WWCC Men's Basketball Puts Together Solid Weekend at Olympic Crossover

Bremerton, WA - After suffering back-to-back losses the weekend before in Bellevue, the Warriors made the trip back over the Cascades for the Olympic Crossover and fared much better. In three close games, Walla Walla was able to claim three victories to go undefeated on the weekend and improve their overall record back above .500 to 6-4.

Walla Walla 89 vs. Olympic 84 (Friday, December 12)

In the first game of the weekend, Walla Walla started things off absolutely on fire against the host school, Olympic College. The Warriors shot an astounding 61% from the field in the first half to claim a 56-39 advantage at the halftime break. While Olympic was able to make a few defensive adjustments and the scoring slowed down for WWCC in the second half, they were able to hold on to a narrow lead and start the weekend off on the right foot, earning an 89-84 victory. All five of the starting Warriors, along with Braden Sherrill off the bench, were in double figures in points. Drew Hottinger, in his first game back after nearly a month, led the Warriors in points with 21 total. Bennett Pegues added 17 points and Trebor Edwards scored 15 of his own to help power the Walla Walla offense. Tanner Goldsmith also had a big night in the paint, registering 15 rebounds to go with his 13 points en route to his 4th double-double of the season.

Walla Walla 74 vs. Pierce 67 (Saturday, December 13)

Saturday's contest had a complete opposite feel to it from Friday's game as this time, Walla Walla found themselves behind at halftime 32-27. Pierce controlled things with some solid inside-game scoring and by slowing down the impact of Drew Hottinger, but the Warriors used the 3-point ball to their advantage, making 7 of their 27 attempts while limiting Pierce to only 4 made 3-point shots. Bennett Pegues and Trebor Edwards again led the offensive charge for WWCC, supported by Braden Sherrill and Jake Curtis off the bench who each added 12 points. 

Walla Walla 88 vs. Clark 82 (Sunday, December 14)

The third and final game of the weekend for the Walla Walla Men's Hoops team was back and forth the whole way with 6 ties and 10 lead changes ultimately resulting in an 88-82 win for the Warriors. Walla Walla shot 47.1% from the field, with 15 of those makes coming from deep. WWCC also maintained a slight rebounding advantage, out-rebounding Clark 35-34 in the matchup. For the second game in a row, Bennett Pegues led the Warriors in scoring with 17 points. Hudson Floyd contributed 16 points off the bench on 6/8 shooting, while Josh Byers knocked down 3 3-pointers and 14 total points also off the bench. Jackson Floyd and Tanner Goldsmith led the charge facilitating the offense, each finishing with 4 assists a piece.

What's next?

A couple of games on the road against South Region opponents await the Warriors this week. They will face off on Thursday against Linn-Benton before traveling north to Salem to play Chemeketa in their final games before a short Christmas break.