Your future, our focus
Teams Finding Their Identities
Trapper basketball had a tough start to their season over the weekend, with the men’s team going 0-3 and the women’s team going 1-2.
They played Bismarck State College, United Tribes Technical College and Yellowstone Christian College over the course of four days.
Both teams played Bismarck on Friday and then turned around and played United Tribes on Saturday.
“For the weekend, the struggle was turnovers,” said Janis Beal, women’s head coach. “We can’t have 30 turnovers a game and expect to compete, especially against good teams.”
The women’s team lost to Bismarck, 94-65.
Julynne Silva, a freshman from Barcarena, Brazil, was high scorer with 11 points. Silva was followed by Dallas Petties, Alexi Paynes and Lauren Hinckley, who had eight points each.
For the game, the team shot 38 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent on 3-pointers, and 71.4 percent from the free throw line.
Charrie McArthur, Payne and Hinckley each had two 3-pointer shots and Jessie Lessard had one.
Against United Tribes, NWC lost 76-61. The lead changed only once in the game.
The Trappers shot 74.2 percent from the free throw line and 34.3 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Kiara Marlow was high scorer with 15 points. Dani McManamen was next with 11 points, going 7-of-9 at the free throw line.
For the men, Bismarck beat the Trappers 73-53, while United Tribes claimed a 99-93 win.
Against Bismarck, Jonathan Koud led the Trappers with 11 points, followed closely by Sukhjot Bains and Levi Londole with 10 points each. The team’s 3-point shots came from Skyler Zabriskie, Koud, and Luc Lombardy, who each sank one.
The Trappers made 36.8 percent of their shots from the floor, 30.4 percent of 3-point tries and went 50 percent from the free throw line.
NWC’s shooting improved against United Tribes, making 71.4 percent of its free throws, 55.6 percent of shots from the floor and 39.1 percent on 3-pointers.
Sukhjot Bains led the Trappers with 23 points. Koud had 14 and Zabriskie and Marshal McArthur each had 13. The lead changed 16 times in Saturday’s contest, with the teams pulling into a tie on seven different occasions.
“It’s the small things; we got to do the small things well to be winning games,” said Brian Erickson, men’s head coach. “Free throws — our goal is to shoot 70 percent. Less turnovers, more opportunities.”
On Tuesday, both teams played their first home games against Yellowstone Christian College.
The women’s team prevailed with a dominant 94-55 win. Charri McArthur was lead scorer with 18 points. Also scoring in double digits was Hinckley with 14 and Marlow with 10.
The women sank 71.4 percent of their free throws, 58.6 percent of their shots from the floor and 57.9 percent from 3-point range.
Beal felt there were moments when the team played really well but others when they just kind of let up and gave Yellowstone Christian College some offensive rebounds and put-backs.
“What the girls need to understand is, no matter who is in front of us, no matter what the score is on the scoreboard, we need to develop an identity to play a certain way,” Beal said.
On the men’s side, Yellowstone Christian College got out to an early lead. However, with about 10 minutes left in the game, the Trappers began rallying from a 20-point deficit, coming up just short in an 82-79 loss.
“Proud of them coming back and fighting back like they did,” Erickson said. “Championships aren’t won in the preseason. We are preparing to win a championship in March, just trying to get better.”
Koud was high scorer with 18 points. Londole was just behind with 17 points while Bains added 16. Also scoring in the double digits were Damon Leach and Devonte Morgan with 11 each. For the game, the team went 37.5 percent from the free throw line, 53.8 percent on 3-point shots and 50 percent from the floor.
The Lady Trappers team will turn around and play Salt Lake Community College today (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m.
“They are a very good team, ranked in the nation and we have to take care of the little things better,” Beal said of Salt Lake.
Both the women and men will play in the First Bank of Wyoming Shootout over the weekend. The women will play Bismarck at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Eastern Wyoming College on Saturday at 3 p.m. The men will face Bismarck at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Rexburg United at 5 p.m. Saturday.