Your future, our focus
Numbers rarely tell the whole story in sports.
When Northwest College men’s basketball coach Brian Erickson reviewed the final stat sheet from last Saturday’s Region IX playoff game at Sheridan there was much to like.
Except there was one problem. The Trappers lost 62-58.
That was despite out-rebounding the hosts 47-32, committing only 12 turnovers and outshooting the Generals 84.6 percent to 47.1 percent from the foul line.
“We outplayed them,” Erickson said. “Overall, you look at the stats and you think you should win that game.”
There was one little statistic that mitigated against that, however. Northwest shot just 29.6 percent from the floor and made just 5-of-23 three-point attempts.
“We couldn’t make a jump shot or even lay-ups,” Erickson said. “But we still had our opportunities.”
The defeat ended the year for the 18-13 Trappers.
The team’s two big front-court guns, forward Sukjhot Bains (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Levi Londale (15 points) came through.
Back-up Damon Leach came off the bench to score 8 points and collect 11 rebounds. Luc Lombardy provided a bit of a spark by going 2-2 from the field and 2-2 from the free-throw line in just seven minutes of play.
But some top players had the worst shooting days of the season. Guard Jonathan Koud was 0-for-10. Guard Blake Hinze was 1-for-9.
Ericson said the game was officiated strangely, with the refs allowing all kinds of physical contact to pass without a whistle.
“He got knocked down 10 times too,” Erickson said of Koud.
Northwest led 31-24 at halftime, but the frigid shooting truly kicked in during the second half.
Hinze said the scoring opportunities seemed to be there.
“We just couldn’t finish,” he said. “We just couldn’t make our shots. A lot of us didn’t have the game we usually do.”
It was difficult to accept the abrupt ending to the season.
“I don’t know what to do,” Hinze said of his free time. “It was a good year.”
(Lew Freedman can be reached at lew@codyenterprise.com.)