Vikings to host No.1 team
MOSES LAKE — A solid start to the new women’s basketball season will be tested as the Big Bend Community College Lady Vikings face their biggest test to date.
On Saturday, as part of the Big Bend Community College Basic American Foods Basketball Classic, Big Bend plays host to Clackamas Community College, starting at 2 p.m.
The Cougars, the top-ranked school in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, are from Oregon City, Ore.
“Clackamas is a great program and one of the top five programs year after year in the NWAACC,” Big Bend coach Preston Wilks said. “They have been to the NWAACC tourney for many consecutive years now, and we see many of their players move on to the next level.”
Clackamas comes into the game at 5-0 and with an average margin of victory of 29 points-per-game.
“They return a great group of sophomores, that last year made the NWAACC tourney final with four freshmen,” Wilks said. “ The returning players are just tough as nails. They can all penetrate, shoot the 3, are tenacious defenders, and rebound well for their size.”
But so far the season has started off pretty well for the Vikings too.
Last weekend they completed a third-place run at the Bulldog Classic in Bellevue, going 2-1 to start off the new campaign.
In fact, Big Bend defeated Green River 75-37 to start the tournament, a team Clackamas beat 75-44 only two days earlier.
Now the two teams have a chance to see how close they are and not just on paper.
“They were at the same crossover tourney as us last year, and we were scheduled to play them in the Tournament Championship game, but had it canceled due to snow,” Wilks said. “We saw them play last year in that tourney and were very impressed about how his kids just battle on each possession.”
The last time the two teams played was in the 2007-2008 NWAACC crossover tournament.
“We played them in the Consolation Game final that year and we were able to take advantage of our quickness and caught them off guard and beat them by 31 that day,” Wilks said. “I’m sure (their coach) hasn’t forgotten and will probably have his team try and repay the favor.”
Big Bend hopes to count on the hot play of some Lady Vikings, including Dana Bates who was named to the Bulldog Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 19 points and 12 rebounds over three games.
“I believe our kids will be ready for the challenge of playing the number one ranked team,” Wilks said. “I believe we have a couple of advantages going into this game. First, it’s a home game for us. Secondly, they are playing the night before on the road against a tough Spokane Falls team. If we can go toe to toe with them for most of the game we’ll be in good shape to finish the game strong.”
What could also help the Lady Vikings’ chances is a strong crowd to come out and support them.
“Hopefully hoops fans in the Basin will take this opportunity to come and watch a great game on Saturday,” Wilks said. “We hope to get fans there to support our players and to hopefully witness what could be considered one of the biggest victories in recent years for our program.”