Your future, our focus
Late Friday night, Grantham Gillard was in the Northwest College gym practicing his jump shot.
He took 500 shots, 100 apiece from five spots on the floor, just as he tries to do every morning and night.
Saturday, as his Northwest College Trappers held off Sheridan College 92-88 in their last regular season game, it was as if Gillard was filling in his free afternoon time with bonus shooting.
The 6-foot-3 freshman scored 26 points and 18 of them were registered on six 3-pointers far enough from the hoop they might have been launched from Cody rather than Powell.
It was pretty much a revenge game against the Generals, who bested NWC 90-87 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Sheridan.
“We wanted to end things right,” Gillard said.
The 17-13 Trappers did that last week. They also upended Central Wyoming 88-79 in Riverton.
The valuable wins mean Northwest opens defense of the Region IX title Saturday at 2 p.m. at home against Miles Community College.
Gillard was one of five double-figure scorers versus Central.
High man was forward Sukhjot Bains with 19 points. Levi Londole scored 12, and Gillard and Jordan Rood scored 11. Jordyson Telfort added 10.
Although NWC ran out to a 13-3 lead in the first half, the margin didn’t last. Much like the first encounter Feb. 3, both teams alternated making big shots and stayed close.
Gillard had one stretch where he hit four 3-pointers in just over 2 1/2 minutes.
“Grantham was just killing it in the first half,” Trapper coach Brian Erickson said. “We had a lot of big-time plays by different guys.”
In the late going the contest was tied at 63, 65, 71, 79 and 81 before NWC edged ahead.
Rood played one of the finest games of his career with 20 points.
“My shot felt good,” Rood said. “We fought back, but they didn’t go away.”
Bains had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Making just five second half turnovers was useful too.
Patrick Savoy, who hit the winning hoop in Sheridan, scored 21 points and made a crucial deep shot from the right corner to pull the Generals within 90-88 with 15 seconds to go. But Bains sank two free throws.
Following last year’s regional championship and run to the National Junior College Athletic Association quarterfinals, this almost all-new Trapper team was slow to jell and had to overcome injuries.
“Something happened this week,” Erickson said. “The attitudes are different. It took a long time. It was what we’ve been looking for all year.”