BBCC women take two, drop one

BELLEVUE - The Big Bend Community College  (BBCC) Lady Vikings took two of three games at the Bellevue Classic Tournament in last weekend's round ball action.

Game one on Friday saw BBCC get by Mt. Hood Community College 66-56 on the strength of  Allie Kelsey's 19 points.

The Lady Vikings came storming out of the gate in the first quarter of play and were up 31-22 at intermission, then out scored the Bulldogs 35-34 in the second half to come away with the win.

"We were up by 12 early after coming out with full-court pressure and led by nine at the half," coach Preston Wilks said. "The second half we played strong and built a 19 point lead with about two minutes to go. But we allowed a few easy buckets in the last minute and won by 10."

Wilks said the outcome of the game was closer than it should've been.

"We were too aggressive on D, which resulted in  a lot of two-shot foul opportunities for them," he said.  "As a result, they had 29 free three attempts to our five."

BCC 80, BBCC 69

Game two of the tournament took place Saturday, as the Lady Vikings matched up with the host team. Unfortunately, BBCC didn't have the same success as they did had in game one, dropping the contest by 11 points.

"This was the semi-final game of the eight-team tourney against  undefeated and the NWAACC  No. 4 ranked Bellevue team," Wilks said. "We played well in the  first half, overcoming a 12 point deficit to cut the lead to four at halftime.  The second half was close until the last few minutes when they got some easy looks at the basket and built a lead that was too much to overcome."

Alli Nielsen had a double-double  in the game with 20 points and 10 boards to lead the way for BBCC.

BBCC 97, Umpqua 73

The third and final game of the tournament resembled more of a track meet between the Lady Vikings and Umpqua as the teams were off and running from the first whistle.

"Both teams started out fast the first few minutes," Wilks said. "We couldn't stop them and they couldn't stop us."

The fast pace played right into BBCC's game plan, Wilks said, as the Lady Vikings wanted to wear down a much taller team.

"They are perhaps the biggest team we will play all year, with a 6'3", 6'2", and a couple of 6'1" players," he said. " By the 10 minute mark of the second half, they were gassed and we were able to build a 15 point lead."

The gap increased to 25 with about  four minutes to go,  and BBCC ending up taking it to the  No. 7 ranked team in the  NWAACC, beating Umpqua by team by 24 points. 

"The greatest stat of the whole game is not the 97 points we put up on the board, but the 28 offensive rebounds we had as a team," Wilks said. "That (the rebounds) is a team high for me in my five years coaching, and truly awesome when you consider their size."

Allie Kelsey had an outstanding game for BBCC from the point guard position scoring  26 points and was named to the All Tournament Team.  Tiffany Martinez knocked down 14 points and Allie Kelsey add 12 in the winning effort. The victory earned the Lady Vikings a fourth-place finish at the Classic.

"Overall we are very happy with our play  this past weekend against two of the top-ranked teams in the NWAACC," Wilks said. "We play this Friday against Edmonds CC at 9 p.m., and against Quest University at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Big Bend Classic Tourney.