Your future, our focus
The Northwest College men’s basketball team comes to Cody on Saturday afternoon on a one-game winning streak.
Hosting the Game Gear All-Stars at Sweitzer Gym at 3 p.m., the Trappers conduct a home game 25 miles from their usual home gym.
Northwest improved to 5-9 last Saturday when Kyle Brown and Brian Howell scored 16 points each and Reme Torbert added 13 points in a 65-55 victory over Dawson Community College in Powell.
Lagio Grantsaan contributed nine points and 13 rebounds.
First-year coach Dawud Abdur-Rahkman, who only took over Oct. 15, sees signs of improvement, but also nagging inconsistency.
“It’s up-and-down,” he said. “It is still a learning stage. I thought it would be a little quicker. Sometimes we go blank and resort to old habits.”
The Trappers fell to Miles Community College 78-69 the day before, despite double-figure scorers Howell (15 points), Saheem Anthony (14) and Darius Webster (11, plus 10 rebounds).
Abdur-Rahkman said the team often shines, but poor shot selection and turnovers intervene.
“We’re sporadic,” he said. “It’s just everyone is on a learning curve. We’ve come a long way since day one.”
Saturday’s Northwest visit will also feature a 1 p.m. game with the Lady Trappers (1-10) meeting an all-star club.
Northwest’s women fell to Miles 69-48 and Dawson 69-68 last weekend.
Juliana Ribeiro was high scorer versus Miles with 10 points.
In the tight loss to Dawson, Tess Henry scored 16 points, followed by Selena Cudney and Berkley Larsen with 12 each.
The key to the men’s triumph over Dawson was second-half defense. After trailing 33-27 at the half, the Trappers permitted just 22 second-half points.
“We defended our butts off,” Abdur-Rahkman said. “That was important.”