Your future, our focus
For the second time of the fall semester, Northwest College men’s basketball participated in scrimmages. The Trappers ventured to Glendive, Montana, on Saturday for exhibitions against Dawson Community College and Williston State College.
Because of COVID-19 precautions, the team wasn’t allowed to leave Powell until 6 a.m., leading to a late arrival in Glendive. NWC showed up to the gym with 16 minutes on the clock before tip-off of its first game, leaving minimal time for warmups.
“I was impressed that there wasn’t a lot of complaining,” Trapper head coach Jay Collins said. “We realized at that point, we were just lucky to play.”
Since Northwest’s first round of scrimmages on Oct. 17, things have been rocky for the program. Due to COVID-19, the Trappers were forced to “start and stop” team operations constantly, giving the team only three to four real practices before Saturday’s exhibitions.
Even so, Collins saw his squad improve on the defensive end.
“We had a little better focus defensively,” Collins said. “We still have a long way to go, but it was a little better than our first scrimmages.”
Some of the players who stood out to Collins included sophomores Jerome Mabry, Alan Swenson and Jaren Fritz.
Mabry was “tough” and a “phenomenal athlete” in the exhibitions, the coach said, while Fritz “shot well” and Swenson “did well pushing the ball.”
While it was beneficial for the team to play in a game setting again, Collins is taking his observations from the Oct. 17 scrimmages more seriously.
“The first was a lot more indicative of where we’re at,” Collins said. “But it was good to see the willingness for them to compete through adversity.”
The weekend’s contests also gave the coach more film to study.
“The best thing is we have it on video,” Collins said. “We’ll see where we’re at before they get seven weeks off.”
Northwest College will begin its regular season on Jan. 22 with a tournament hosted at Salt Lake Community College.