REBOUNDS PROPEL MEN'S PLAY-IN WIN

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Doubling up the visitors in rebounding helped propel the Northwest College men's basketball team to a play-in victory at home Saturday, defeating Western Nebraska Community College 85-73 to advance to the Region IX Tournament.      

NORTHWEST 85, WESTERN NEBRASKA CC 73
Heading into the postseason with a four game winning streak the north No. 2 seeded Trappers (20-11) welcomed in the south No. 7 seeded Cougars (9-22).
Northwest trailed 8-2 early, but reeled off an 18-0 run sparked by a Braydon Bradshaw jump shot and capped with an R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle jumper with 13:50 remaining in the first half to lead 20-8.
"I thought we had excellent play from R'Zha again," coach Andy Ward said.
That lead grew to as many as 17 at 27-10, but Western Nebraska chipped away down to a 27-20 scoreline with 8:07 left in the half.
Northwest pushed the lead back to double-digits, and held a 37-25 lead with 3:09 left after a Mateo Trujillo tip-in.
Back-and-forth the two teams went, with Northwest nearly holding its 12-point lead at the break, but a late 3-pointer with seven seconds left made it a 41-32 advantage heading into the locker room.
The lead slowly stretched back out early in the second half, as Northwest held a 53-38 lead with 14:58 left after two free throws by Trey Rinn.
Northwest continued trying to  pull away but the Cougars would not go away as they cut the lead to 61-51 midway through the second half.
Western Nebraska kept chipping away, cutting the lead down to 65-59 with eight minutes left.
"They ended up getting some easy buckets, and the tempo got away from us at times," Ward said. "I didn't think our shot selection was bad, but we turned the ball over too much."
Northwest buckled down on defense, holding the Cougars scoreless for nearly four minutes while extending the lead back out to 71-59 with four minutes remaining.
The visitors only got as close as single-digits one more time as the Trappers pulled away late 85-73.
Free throws and rebounds proved to be a deciding factor in the contest, as Northwest shot 32-39 (82.1%) from the free throw line and made 16 more than the opposition, and outrebounded the Cougars 50-25 including 14 offensive rebounds.
"We knew we needed to rebound the ball well and we did," Ward said. "The other thing we did a really good job of that hasn't been a characteristic of ours is we shot free throws really well. Got to the line a lot and capitalized, I thought those two things were the difference for us."
Trujillo led with 23 points, while Whittle chipped in a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. Rinn added 12 as the third Trapper in double figures.
Nayel Girard led with 13 rebounds, while Rinn, Eli Patterson and Logan Woolstenhulme led with three assists.
Trujillo and Girard had two steals each to lead while Whittle and Girard each recorded a block.       

REGION IX TOURNAMENT
The Trappers now head out on the road, making the trip to Northeastern Junior College, the Region IX South winner, for the Region IX Tournament in Sterling, Colorado.
In the quarterfinals the Trappers take on the south No. 3 seed North Platte CC (18-12) at 5 p.m. on Thursday, with rebounding continuing to be the focus against the Knights.
"They're a very good rebounding team," Ward said. "They're an athletic team … They play a pretty up tempo style, which I don't mind, but we need to be selective … I'd like to see us take better care of the ball."
If Northwest wins that game, the Trappers will take on the winner of the host No. 1 seeded Plainsmen (20-9) and the south No. 5 seed Trinidad State College (14-16) at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The Region IX Championship game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday. 
If the Trappers are to take the Region IX title Ward is hoping for more consistency from his team, knowing to win the whole tournament they will need to shoot the ball better.
"To win three in a row, that can be pretty taxing on you when you're playing a lot of minutes," Ward said. "We've been pretty good defensively, we've got to continue that … I don't think you can survive all three games not shooting the ball well. You might be able to get by once, but I think scoring the ball more efficiently is going to be more important. Ball control, taking care of it and hopefully we'll continue to shoot free throws well."      

NORTHWEST 85, WESTERN NEBRASKA CC 73
Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()
Points — Mateo Trujillo 23, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 16, Trey Rinn 12, Braydon Bradshaw 9, Tate Monroe 8, Nayel Girard 6, Logan Woolstenhulme 6, Eli Patterson 5
Rebounds — Nayel Girard 13 (2), R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 12 (5), Eli Patterson 8 (3), Mateo Trujillo 6 (2), Braydon Bradshaw 4 (2), Trey Rinn 3, Tate Monroe 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 2
Assists — Trey Rinn 3, Eli Patterson 3, Logan Woolstenhulme 3, Mateo Trujillo 2, Nayel Girard 1, R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1
Steals — Mateo Trujillo 2, Nayel Girard 2, Eli Patterson 1, Tate Monroe 1
Blocks — R'Zha Zha'Quire Whittle 1, Nayel Girard 1      

PLAY-IN RESULTS
No. 2N Northwest 85, No. 7S Western Nebraska CC 73
No. 2S Lamar CC 84, No. 7N Western Wyoming CC 75
No. 3N Casper College 87, No. 6S Southeast CC 82
No. 3S North Platte CC 78, No. 6N Central Wyoming 73
No. 5S Trinidad State 100, No. 4N Gillette College 74
No. 4S McCook CC 103, No. 5N Eastern Wyoming 70       

REGION IX TOURNAMENT
(All games played at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado)
THURSDAY
Game 1 — 1 p.m. No. 2S Lamar CC vs. No. 3N Casper College
Game 2 — 3 p.m. No. 1N Laramie County CC vs. No. 4S McCook CC
Game 3 — 5 p.m. No. 2N Northwest vs. No. 3S North Platte CC
Game 4 — 7 p.m. No. 1S Northeastern JC vs. No. 5S Trinidad State
FRIDAY
Game 5 — 5 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 6 — 7 p.m. Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
SATURDAY
Game 7 — 3 p.m. Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6