Nayel Girard 2 (1), Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, Monybuony Kor 1 (1), Isaac Wolfe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1, John Hendricks 1 (1)
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 4, Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, Isaac Wolfe 1
Steals — Eli Patterson 4, Trey Rinn 1, Braydon Bradshaw 1, Isaac Wolfe 1
Blocks — R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1    

NORTHWEST 69, OTERO 56
Points — Travis Theran Archibald 13, Trey Rinn 12, Nayel Girard 9, Mateo Trujillo 8, Logan Woolstenhulme 7, Braydon Bradshaw 6, Eli Patterson 5, Tate Monroe 4, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 3, Isaac Wolfe 2
Rebounds — Mateo Trujillo 5, Braydon Bradshaw 5 (3), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 5 (1), Logan Woolstenhulme 4 (2), Trey Rinn 2 (1), Eli Patterson 2 (1), Nayel Girard 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2 (2), Tate Monroe 1, Isaac Wolfe 1 (1)
Assists — Nayel Girard 6, Mateo Trujillo 3, Isaac Wolfe 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 2
Steals — Eli Patterson 3, Braydon Bradshaw 3, Mateo Trujillo 2, Trey Rinn 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 1