Viking men stay hot, women stay cold
MOSES LAKE - The Big Bend Community College basketball teams are on decidedly different paths right now.
While the men won for the seventh time in eight league outings on Saturday, the women dropped to 3-5 in the East Division of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges and are in serious jeopardy of missing the NWAACC tournament.
The Viking men placed four scorers in double figures en route to a 92-87 victory over the Yakima Valley Yaks at DeVries Activity Center. But the women lost their fourth straight outing by allowing the Yaks to shoot 55 percent from the field in a 97-83 victory.
The men had a comfortable 89-77 lead late in the second half before Yakima Valley made things interesting with a 10-3 spurt. But Daley Landon and his supporting cast proved to be a bit too much for the Yaks to handle.
Landon, the Vikings' leading scorer for the season, hit four 3-pointer and was a perfect 7 of 7 at the free-throw line en route to 29 points.
He got plenty of help - point guard James York scored 16 points, including three treys, while Brett Vriesman scored 15 points and Cameron Mero added 14.
The Vikings were only 10 of 35 from 3-point land (29 percent) and turned the ball over 22 times, but limited the Yaks to 2 of 22 (9 percent) from beyond the arc and forced 25 miscues.
Yakima Valley had a 50-39 edge in rebounding, but again, Big Bend found a way to make up for it as its bench outscored the Yaks' 16-8.
Yakima's Anthony Johnson led all scorers with 31 points, hitting 11 of 18 shots from the floor. Teammate LaMar Anglin had 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting, while Spencer Adams contributed 15 points.
In Saturday's opening game, the Lady Vikings stayed right with the Yaks during the first 20 minutes, trailing 50-44 at the break. Big Bend did a tremendous job of getting to the foul line and converting, going 12 of 14 at the charity stripe in the first half.
But the Vikings made only 6 of 10 foul shots in the second half, and Yaks never stopped hitting shots from everywhere on the court. Yakima Valley made 35 of its 65 field-goal attempts and was 18 of 22 from the foul line (82 percent).
Big Bend did pick up 45 rebounds to Yakima's 32, with Dana Bates and Kaitie Poston collecting a team-high eight boards apiece. But the Vikings were also undone by 29 turnovers, negating the 23 they forced the Yaks into.
Big Bend's Kim Bluff had a game-high 23 points, including four 3-pointers, but was only 7 of 20 from the floor. Poston added 11 points and three steals, while point guard Misty Ostlie added 10 points but committed 10 turnovers.
Chelsey Nill led four Yakima double-digit scorers with 21 points. Alex Moore-Porter scored 20 on 9 of 10 shooting, with Andrea Blodgett adding 15 points and Kylie Shaw chipping in 11.
Both Big Bend squads are back in action at home this weekend. They host Treasure Valley on Friday and Blue Mountain on Saturday. Friday's doubleheader begins at 6 p.m. and Saturday's starts at 2 p.m.