For a stretch of six minutes in the second half Wednesday night, the Columbia Basin College men’s basketball team looked invincible.
In that stretch, the Hawks outscored visiting Treasure Valley 16-0, defensively forcing the Chukars into turnovers and bad shot selection.
Unfortunately for CBC, the team has just eight players on the active roster. The Hawks, who had just found themselves down by 21 points and then cut that deficit to five, just could not stay with the high-speed Chukars.
In the end, Treasure Valley won the NWAACC East Region contest 81-68.
“We just ran out of steam,” said CBC coach Rolando Garcia. “We do not have enough firepower. But you know, they tried.”
Garcia was nervous about this contest because the Chukars had beaten national powerhouse North Idaho.
“I told the guys to not try to play to their game plan, which is a fast pace,” Garcia said.
But when a game gets going, it’s hard to stop. And the Hawks tried to run with Treasure Valley.
Guys like De’Sean Mattox and James Livingston kept hammering 3’s, and the Chukars held a 42-29 lead.
When Treasure Valley came out in the second half, it continued to pull away with a 10-0 run for a 52-31 lead.
Then something clicked for the Hawks in that 16-0 run.
“Our defensive intensity picked up and we started making our shots,” said Garcia.
Indeed, five different Hawks scored in the run, including Chiawana grad Kyler DeWitt making two treys.
And suddenly, with 9:15 left in the game, Treasure Valley only led 52-47.
But James Johnson’s 3-point play 20 seconds later stopped the CBC run, and the Hawks (0-2 East, 1-11 overall) couldn’t answer.
TREASURE VALLEY — Mattox 5-11 4-6 18, Willis 9-13 1-2 20, Fletcher 4-13 1-4 9, Coffin 2-6 1-2 6, Johnson 2-6 2-3 6, J.Williams 2-4 0-0 5, S.Williams 1-1 1-2 3, McKie 1-1 0-0 2, Campbell 1-3 1-2 4, Livingston 2-5 0-0 6, Burgess 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 29-64 13-23 81.
COLUMBIA BASIN — Ronquillo 3-10 2-2 8, Harrell 1-8 2-4 4, Mahoney 7-8 4-7 18, DeWitt 4-22 3-4 14, Corrigan 6-10 0-0 12, Garca 2-5 0-0 4, Crandall 2-6 1-2 5, Liek 1-3 0-3 3. Totals 26-72 12-22 68.
Halftime—TV 42-29. 3-point goals—TV 10-25 (Mattox 4-7, Livingston 2-5, Willis 1-1, J.Williams 1-3, Campbell 1-3, Coffin 1-2, Fletcher 0-4), CBC 4-20 (DeWitt 3-12, Liek 1-1, Crandall 0-3, Harrell 0-3, Ronquillo 0-1). Rebounds—TV 45 (Willis 9), CBC 46 (Mahoney 9). Assists—TV 13 (Willis 4), CBC 21 (DeWitt 9). Turnovers—TV 17, CBC 18. Fouls—TV 18, CBC 18.
