WALLA WALLA — The Walla Walla Community College men’s basketball team split a pair of games at the Warrior Classic over the weekend.
The Warriors fell to the Gonzaga club team, 80-72, on Friday before beating Columbia Basin College, 92-74, on Saturday.
In Friday’s loss, the Warriors shot 31 percent from the floor, including a 12-of-47 mark from the 3-point arc.
“We got a lot of good shots in that game and we couldn’t hit anything,” WWCC coach Jeff Reinland said. “With that said, you have to give them credit. They played well. We’ve played them twice and they’ve beaten us twice.”
Point guard Satchel Schetzle led the Warriors with 32 points on 10-of-20 shooting. In his first action of the year, Schetzle did a little of everything for WWCC, as he finished with a game-high seven assists to go with three steals and three boards.
“He’s just our best offensive player, hands down,” Reinland said. “He creates so much stuff and people have trouble guarding him. He’s just hard for people to guard and he’s a pretty good shooter. It’s been a big lift. Hopefully we can keep that going. I think our players feel better with him out there.”
Payton Radliff was the only other Warrior to reach double figures against the Zags club team, as he finished with 14.
Against Columbia Basin on Saturday, the Warriors jumped out to a 54-24 halftime lead. CBC closed the gap in the second half, as Reinland said the Warriors became complacent after holding a big lead.
“That’s pretty normal when you have a big lead like that at halftime,” Reinland said. “It’s hard for guys to keep their focus. I thought our defense against the club team was pretty good, but our offense was just so bad. The biggest problem we’re having is the rebounding and the putbacks. That’s what’s killing us.”
Radliff led the Warriors with 24 points, including hitting six of his 10 3-point attempts. Schetzle finished with 21 points.
Gabe Porter also added 16 points and Nate Richards came up with 14.
“I think the biggest breakthrough was we got 14 out of Nate,” Reinland said. “He probably would have scored more but he got in early foul trouble in the second half and had to sit out quite a bit.”
The Warriors return to action against Olympic on Friday at the Bulldog Classic in Bellevue, WA.
