Vikings end tournament with strong play
Big Bend and Hayes Garrity (shooting) finished as consolation champions in Seattle this weekend.
SEATTLE - After losing an epic quarterfinal game, the Big Bend Vikings basketball team wrapped up play at Shoreline Community College with a strong run.
That finish helped Big Bend claim the consolation championship of the Shoreline hosted Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAAC) Crossover Tournament held this past weekend.
Big Bend (5-2) overcame a 21-point deficit in the first half to push Skagit Valley CC into double overtime before losing 109-106 in Friday's quarterfinal.
"We were down 21 points in the first half and made a great comeback to battle them down the stretch," Big Bend head coach Mark Poth said. "We had two key starters foul out, but our players work hard and I was proud of their effort."
In the loss, Spencer Pingel and Ben Olayinka each scored 24 points for Big Bend while Viking Blake Skidmore added 22 points.
Skagit's Jeremy Juarez led all scorers with 37 points.
The Vikings forced the extra sessions despite being outshot 51 to 39 percent from the field, but they hit eight more three-pointers.
Olayinka also had 17 rebounds to lead Big Bend.
In the consolation semifinal the next evening, Big Bend broke open a close game at halftime to cruise to an 85-68 win over Linn-Benton CC.
The Vikings led 42-40 at intermission but broke lose after intermission with strong shooting that included ended up hitting 50 percent of their shots and nailing seven three pointers.
Skidmore scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Hayes Garrity finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, while Pingel scored 15 points.
On Sunday, Poth's crew clinched the consolation title with an impressive 110-83 win over Southwest Oregon CC.
Big Bend scored 63 first half points to lead by 21 at the break and they cruised from there.
Big Bend shot 55 percent from the field and outrebounded SWOCC 50-42.
"We played our best game of the season," Poth said. "That was the first game where we felt all of our players executed well on the offensive end."
Skidmore scored 38 points on 14-for-24 shooting and hit eight three-pointers while being named to the All-Tournament team. He also had seven rebounds.
Olayinka scored 31 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and Garrity and Pingel each finished with 12 points apiece.
Big Bend continues its season on Monday at the three-day, Clark Community College tournament.
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