Your future, our focus
Trapper Men Rise To Occasions
When it was all over, it was apparent that Gillette College wanted the Region IX Men’s Tournament championship more than Northwest College — for about three minutes.
Gillette tried to bury the NWC men early in Saturday’s region title game at Cabre Gym in Powell, staking the host Trappers to a nine-point deficit early. But that was short lived, as NWC staged a huge rally to pull away for a 112-86 victory and their first Region IX title since 1967.
The Trappers will head to Hutchinson, Kan., on Friday, the site of the national tournament, where they will enjoy the No. 7 seed and a first-round bye. NWC will see its first action of the tournament on Wednesday, March 18 at 2 p.m., and will face the winner of John A. Logan and Cape Fear.
“I’m really proud of these guys,” third-year NWC head coach Brian Erickson said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words for how excited I am for our coaches, our managers and every one of these players. They’ve worked so hard to get here ... [winning the tournament] was one of our goals, and it was accomplished.”
In order to accomplish that goal, NWC had to defeat Little Big Horn, Western Nebraska and North Platte to reach the tourney semifinals and subsequently earn its trip to the national tournament. Region IX was awarded an extra bid to the national tournament this season, meaning Gillette will join Northwest in Kansas.
After achieving that goal, the No. 15-ranked Trappers (30-4) were tasked with knocking off a Gillette squad that came into the championship bout winners of nine straight and looking to avenge two regular-season losses to the hosts.
In the first 2:49 of play, the Pronghorns looked primed to do that, burying the first four shots of the game as NWC struggled to find consistency on both offense and defense. Sarp Gobeloglu converted two free throws that gave Gillette a 9-0 advantage, and a cloud of uneasiness appeared to form over a gymnasium packed with NWC fans.
“We do have our lulls,” sophomore EJ Hubbard said. “Honestly, I don’t know what we be doing ... we’re just out there and then all of a sudden we’ll be like ‘Oh, we’re losing guys, come on,’ and that’s when we all come together, and we all look at each other and it’s time to play.”
For the second night in a row, it was sophomore Nicky Desilien who ended a big run by his team’s opponent, effectively sending his own squad into rally mode.
After Gobeloglu’s free throws, Desilien gave NWC its first points with a jumper at the 17:11 mark. He followed with a 3-pointer that brought the Trapper- fan portion of Cabre to life, and after a Gillette bucket, sophomores Daryle Morgan and Chris Boucher scored a layup and two free throws, respectively, to pull NWC within two.
Ben Glover scored a layup to give his team a short-lived four-point lead, but a 3-pointer and a fastbreak layup from EJ Hubbard (assisted by Desilien) started a 9-2 run that gave NWC an advantage it wouldn’t surrender. Freshman Dan Milota knocked down a jumper, and Desilien followed with an easy layup that made it 18-15.
Desilien, a transfer for the Trappers this year, finished with 12 points in the half as NWC seized control with a 53-34 at the break. He ended the contest with a game-high 31 points and the inability to comprehend what he helped his team achieve.
“I’m lost for words right now, just because of the fact that last year [at New Mexico Junior College] I didn’t get to play at all,” he said. “So to come here and lead this team and put it on my back during that second half is amazing to me.
“I was out there trying to make plays, I wasn’t trying to be selfish or nothing. I was just trying to play my game and take what they gave me, and it worked out pretty well.”
It’s unlikely anyone will accuse Desilien of selfish play after 11 Trappers registered points on the stat sheet. Hubbard added 23 to the cause, while sophomore Colin May (14), freshman Milota (13) and Boucher (11) all reached double figures.
Still, Boucher was full of praise for his best friend and fellow Canadian.
“I’m so happy for him ... I did a lot of stuff, he did a lot of stuff ... I always knew Nicky had a lot inside [of him],” Boucher said. “Maybe he kept everything he had for the final. I gave everything I had so we could reach here, and Nicky just took the lead.
“No matter how much I did, he did everything ... the team did everything ... and that’s how it is.”
Gillette did its best to stay relevant in the second half, cutting the lead to 67-54 on Quinton Everett’s two free throws near the midway point, but Desilien took charge again and snuffed out any chances of a Pronghorn rally.
