YAKIMA — Walla Walla raced to a 21-5 lead and then faded as Yakima rallied for a 92-85 victory over the Warriors in a men’s Northwest Athletic Conference Eastern Region basketball game.
“We just kind of gradually went cold,” WWCC coach Jeff Reinland said. “There was no big surge by Yakima, they just gradually chipped away.”
The Warriors led by a point, 46-45, at the intermission. Yakima used an 8-0 run to fashion a double-digit lead midway in the second half, but the Warriors recovered and took a two-point lead in the final minutes.
“There were a bunch of possessions in a row where neither team could get anything done,” Reinland said. “And then they got a couple of sprint-out layins off of a turnover and a bad shot, and that was it.”
Devan Kohn did his usual business in the paint and scored 22 points to lead the Warriors in scoring, and Roman McKnight scored eight of his 11 points close to the basket.
“We scored well inside against them,” Reinland said. “Kohn and McKnight scored almost all of their points in the paint.”
Payton Radliff made 4-of-12 3-pointers and finished with 21 points for Walla Walla. Dalton Thompson was 4-for-9 from downtown and was a fourth Warrior in double figures with 12 points.
As a team, WWCC connected on 12-of-31 3-pointers (39 percent) and was 32-for-71 overall (45 percent).
Yakima, which also had four players score in double figures, shot 41 percent from the field (35-for-83) and was 4-for-12 from 3-point distance (33 percent). The Yaks held a solid 54-42 rebounding advantage.
Demetrius Trammell led Yakima with 19 points, Max Jones scored 17, Devonte Luckett 16 and Marquice Clark 12. Jones and Luckett snagged seven rebounds each, and Luckett also was credited with four assists.
Thompson led WWCC with seven rebounds and Mitch Mueller dished out six assists to go with nine points.
The Warriors saw their East record level at 1-1 and their overall mark slip to 7-10.
Walla Walla will entertain Wenatchee Saturday in the Dietrich Dome. The Knights suffered a 74-69 defeat at Columbia Basin Wednesday and are 0-2 in league games and 3-12 for the season.
“We’ve seen Wenatchee play a couple of times,” Reinland said. “I can’t really comment on why they are not winning. They look pretty good to me. They have good size and they play hard.
“It’s going to be a tough game, no question about it.”
