Men's Hoops Returns to Action at Clackamas Holiday Classic

Walla Walla, WA. - Coach Jeff Reinland and the Walla Walla Community College Men's Basketball program hit the road this weekend to return from Christmas break at the Clackamas Holiday Classic Tournament in Oregon City, Oregon. Heading into weekend play, Coach Reinland's Warriors were 9-1, were and still are leading the NWAC in scoring, averaging just under 97 points per game as a team. A huge chunk of that scoring is coming from the NWAC's top two scorers across the whole league, with Trey Arland leading the way at 26.9 PPG and Luke Holecek sitting in second at 25.0 PPG. Sophomore guard, Austin Ramos, has also played a big part in the Warrior's scoring early on, settling in at just under 16 PPG.

In the opening game of the tournament, the Warriors squared off against the Saints of Mt. Hood Community College. The Warriors got off to another hot scoring start, scoring 47 in the first half of play... with Luke Holecek leading the way for the Warriors early on with 23 first-half points. The Warriors only outscored the Saints by one in the second half (52-51), but solidified the 99-88 win on the backs of Luke Holecek, Trey Arland, and Austin Ramos. Holecek finished the game with 34 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Trey Arland played all 40 minutes in the contest and finished with a quiet 21 points, 6 rebounds, and a season-high 9 assists. Arland also added an assist and a block to his stat-line. Austin Ramos put together a very efficient shooting night, scoring 17 points on 6-8 shooting (4-6 3PM-A), while also adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Game 2 of the tournament saw the Warriors facing off with the hosting Cougars of Clackamas Community College for the second time in the early stages of the preseason play. In their first matchup, Trey Arland went for 36 as the Warriors cruised to a ten-point victory in the Dietrich Activity Center. Playing in the Cougars' home gym proved to be a different story this weekend. The Cougars were the ones who got off to the quick start in this one, scoring 44 first-half points and holding the league-leading scorers of Walla Walla to just 39 in the first 20 minutes of action. The usual suspects led the way for the Warriors in the first half, with Holecek and Arland scoring 12 and 14 points, respectively... while the Cougars had things much more spread out and only one active player who hadn't logged points by halftime. Things continued to go the same way in the back half of play, with the Cougars outscoring the Warriors by 12 to finish off the 93-76 win in their own gym. Trey Arland led the way in scoring for the Warriors, finishing with 21 points, 2 rebounds, and 6 assists. Holecek added 20 points of his own while grabbing 7 boards and dishing out 5 assists.

After splitting the first two games of the tournament, Coach Reinland and the Warriors took on another familiar opponent in Highline College, in the final game of the Clackamas Holiday Classic. The first matchup between Highline and the Warriors was at home, in the Dietrich Activity Center, when Trey Arland came just five points short of the WWCC single-game scoring record after he scored 47 points in a 127-107 win. This weekend's action saw much less scoring and a much closer final score... things were really going Walla Walla's way early on - Austin Ramos and Luke Holecek combined for 23 of the Warriors' 44 first-half points on the way to a seven-point lead at the half. Highline really started to find the bottom of the net in the final 12 minutes of play on their way to a 53 point half in which they outscored the Warriors by 13. The late surge by the Thunderbirds was just enough to overcome Walla Walla's early lead and win the game 90-84. Austin Ramos led all scorers with 32 points. Luke Holecek also added 22 points of his own.

Coach Reinland and the Men's Basketball Program finish off their preseason schedule with two games in Wenatchee, WA this coming weekend, against Northwest Indian College and Whatcom Community College before starting NWAC East Region play next Wednesday, in Spokane.