Lady Vikings fall to no. 1 team

MOSES LAKE — Wisdom gained sometimes comes via victory opportunities lost.

Ask the Big Bend women’s basketball team about it after their 83-66 loss to Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges’ (NWAACC) number one team Clackamas Community College on Saturday.

The game was a part of the Big Bend Community College Basic American Foods Basketball Classic/Ryan Flock Memorial Tournament.

“You should have seen how disappointed the girls were because they realized they are just as good as the number one team in the NWAACC,” Big Bend coach Preston Wilks said. “ “We outhustled them and had an 18-board advantage, but they had 17 turnovers and we had 35 which erased any advantage we had there.”

Wilks’ statement of his squad being in the same stratosphere as Clackamas (6-0) doesn’t come without merit.

Big Bend (2-2) came out firing on all cylinders as they jumped to an 18-11 lead on a Dana Bates basket and maintained a 27-22 edge with 6:58 to go in the first half on a Sarah Smith three-pointer.

“In the first half we came out strong,” Wilks said. “We played man even if we knew they’d spread it out and attack us and the girls did good at first. We went to the match-up zone and that caught them off them guard. Over the first 10 minutes of the first half we hadn’t committed a turnover. We looked really good.”

Then came the run that changed the tide.

Clackamas, sparked by three three-pointers over a 81-second span helped the Cougars from Oregon storm back on a 19-6 spurt to end the first half with a 41-33 lead.

“After that the girls didn’t play as loose as they had been,” Wilks said.

But it didn’t mean the game was over.

Big Bend after some halftime adjustments managed to tie the game back up at 47, when Bates hit a three-pointer at the 12:23 mark.

“We came out and played well to get back into the game and when Dana hit the three I thought that was it and we’d be back in it,” Wilks said. “Unfortunately we had three consecutive turnovers and were right back down by seven again.”

Clackamas did build their lead back up to 54-47 behind a sturdy full-court zone press they used to commit those turnovers into layups.

The closest Big Bend would get again came as Ali Whitted made two free throws with 10:52 left in the game to make the score 54-49.

Then a 23-11 spurt by the Cougars ended all doubt of the final outcome.

Bates led Big Bend with 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Alex Canfield chipped in 13 points and Whitted added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“This gave us a chance to see that talent-wise we are just as good as the best in the NWAACC,” Wilks said. “Now are determined to get to work to be one of the best.”