12/14/13
BELLEVUE — The Walla Walla Community College men’s basketball team split its first two games at the Bulldog Classic in Bellevue this weekend.
The Warriors opened the tournament with a dramatic one-point win against the host team, Bellevue, 82-81. Walla Walla followed the victory with a 84-73 loss to Pierce on Saturday.
Against Bellevue, the Warriors outside shooting proved to be the difference. Walla Walla knocked down 14 of the 26 3-pointers it hoisted, as Satchel Schetzle led the Warriors with 15 points on four treys.
“(It was) real crucial,” WWCC head coach Jeff Reinland said. “We’re struggling inside. We can’t hang on to the ball in there. We can’t make a short shot in there. We’re just struggling. Teams are collapsing on us and double teaming us, and one of the reasons is they know we’re struggling.”
Walla Walla is also missing guard Eric Harr, who suffered a torn labrum before the Warriors’ game against Bellevue.
The Warriors held a 38-30 halftime lead and extended that lead to 13 points in the second half. But Bellevue came back to tie the game multiple times during the second half, but WWCC responded with a big shot each time, Reinland said.
“I thought we played a little sloppy in the second half,” he said. “Every time they came back and tied it, we made a big shot. I don’t think they ever had the lead in the game. It’s always nice when your guys hang on and win the game.”
Against Pierce College, the Warriors’ strong perimeter play continued, as Walla Walla knocked down 12 3-pointers. But the Raiders’ size was too much to overcome, as Pierce out-rebounded WWCC 37-25. The Raiders also shared the ball extremely well, as they finished with 29 assists as a team and had two players with at least nine dimes.
“They’re really athletic,” Reinland said of Pierce. “They’re really fast. They put a lot of pressure on you. They were much quicker than we were. We made a lot of mistakes in the first half, we (threw) the ball away in the first half. We didn’t shoot the ball as well as we did (against Bellevue).”
Walla Walla’s Dallas Reich led the Warriors with 22 points on 9-of-16 from the floor. Pierce’s David Jeffries led the game in scoring, as he poured in 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Warriors were down only two with six minutes left in the game, but a missed lay-up, which resulted in an and-one opportunity on the other end for the Raiders proved to be the difference, Reinland said.
“This was a winnable game,” he said. “We had a great chance. I think if we would have made that lay-in, it could have been a different story.”
Pierce 84, Walla Walla 73
PIERCE (84) — Jacobs 7-11 0-0 14. Matthews 1-4 0-1 2. Baze 2-2 0-0 4. Barsh 9-16 0-2 18. Parker 0-2 3-4 3. Johnson 1-4 0-0 2. Jeffries 13-21 1-2 28. Porchia-Rollins 2-5 1-1 5. Loranger 2-3 4-4 8. Total 37-68 9-14 84.
WALLA WALLA (73) — Schetzle 4-9 2-5 11. Bravard 2-7 0-0 5. Allen 1-1 0 3. Alden 3-7 0-0 9. Underdahl 0-1 0-0 0. Sawyer 0-1 0-0 0. Reich 9-16 0-2 22. Lacey 0-1 0-0 0. Grooms 0-0 0-0 0. Richards 5-10 1-2 13. Nooner 4-10 2-4 10. Total 28-63 5-13 73.
Halftime score — Pierce 42, WW 32. 3-point goals — Pierce 1 (Jeffries), WW 12 (Reich 4). Total fouls — Pierce 14, WW 11. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Total rebounds — Pierce 37 (Barsh 9), WW 25 (Nooner 7). Turnovers — Pierce 13, WW 15. Assists — Pierce 29 (Matthews 10), WW 17 (Schetzle 6).
Walla Walla 82, Bellevue 81
WALLA WALLA (82) — Schetzle 4-6 3-4 15. Bravard 2-8 4-6 9. Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Alden 4-7 2-2 11. Underdahl 2-3 5-8 10. Sawyer 0-1 0-2 0. Reich 3-5 2-4 11. Lacey 3-4 0-0 8. Grooms 1-1 0-0 2. Richards 6-8 0-0 14. Nooner 1-6 0-0 2. Total 26-49 16-26 82.
BELLEVUE (81) — Ward 2-5 2-2 6. Muongvang 2-6 0-2 5. Greer 4-8 1-2 11. Clinton 4-7 1-2 11. Jordan 3-3 2-3 10. AJ Holloway 4-8 3-3 11. Smith 1-3 0-0 2. McLaughlin 4-7 1-2 9. O’Keefe 7-11 0-0 16. Total 31-58 10-16 81.
Halftime score — WW 38, Bellevue 30. 3-point goals — WW 14 (Schetzle 4), Bellevue 9 (Greer 2, Clinton 2, Jordan 2, O’Keefe 2). Total fouls — WW 16, Bellevue 18. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Total rebounds — WW 23 (Schetzle 4), Bellevue 27 (McLaughlin 7). Turnovers — WW 16, Bellevue 11. Assists — WW 18 (Bravard 4), Bellevue 16 (Clinton 4, Jordan 4).
