Vikings drop two tourney games

BELLEVUE — A visit to Bellevue Community College and a chance to make an early season impression in Northwest Athletic Association of Community College (NWAACC) basketball play fell by the wayside this past weekend for the Big Bend Vikings.

The Vikings (4-3) dropped both contests at the Bellevue Crossover Tournament, one of four going on throughout the NWAACC this past weekend.

Big Bend lost its first-round game to Lane Community College 73-65 on Friday and followed that up with a 93-81 loss to Green River Community College in the consolation semifinals the following day.

“We didn’t play a very good weekend,” Big Bend coach Mark Poth said. “We didn’t play very well against Lane. They are a good solid team and we just shot as poorly as we had all season. It was just one of those nights where we didn’t shoot well from the two-point mark or the three-point mark.”

Against Lane, the Vikings shot 31 percent from the field, including only 19 percent from beyond the arc, on six-for-31 shooting.

Jeff Ranstrom led Big Bend with 12 points and nine rebounds while William Winn added 11 points in the loss.

Lane led 42-33 at halftime and held on during an even second-half of play.

On Saturday, the Vikings played Green River in the tournament’s Consolation Semifinals and dropped a high-scoring affair.

“We shot great from the three-point line,” Poth said. “But we couldn’t hit from two-point range. Usually you don’t see that.”

The Vikings hit 13 three-point shots on the night for a solid 50 percent clip, however, they only made 12-of-39 from two-point range, contributing to a 38 percent shooting night.

Green River held a slim 42-39 halftime lead but managed to shoot 49 percent in the second half as they pulled away.

“We didn’t do the other things you need to do to win and we didn’t compensate for our poor overall shooting,” Poth said.

Winn led Big Bend with 25 points, including seven three-point shots, while Antonio Snow added 14 points, and Michael Hattar and Ranstrom each put in 11 points.

Big Bend was also plagued by 22 turnovers.

“This tournament showed us some of the weaknesses we have right now and the things we need to work on as a team,” Poth said. “We feel positive about our team and that we can have a real good year. But we have a lot of work to do to prepare for the Eastern Region games.”