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NWC Surprises Then 18th-Ranked Rivals To Salvage Weekend
How mad was the Northwest College men’s basketball team after its blowout loss on Friday?
“We were mad as hell,” said sophomore Nicky Desilien.
That’s because, as Desilien put it, the Trappers “were really really bad” during a 109-88 Region IX loss to Sheridan College at Cabre Gym in Powell. But instead of folding again one day later to NJCAA Division I’s then 18th-ranked Gillette Pronghorns, NWC instead took out its anger on the unsuspecting visitors.
A returning Chris Boucher scored 39 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, and Desilien added 27 points and seven assists as the Trappers knocked off Gillette 94-78 on Saturday.
“I think we bought in (Saturday),” Desilien said of the night-and- day difference between the Friday-Saturday contests. “We played defense ... we came back firing, man, because we didn’t come out ready [against Sheridan] and it showed, and we just wanted to get it back.”
Whatever NWC (14-4, 1-1) was missing against Sheridan returned quickly against Gillette. It may have been Boucher, who returned to action after missing the previous two games due to violating a team rule. The 6-10 sophomore forward came out with a vengeance early, scoring 14 points in just under 11 minutes of play as the Trappers led 31-14 at the 9:18 mark.
“I felt like it was the best thing in my life,” Boucher said of being back on the court. “It’s not fun watching your team lose, and I think everything was just going my way ... feels good to be back man.”
NWC and Gillette were in a tight battle early, as the Trappers held an 8-7 advantage before catching fire for what would ultimately serve as the decisive run. Desilien drained a 3-pointer to start the move, Colin May followed with a triple and Boucher followed with back-to-back treys for a 17-7 Trapper cushion with 14:34 remaining in the first half. Boucher hit his final two of four 3-pointers during the 26-7 push, his fourth coming moments before another 3-pointer from May that ended the run and had NWC ahead 34-14.
“I think yesterday just gave us the energy we needed,” Boucher added. “I think the game against Sheridan again just proved that were not unbeatable.
“And for me, it was just like ‘You know what, man, you’ve just got to come back and help the team as best you can ... you’ve already let them down once, and now you’ve got to get out there and help them win.’”
Gillette never stopped battling, and thanks to a Lorenzo Bonam dunk in which he was fouled, the subsequent free throw brought the Pronghorns within 84-73 with 2:49 left to play. But moments later, after Renard Suggs’ dunk brought Gillette within 88-76, Boucher took over again.
He nailed two free throws, followed by a rebound and long pass to an open Desilien who scored an easy fast-break layup. Then, after a Gillette turnover, Desilien found Boucher for an emphatic alley-oop dunk that pushed NWC’s advantage back to 18 as the final seconds ticked away.
“Having Chris on the court is definitely a difference- maker for us,” said NWC coach Brian Erickson. “He scores a lot of points and pulls down a lot of rebounds, and he’s blocking shots or changing shots out there.
“And the big thing is emotion,” Erickson continued. “I thought he did a great job last night cheering his teammates on from the bench and getting behind them. But when he has that on the floor, it changes us and it motivates us.”
May added nine points for the Trappers, all on 3-pointers, and Daryle Morgan chipped in eight.
SHERIDAN COLLEGE 109, NORTHWEST COLLEGE 88
With Boucher on the bench Friday, it appeared NWC wasn’t missing a beat in its first Region IX game of the year.
After the Generals’ Rudolphe Joly opened the scoring with a layup, the Trappers reeled off a 20-8 burst fueled by eight points from Dan Milota. Tyler Chandler’s driving layup gave NWC a 20-10 lead near the 14-minute mark in the first half, but Sheridan quickly turned the tables.
“I thought defensively we just weren’t in the right place,” Erickson said. “Sheridan is a good team and they took advantage.”
After falling behind early, the Generals made a monstrous 47- 20 run to end the first half with a 57-40 lead. Late in the second half, Morgan and Desilien sank consecutive layups to pull the Trappers within 79-68, but a quick 8-0 burst from Sheridan sealed NWC’s doom.
In the losing effort, May shined with 26 points, including six 3-pointers, while Milota finished with 17. Desilien added 14 and EJ Hubbard scored 10.
Earlier in the year, Erickson said he was excited to get Region IX play started as he wanted to see his team compete with the “Sheridans and Gillettes of the region.” After a 1-1 split against those two teams, Erickson said he’s convinced a little more consistency can yield even better results by season’s end.
“These were just two of the seven that we’re going to play, and they’re both two very tough teams,” Erickson said. “But I’m confident we’re good enough to compete with every team in this region. Didn’t get it done [Friday] which means we have a lot of work to do and that we have to work even harder to obtain our goal of trying to win this region.”