TRAPPER MEN 4-2 AT HALFWAY POINT

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Reaching the halfway point of the Region IX North season the Northwest College men's basketball team sits two games over .500, after defeating Casper College 77-67 at home on Wednesday, Jan. 28, before losing a close contest late on the road against Central Wyoming College 79-69.    

NORTHWEST 77, CASPER COLLEGE 67
Hoping to continue their strong start to conference action the Trappers (15-9 overall, 4-2 Region IX North) welcomed in the Thunderbirds (7-15 overall, 2-3 Region IX North) to Cabre Gym.
The Trappers started out with a flurry, building a 9-0 lead over the first two minutes capped off by a Nayel Girard breakaway dunk.
Casper responded, cutting into the lead over the next six minutes and trimming the Trapper advantage down to 14-13 with 12 minutes left.
That run continued and the Thunderbirds eventually took the lead 24-22 with seven minutes left in the half.
Northwest responded late in the half, going on a 16-6 stretch and leading 38-30 at the break after an Eli Patterson 3-pointer.
"I thought as a whole we played pretty well, and there were stretches where we had some lulls, but I thought the guys did a nice job," coach Andy Ward said.
Early in the third the Trappers pushed it to double-digits, but led 45-38 five minutes into the frame.
The Trappers maintained their advantage throughout the half, but were unable to break away as they led 57-50 after a Logan Woolstenhulme jumpshot midway through.
Northwest got its lead to as many as 14 up 70-56 with 3:32 left, before Casper made one last push to cut the lead down to 70-65 with 1:54 left.
"We made enough plays down the stretch that we were able to keep them at bay," Ward said. "I thought we had some really critical possessions where we were able to get what we wanted."
The Trappers held off that charge, and pulled far enough away for a 77-67 win.
Woolstenhulme led with 19 points, Mateo Trujillo and Trey Rinn added 11 each.
"Logan has been playing really well. In league play he's been super efficient from the field, scoring the ball at a high rate," Ward said. "It's really nice to see, it's really helped us out on the offensive end."
Patterson led with nine rebounds, four Trappers had two assists each, while Girard led with four steals.    

CENTRAL WYOMING 79, NORTHWEST 69
On Saturday the Trappers made the trip down to Riverton to take on the Rustlers (8-12 overall, 2-3 Region IX North) to wrap up the first half of conference play.
Neither team got off to a strong start, as Northwest held a slim 8-6 advantage seven minutes into the game.
Both teams continued struggling to find the basket, as the Trappers maintained their slight lead up 20-19 with 7:46 left in the half.
After the two teams tied at 24 each, the Trappers went on a 12-0 run over three minutes sandwiched between Trujillo baskets to make it 36-24.
Central scored one basket late as Northwest led 36-26 at the break.
"I thought we played pretty well in the first half, particularly defensively," Ward said. 
The Trappers pushed the lead to 44-30 with 16:30 remaining, before Central cut the advantage with a 14-3 run to make it 47-44 with 13 minutes left.
Northwest pushed it back to 61-54 with 8:39 left, before one final push gave the Rustlers the lead 64-63 with 6:54 remaining.
The teams went back and forth over the next five minutes, before Central ended up taking the lead for good at 71-69 and used late baskets to make the final margin 79-69.
"They execute well, and they really did a good job against us in the second half," Ward said. "I want to give them credit, we didn't make the plays we needed to make … When you let a team shoot 67% from the field, there just weren't a lot of stops and that keeps us out of transition … It was a one possession game and we just didn't execute or come away with baskets."
Rinn led with 17 points, Trujillo had 15 and Woolstenhulme added 13.
Woolstenhulme led with eight rebounds and four steals, Trujillo had eight assists.    

BIG WEEKEND AHEAD
Northwest heads back out on the road for the longest remaining road trip of the regular season, heading to southeastern Wyoming.
The Trappers start with a contest against Eastern Wyoming (4-19 overall, 1-4 Region IX North) at 7:30 p.m. today (Thursday) in Torrington. Northwest defeated the Lancers 88-65 at home in January.
Northwest then journeys to Cheyenne, and will wait a day in between before taking on Laramie County Community College (11-9 overall, 4-1 Region IX North). The Trappers defeated the Golden Eagles 88-81 in overtime in January.
"This is a big weekend for us," Ward said. "We're in control of our own destiny as far as seeding is concerned. If we take care of business, we can work our way back into first place. If we don't take care of business, we can work our way down into the middle of the pack."       

NORTHWEST 77, CASPER COLLEGE 67
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Logan Woolstenhulme 19, Mateo Trujillo 11, Trey Rinn 11, Travis Theran Archibald 9, Nayel Girard 7, Eli Patterson 7, Braydon Bradshaw 6, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 5, Monybuony Kor 2
Rebounds — Eli Patterson 9 (4), Nayel Girard 5, Braydon Bradshaw 5 (3), Mateo Trujillo 3, Logan Woolstenhulme 3 (1), Trey Rinn 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2 (1), Monybuony Kor 1 (1), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1 (1)
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 2, Nayel Girard 2, Trey Rinn 2, Eli Patterson 2, Braydon Bradshaw 1, Tate Monroe 1
Steals — Nayel Girard 4, Braydon Bradshaw 3, Eli Patterson 2, Mateo Trujillo 1, Trey Rinn 1, Tate Monroe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1     

CENTRAL WYOMING 79, NORTHWEST 69
Points — Trey Rinn 17, Mateo Trujillo 15, Logan Woolstenhulme 13, Eli Patterson 6, Travis Theran Archibald 6, Braydon Bradshaw 5, Tate Monroe 3, Nayel Girard 2, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 2
Rebounds — Logan Woolstenhulme 8 (5), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 5 (2), Mateo Trujillo 3, Nayel Girard 3, Trey Rinn 2, Eli Patterson 2 (1), Braydon Bradshaw 2 (2), Travis Theran Archibald 2
Assists — Mateo Trujillo 8, Nayel Girard 3, Logan Woolstenhulme 2, Trey Rinn 1, Braydon Bradshaw 1, Tate Monroe 1
Steals — Logan Woolstenhulme 4, Mateo Trujillo 2, Nayel Girard 2, Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, Braydon Bradshaw 1
Blocks — Tate Monroe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1