BBCC pulls away from Spokane, 105-92
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Big Bend's Leo Behrend finishes a lay-up over Spokane's Orin Porter.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Big Bend's Joey Andrews collides with Spokane defenders Ryan Alexander and Cesar Sandoval.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Big Bend guard Jai Jai Ely tries to turn the corner.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Big Bend forward Jacob McCord pulls up for a shot in front of Cesar Sandoval.
MOSES LAKE — Zach Shepard and Leo Behrend raced in tandem down the court.
Shepard, with the ball, made eye contact with Behrend — the best leaper on Big Bend — and tossed him a lob that the 6-foot-4 wing finished over Spokane’s George Williams, igniting a capacity crowd inside the DeVries Activity Center.
It was the exclamation point on a game played at a pace that would have made the Golden State Warriors blush.
“That’s the jumper on the team,” said Shepard, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “Leo has the most hops probably in the NWAC so I knew if I was going to throw it up there, he was going to go get it no matter where I put it.”
The lob dunk was part of a 13-4 second-half run that allowed Big Bend to go from down one point to up eight. The Runnin’ Vikes led by as much as 16 points in the second half and beat Spokane 105-92.
It was the first meeting since Spokane ended Big Bend’s NWAC championship hopes in March.
And the Sasquatch were out to prove it was no fluke, making nine three-pointers in the first half to take a 55-48 lead at halftime.
“I just had a feeling,” head coach Mark Poth said. “If we shoot a little bit better and they cool off a little bit, I thought we’d have a good chance to get right back in the game and we made some nice runs, we were able to attack the rim, we got some fast break stuff, we got some lay-ups and easy buckets and I thought that was probably the big difference in the game.”
Shepard kept Big Bend close in the first half with 18 of his 23 points. Poth said it was Shepard’s “best game of the season” as the sophomore guard led the team in points, rebounds and steals while also drawing the assignment of Levi Taylor.
Taylor — the ninth-leading scorer in the NWAC — was limited to 19 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
“Defense wins games so I knew I had to stop him and couldn’t let him score,” Shepard said. “My coach gave me a good plan before the game — things to do, a way to stop him — and I kept it in mind.”
It was a homecoming for MLHS graduate Cesar Sandoval who starred for the Chiefs and now starts for the Sasquatch; Sandoval totaled 15 points and seven rebounds.
“It’s nice to come home and have people support still like that,” he said.
Score by halves
Big Bend — 48 57 102
Spokane — 55 37 92
Box score
Big Bend: Zach Shepard 23, Joey Andrews 22, Jai Jai Ely 21, Leo Behrend 11, Josh Erickson 11, Jacob McCord 17