CBC men hungry for more in NWAC tournament

After ending a lengthy drought in the NWAC tournament, the Columbia Basin College men’s basketball team is eager to keep the momentum going.

The Hawks, who clinched the NWAC East’s No. 4 playoff seed in their final game of the regular season, beat West champion Lower Columbia in last weekend’s NWAC regional round. It was CBC’s first win in the tournament since finishing fourth in 2007. The Hawks went 0-2 in 2009, 2014 and 2015.

“These last couple games, our whole team has stepped up. These have been our best games,” sophomore swingman Andrew Reddout said. “I feel like it all came together and we’re all peaking at once. Everybody’s playing at the top of their game now, and they realize if we do lose, it’s basically over. We’re going for that championship.”

In Friday’s quarterfinals, the Hawks (14-14) will face Whatcom (21-9) at 6 p.m. at Everett Community College.

Four of the eight remaining teams hail from the NWAC East, a fact not lost on CBC coach Rolando Garcia or his players. Big Bend and Spokane are on the opposite side of the bracket from CBC and Yakima Valley.

“I’ve always said that our region is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, but every game in our region is hard,” Garcia said. “You better bring your A game, or you’re going to get run out of the water.”

The Hawks finished 7-7 in NWAC East play, wrapping up the regular season with an 88-85 victory at Walla Walla behind Reddout’s 32 points and 11 rebounds.

In the 63-53 regional-round win at Lower Columbia, Reddout had 19 points and 16 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season. Brad Scott (Southridge High School) scored 17 points, and Aaric Wren (Chiawana) finished with 11.

“We didn’t shoot very well (45 percent from the field and 64 percent on free throws), and we still had 17 turnovers,” Garcia said. “There’s still a lot of areas we need to improve on. I told them after the game: ‘I’m not going to look at our stats. We just won a pretty good game. I want you to celebrate, but we have to come back on Monday and work even harder.’ ”

Still, there’s a lot to be happy about.

Garcia is pleased with the contributions he has been getting from his lineup, including from Wren. The sophomore forward shot 4-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with a season-high 17 points in the must-win game against Walla Walla.

“I’ve always seen myself as I want to help my team in the best way I can,” Wren said. “Some nights, it’s not about the scoring, it’s about playing defense or getting rebounds or doing the little stuff. Lately, I’ve needed to assert myself offensively, and some teams haven’t seen me as a threat, and I need to take advantage of that.”

Meanwhile, the freshmen have grown up at the right time. Scott and Cardell Jones (Prosser) are averaging double figures in scoring, while Dustin Petragallo (Kamiakin) has had some big games, including a 21-point, eight-rebound effort against Blue Mountain in January.

Reddout was a freshman on the CBC team that made the 2014 conference tournament in Kennewick, but he sat out last season because of grades. He is determined to make the most of his final shot with the Hawks.

“It’s been awesome,” Reddout said. “It’s been a fun ride, and I’m looking to continue doing what I’m doing and help push our team to the championship. I put a lot of work in the last year, and seeing that different perspective from sitting on the side of the court, it’s amazing to be back out there and be a leader on this team and helping us and guiding us to win a championship.”

SEASON ACCOLADES: Reddout was named to the Eastern Region first team and All-Defensive team.

On the women’s side, CBC’s Marissa Caballero was an Eastern Region first-team pick. CBC’s Cayla Jones and Walla Walla’s Kennedy Corrigan (Richland) made the second team.

Corrigan and CBC’s Kylee Garrick were selected to the East’s All-Defensive team.

Caballero, Garrick and CBC teammates Amber Jones and Trew Tucker made the women’s basketball Winter Term Academic Excellence team along with Walla Walla’s Corrigan and Kayla Green.

Walla Walla’s Mitch Mueller (Kennewick) was on the men’s basketball winter academic excellence squad.

This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 7:14 PM with the headline "CBC men hungry for more in NWAC tournament."