Big Bend enters NWAC tourney as top team

MOSES LAKE — It will be a match-up of contrasting styles when Big Bend takes the court against Bellevue in its first-round NWAC Tournament game.

The Runnin’ Vikes do their name justice as the four-guard lineup gets up and down the court, scoring the second most points in the NWAC at 95.5. Conversely, Bellevue has the size to dump the ball down low and slow the game down. The Bulldogs average just a shade under 77 points per game.

“They’re a good-sized team,” head coach Mark Poth said. “They’re going to go 6’9”, 6’6”, 6’6” then about 6’4”, 6’2” so they’ve got really good size. Good big guys.”

Record-wise Bellevue began 0-6 in the North Region before winning 7 out of its final eight games to lock down the No. 4 seed.

“Right now they’re the hottest team out of the North and they’re a good, solid team so we’re going to have to really execute well and we’re going to have to shoot the ball well,” Poth said. “With their size they play a little 2-3 zone, they’ll man (defense) you, but they’re going to make you shoot the ball over their big perimeter so we’re going to have to hit some shots Saturday.”

Shooting is something the Runnin’ Vikes do well.

Big Bend as a team shoots 50 percent from the field — tied for first in the NWAC — and 38 percent from three-point range — tied for fourth in the NWAC.

Ryker Pierce and Mogga Lado lead the way with 23 and 17.38 points per game, respectively.

The 6-foot-7 Lado will be tasked with defending the rim against Bellevue’s size.

“We’re going to have to front the post down there,” Poth said. “Traditionally, they play a little bit more of a slow down game this year. But they had a game where they played Everett and it was 112 to 110 so they do have some athletes that get up and down the floor... We’re going to have to create tempo and get the ball up and down the floor to be successful so transition’s going to be huge Saturday.”

Recently, Big Bend wrapped up a second straight East Region championship and will undoubtedly still be ranked No. 1 when the final Alaska Airlines Men’s Basketball coaches poll is released today.

Last year, Big Bend entered the NWAC Tournament as a No. 1 seed, but went 0-2.

“You could’ve played that East all over again and maybe got another team on top,” Poth said. “We were able to win a lot of close games. Came back four or five minutes down a lot of those games, we stayed pretty healthy and things went well for us. But this team is a stronger club than we had last year. We’ve got better depth this year, a little bit more talented, but there’s a lot good teams in the NWAC.

“When you get to that NWAC Tournament you can kind of throw out records a little because it’s not uncommon for a four (seed) to beat a one and a three to beat a two so it’s going to be a great tournament.”

In the new format of the NWAC Tournament, the top two seeds in each region will host the first round and the winners will travel to Everett Community College for the Elite Eight. Poth is excited for the chance to play at venue that is designed for basketball and hopes that a nice crowd will show up to the DeVries Activity Center.

However, he did concede that the community’s attention might be turned westward.

“We hope we get a good crowd,” Poth said. “Probably depends on how well that (Moses Lake) high school girls team does, too. They could be playing in the championship that night.