Your future, our focus
Playing time, faith placed in him by the coach and his own growing confidence have turned forward Sukhjot Bains into one of Northwest College’s most reliable weapons.
This past week, as the NWC men’s basketball team fell to Region IX’s two top teams, the freshman from British Columbia kept his short career on an upward curve.
Although Northwest saw a four-game winning streak end and now sits at 14-10, Bains’ steady performances are one of the reasons why the Trappers are likely to finish the season strongly.
Northwest lost to Casper, 98-83 on the road and were toppled, 103-80 by Gillette at home in Powell. Gillette, 24-0, is one of the top teams in the nation.
Against Casper, Bains scored 18 points and ripped down 9 rebounds. Against Gillette, he scored 15 points and collected 7 rebounds.
“I’m playing much better than I was in the beginning,” Bains said. “Coach has more confidence in me. He looks at me as a leader now. We have a bunch of good players and you have to find your role.”
The Trappers appeared to be playing at a higher level than any other point in the season before last week’s losses. But the results reflect the competition.
“We started making strides,” coach Brian Erickson said. “So it was, ‘Let’s see where we’re at.’ We really competed against Casper. They wanted it more as a team and played more together as a team.”
Northwest took the lead a few times against Casper, but faded at the end. Bains said the team needed to push harder.
“We weren’t as excited as we should have been,” he said of moving in front of the Thunderbirds.
As for Gillette, Bains thought the other guys were probably just too good. What was for a short time a close game was broken open by a 10-0 run.
“They’re so good and talented,” Erickson said of the Pronghorns.
Bains is 6-foot-6, but has been playing more like a center. He is an opportunist around the basket.
“He’ll attack the rim and he puts up follow shots,” Erickson said.
Bains has the knack of tracking the ball when it bounces off the rim. He isn’t the tallest guy on the court and he doesn’t out-jump everyone. But his hands turn into magnets around the ball.
“I get easy shots off rebounds,” Bains said. “Since I’m not the tallest they don’t look to box me out all the time. I’m going to be active. Part of it is anticipating where the ball is going. Positioning is important.”
The Trappers’ next games are against Sheridan and Little Big Horn, games they are hungry to win.
“Hopefully, we can get back on track,” Bains said.