LCC men hold firm to division lead with win over Chokers
Thursday, January 17, 2008 5:32 AM PST
By Rick McCorkle
The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleLower Columbia College coach Jim Roffler wasn't interested in avenging an earlier setback to Grays Harbor in the championship game of the NWAACC Crossover Tournament.
His focus on Wednesday was to keep his Red Devils atop the Western Division in their battle with the Chokers at Truman Myklebust Gym.
"We're not even the same team we were when we faced them in December in Moses Lake," Roffler said. "We don't even look at that as the same season. We're not looking to avenge losses, but we're looking to improve our club and stay on top of the league."
LCC's defense held Grays Harbor to one basket and a handful of free throws during an eight-minute span in the second half, which allowed the Devils to build a 17-point lead en route to a 94-79 victory.
The victory is the seventh straight and 11th in the last 13 outings for the ninth-ranked Devils (11-5, 4-0 league), who are the last undefeated team in the division. The loss snapped the sixth-ranked Chokers' three-game winning streak, dropping them to 12-4 and 3-2.
"There's no question the team that plays the best, hardest, smartest and most consistent defense will win when you get into league," Roffler said. "Coming out of halftime, we had some ideas of what we could do defensively and offensively to put the pressure on. We made a nice run and that proved to be the case."
LCC stretched a 41-40 halftime lead to 52-42 in the first four minutes of the second period when the Chokers came alive. A series of free throws, along with a layup from Courtney Beach and a trey from Brad Hodge, brought Harbor back to within 56-55 with 13:21 left.
But the Chokers' offense managed only two free throws in the next 3:30 as they went from trailing by one to a 74-57 deficit with nine minutes left.
During LCC's run, which included 11 unanswered points - highlighted by a 3-pointer from the top of the arc by Josh Troyer - the Devils displayed their ball-handling by passing to the open player.
"We're stressing making the extra pass," Roffler said. "Every team is different defensively, and you have to feel them out during the game and make the adjustments. You have to know where the ball has to go in order to create an advantage."
Point guard Marice Tolliver dished four of his game-high six assists in the second half as the Devils made 10 assists in the final 20 minutes.
During the Devils' run, Tolliver sliced between two defenders in the LCC key for a layup, made a steal that set up Troyer's 3-ball and hammered home a jam as he finished with 12 points.
After making only 39 percent of their first-half shots (14-of-36), the Devils' run-and-gun offense made half of its 34 shots in the final period. At the defensive end, LCC allowed the Chokers to make 16-of-35 shots in the first half, but allowed only 10-of-31 in the last 20 minutes.
"We still have a lot to learn offensively," Roffler said. "We have lulls where we're on the verge of knocking a team out and we let them back in."
Harbor hit half of its shots in the final three minutes when LCC led by as many as 21 points.
Robert Edwards led the Devils with 16 points, with Elisha Moaning coming off the bench for 15. Alex King had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Michael Hallin just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 caroms.
"We're getting better," Roffler said. "We've been working hard on defense in practice and working on coming up with what works best for our team so we can play to our strengths.
"We really took it to them in the second half," Roffler added, "and it really felt good."
The Red Devils entertain Centralia at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Red Devils 94, Chokers 79
GRAYS HARBOR (79) -
Quillar Marion 27, Nick Schultens 23, Courtney Beach 7, Bryan Trask 5, Brad Hodge 3, Cameron Edison 7, Josh Hawks 3, Lance Anderson 2, Will Thomas 2, Aric Cleverly 0.
LOWER COLUMBIA (94) -
Robert Edwards 16, Alex King 13, Michael Hallin 9, Josh Troyer 8, Ryan Hoff 7, Elisha Moaning 15, Marice Tolliver 12, James Gehring 7, Isaac Jimcoily 7, Chris Coleman 0.
Halftime: LCC 41, GHC 40.
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