Inexperience has CBC men’s basketball team searching for answers

Basketball at a two-year college is hard to manage. You either have a wealth of experience, a roster full of freshmen who still are trying to make the leap from high school to college, or a mix of the two.

Columbia Basin College men’s coach Rolando Garcia has the task of dealing with the least desirable of those options.

The Hawks, who are 0-5 in NWAC East play and 1-15 overall, have two sophomores and 12 freshmen on their roster.

“It’s been a trying season,” Garcia said. “The good thing about our group, is they try as hard as they can. It is an adjustment. A lot of them haven’t seen this kind of pressure on defense. The level of competition is taken to a new level. It has opened their eyes.”

The Hawks, who lost a 76-70 game against Big Bend on Saturday, will travel to Spokane on Monday, and will host Walla Walla Community College on Saturday.

CBC has scored an average of 69.19 points per game this season, while allowing 86.9. They have been in games, but also have been hurt by their shooting. The Hawks are shooting 39 percent from the floor, 27 percent from the 3-point line and 60 percent from the free-throw line.

“If we would make half the shots we have missed,” Garcia said of close games. “We work on those every single day. We work on defense, rebounding and closing out. I keep telling them we will get there. You have to believe in yourself and your teammates.”

While the Hawks struggle to find their way on the court, fans have no trouble putting faces with the names as 10 players have ties to the Mid-Columbia.

“We have a good following and the continued support from the parents is awesome,” Garcia said. “I just wish the outcome was better. We need to put CBC men’s basketball back on the map. We have a lot of local kids, but what makes it hard is some of these kids come from successful programs and we are trying to get 14 different players to play as one. It’s my job to get them to play together.”

Gabe Vorheis (Southridge), a first-team all-Mid-Columbia Conference player last season with the Suns, leads the Hawks with 14.23 points points per game, with Kason Blair (Prosser) chipping in 9.5 and Brad Scott (Southridge) nine.

Garcia said he had hoped to have a more balanced team this season with six returning starters, but two did not make grades, and two left to pursue music careers. But the group of freshmen brings a variety of talents, and some height with 6-foot-10 Gabe Smith (Richland), 6-9 Levi Noethe (Vale, Ore.) and 6-8 Scott Larson (Kamiakin).

“Our recruiting has gotten us a few posts and a lot of guards,” Garcia said. “I love that we have height. But we are young and inexperienced. If you were to ask me, when we signed all of these young men, if our record would be this way, I would say never. But I wouldn’t trade this group for anything. They come to practice every day and give 110 percent. I know they believe they can do it. Just like in life, nothing is ever easy. You have to go out and earn it.”

And maybe have a few shots fall your way.

This story was originally published January 22, 2017 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Inexperience has CBC men’s basketball team searching for answers."