NWAC-ranked Red Devils put Chokers to the fire in doubleheader sweep

The second-ranked men’s basketball team in the NWAC, the Lower Columbia Red Devils, walked into GHC Gym on Saturday afternoon and had to fight its way out.

Grays Harbor College forced turnovers and executed defensive stops to give Lower Columbia fits through this NWAC Western Division contest, but couldn’t get into the lead in a hard-fought 77-66 loss.

In the women’s game, the fourth-ranked Red Devils used a 15-3 run to finish the first quarter, then extended it into a lead they never relinquished for a 69-54 victory over the Chokers.

Men

Red Devils 77, Chokers 66

GHC may not have led one second of this divisional contest with Lower Columbia, but the Red Devils were not comfortable at all with the confines of GHC Gym.

The Chokers’ defense made the Red Devils work for every possession and forced enough turnovers to keep themselves in the game. Lower Columbia led by as many as 16 in the second half, but that came on a game-clinching 17-3 run after Grays Harbor got to within two, 57-55, with 8 minutes remaining.

Slowly, but surely, the Chokers got stops on defense and key baskets from sophomore sharpshooter Jacob Rainey, who led the team with 21 points. However, Rainey’s teammates stepped up to support him and give GHC more options to score.

After trailing 34-26 at the half, GHC got key baskets to close to within two for the first time since the early seconds of the game, 50-48, with 10:40 remaining. Three-point baskets from John Robinson and Kodi Leslie, along with drives from Rainey and Jordan Phillips and inside work from Malik Redmond, keyed the comeback.

Rainey scored four points on back-to-back possessions to keep the Red Devils from getting away and a top-of-the-key trey from Leslie trimmed the deficit back to two, 57-55, with 8:18 left. Then, the NWAC-ranked visitors got their run — a 17-3 sprint keyed by inside baskets from Elijah Cotton-Welch and Devin Johnson and two big 3-pointers from Keun Palu-Thompson — for a 74-58 lead with 3:41 remaining.

GHC tried one last comeback, finishing the game with a 9-3 spurt, but ran out of time and possessions.

“I really think Lower Columbia is the best team in the NWAC and they are in our division,” GHC head coach Alonzo Cole said. “If they play hard, we can beat them. We went into the half down by six and we felt like we could have been up by 10. (Jacob) knew he had to step up and be the alpha male out there. Since last year, he’s our go-to guy. If we need the points, he’ll get it. We just need a few other players to support him.”

Robinson added a double-double — 10 points and 13 rebounds — for the Chokers and Phillips added 11 points.

Women

Red Devils 69, Chokers 54

The opportunities were there for Grays Harbor to stay close and make it rough on Lower Columbia in the opener of this divisional doubleheader, but the Chokers didn’t take them.

After playing toe-to-toe with the Red Devils for most of the first quarter, the Chokers watched the visitors take the game over by finishing the opening frame with a 15-3 run and a 28-17 lead that was never relinquished. GHC led 14-13 on a Alexia Thrower jumper from the top of the key with 3:13 left in the quarter before the run.

An evenly played second quarter ushered in haltime, a 42-30 Lower Columbia lead, and then Grays Harbor got a chance to get back into the contest. The Red Devils had a slow third quarter, giving away 11 turnovers and shooting just 4-for-13 from the field.

However, the Chokers couldn’t take advantage — seven turnovers and just 2-for-15 shooting from the field — to fall further behind, 55-35, after three. The Red Devils emptied their bench in the fourth quarter and the Chokers finished the contest with a 16-6 run in the final 6 1/2 minutes.

“(LCC’s) energy, coming in with 15 players, gave them the open holes they needed,” GHC head coach Chad Allan said. “Once they hit those threes and took the lead, we’d try to cut the lead. However, we’d have a bobble or a missed shot that they’d turn into points on the other end. We just never got enough momentum.”

Thrower led GHC with a double-double — 18 points and 12 rebounds — and Monet Salazar added 10 points.

On Wednesday, Grays Harbor will hit the road for another NWAC Western Division doubleheader, this time at Centralia College.

Men

Lower Columbia College (77) — Miller, Cotton 3, Sweet 5, Palu-Thompson 25, Cotton-Welch 5, Lord 3, Johnson 19, Naga 3, Morrow 6, Solomon. FG — 28-51. FT — 14-25.

Grays Harbor College (66) — Hayes, Hickle 4, Rowland 1, Redmond 6, Robinson 10, Rainey 21, Phillips 11, Bean 3, Leslie 10. FG — 22-61. FT — 17-26.

Halftime: Lower Columbia College 34, Grays Harbor College 26.

Women

LCC 28 14 13 14 — 69

GHC 17 13 5 19 — 54

Lower Columbia (69) — Westlund, Doerr, Abbott 10, Hinrichs 6, Dotson 8, Roy 4, Lewis 2, Crews 7, Boyce 4, Hockett 2, Lord 6, Cannon 11, Gardner 3, Chartraw 6. FG — 26-70. FT — 11-23.

Grays Harbor College (54) — Brisbois 2, Begay 8, Wilson 2, Falealii 6, Thrower 18, Efferson 3, Sikora 3, Brasher-Norwood 2, Salazar 10. FG — 20-58. FT — 10-11.