Warrior Landon Radliff scores 37 points, and hits 9-of-10 from 3-point range, to lead his team to the NWAC East-opening win.
Sophomore guard Landon Radliff turned in his best all-around game in a Warriors uniform Wednesday night in the Dietrich Dome to lead Walla Walla to an 85-70 victory over Spokane in the Northwest Athletic Conference Eastern Region opener for both teams.
Radliff made 12-of-19 shots overall, was a scintillating 9-for-10 from 3-point distance and scored 37 points as WWCC raised its season record to 11-3.
The Richland High School product also contributed four steals, two assists and two rebounds as the Warriors rallied from a seven-point deficit early in the second half to defeat the Sasquatch.
“Landon was pretty phenomenal,” WWCC coach Jeff Reinland said of his shooting guard. “That is probably the best game I have ever seen him have.”
Freshmen Damon Thacker and Marcus McKone added 15 and 14 points, respectively, and sophomore Gary Engstrom and freshmen Kendall Watson and Jake Albright combined for 16 points and 18 rebounds. McKone came off the bench to sink 5-of-8 shots overall and was 4-for-6 from downtown.
Cameron Gay and Dedrick Pakootas tallied 17 points each to lead the Sasquatch, who led by 11 points early in the game and 43-42 at the intermission.
“They pounced on us pretty good at the start of the game,” Reinland said. “But we solved a few of the things they were doing defensively, and we kind of bowed our necks and played pretty good defense in the second half.”
After making just 2-of-40 3-point shots last weekend in an 85-50 loss to Edmonds in the Clackamas Holiday Invitational in Oregon City, WWCC sank 15-of-28 3-pointers on Wednesday.
“What a schizophrenic team,” Reinland said. “Maybe I shouldn’t use that word, but what a crazy team. We are just a funny team.”
The Warriors are idle Saturday and travel to Wenatchee next Wednesday for their next East Region game. Spokane, 10-4, entertains Treasure Valley Saturday.
Warriors 85, Sasquatch 70
SPOKANE (70) — Gay 7-16 2-3 17, Pakootas 5-13 4-4 17, Pilimai 4-10 0-0 8, Alexander 1-1 0-0 3, Sandoval 7-9 0-0 16, Harris 1-8 0-0 2, Gotell 2-4 0-0 4, Parker 1-5 1-2 3, Mesropian 0-0 0-0 0, Delgado 0-4 0-2 0, Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-70 7-11 70.
WALLA WALLA (85) — Porter 1-7 0-0 3, Thacker 5-14 4-4 15, Radliff 12-19 4-4 37, Watson 3-14 0-0 6, Engstrom 3-5 0-0 6, Tiller 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-2 0-1 0, Albright 2-3 0-0 4, McKone 5-8 0-0 14. Totals 31-72 85.
Halftime — Spokane 43, WWCC 42. 3-point goals — Spokane 7-15 (Gay 1-5, Pakootas 3-5, Pilimai 0-1, Alexander 1-1, Sandoval 2-2, Harris 0-1), WWCC 15-28 (Porter 1-4, Thackeer 1-4, Radliff 9-10, Anderson 0-1, McKone 4-6). Total fouls — WWCC 12, Spokane 11. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — Spokane 32 (Sandoval 5, Parker 5), WWCC 27 (Engstrom 6). Turnovers — Spokane 17, WWCC 7. Assists — Spokane 5 (Gay 3), WWCC 4 (Radliff 2).
Union Bulletin