He tallied nine straight points, starting with a trey, as the NWC lead ballooned to 76-54 with nearly 11 minutes left. Gillette threatened again, this time cutting the lead to 14 with an 8-0 spurt, but Boucher hit two free throws to ignite a 15-1 run that sealed the win. Desilien added eight points during the final move, including the last six, finishing with a two-handed dunk.
“I thought [Nicky] did a great job,” Erickson said. “He really took over, getting to the rim and finishing ... in the open court, it’s really tough to stop him.
“He’s one of the reasons we’re where we are right now — we just won a region championship — and he’s one of those reasons.”
Erickson has preached all season that winning the region tournament was just one step on the journey to winning a national championship, and he reiterated that message Saturday.
“If we can keep playing like we are ... I feel pretty happy about where we’re going ... but every one of these teams that are going to be in the national tournament are champions in their own way,” the coach said. “They’re taking up the level play a huge notch, so we’ve got to do that and be ready for the best teams in the country.”
NORTHWEST 85, NORTH PLATTE 72
It took a big run from the Trappers late in the first half Friday to finally give themselves some breathing room.
In the first four minutes of half two, North Platte sucked the air out of Cabre Gym — temporarily.
A 19-2 run by North Platte to open the second half turned the Knights’ 15-point deficit into a two-point lead, but a concerted effort by the Trappers helped NWC survive the semifinal scare, pull away for the double-digit victory and its ticket to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
“It was 51-49 when I looked at the score ... I looked at the score; I see 51-49, and I smiled and got a layup,” said Desilien, who indeed scored a layup to start a 20-7 NWC run. “And from that point on I was like ‘Yo, let’s just play man.’”
The Trappers concurred, and after Desilien’s basket, five of his teammates helped stage the team’s Region IX Tournament championship (and national tournament) hopes.
With NWC ahead 26-25 in the first half, Boucher helped his team take control when he started an 11-0 run with a putback bucket. He followed with a 3-pointer on a Desilien assist before Desilien scored six straight points on layups that pushed NWC’s edge to 37- 25. Boucher added a trey and a layup to finish the first-half scoring and give the Trappers a 47-32 cushion.
“We were feeling good, we were excited to play on our home court for our fans,” Boucher said. “But I don’t know what happened in that second half.”
The Knights came out firing after the break, scoring the first 16 points in the first 3:48 of the half, including nine straight on 3 pointers to push ahead 48-47. Morgan hit a jumper for NWC to restore a short-lived one-point advantage (49-48), but Matt Thomas (nine points during the run) was fouled on a trey attempt on the next play and made all three of his free throws to push North Platte ahead again.
Then, Desilien smiled, and it was over for the Knights.
The Canadian product finished with 24 points (10 in the second half) on 10-of- 18 shooting, just short of Boucher, who finished with game highs of 28 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks. Morgan finished with 10 points, and Hubbard had an effective game with eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.
NWC shot 52 percent from the floor (33 of 63), aided by a robust 63 percent in the first half (20 of 32). North Platte sputtered, going 26 of 77 (34 percent) and just 7 of 26 from long range.
NORTHWEST 101, WESTERN NEBRASKA 77
Somewhere in the back of their minds, the memory of a game the Trappers gave away to Western Nebraska on Nov. 1 rested uneasily.
On Thursday, NWC buried that memory with 101 points, cruising past the Cougars in a Region IX Tournament quarterfinal battle on the court of a packed Cabre Gym.
More than four months ago, the Trappers suffered their first loss of the season in just their second game at Western. The Cougars rallied from a double-digit deficit late to force overtime, where they knocked off NWC.
On a bigger stage, with much more on the line, the Trappers limited the dramatics.
“I still remember after we lost that game (on Nov. 1), we wanted to play them again right away,” said Desilien, who put in a double-double effort with a team-high 21 points and 10 assists. “As soon as we heard [we were playing] Western Nebraska, everybody was just ready to play and we came out and executed.”
In the early going, the execution was great for either team, as turnovers and poor shooting kept the teams within striking distance of each other early. The Cougars (13-19) enjoyed their biggest lead at 14-10 after a Preston Christensen 3-pointer with 14:38 to go in the first half. But like he’s done so many times this season, Boucher got the crowd — and his team — going, this time with a hard-fought layup through traffic in the post, starting a 7-0 run that gave NWC a lead it would never relinquish.
Western’s Damion Rashford sank a layup that made it 19-18, but that was the last time the Cougars would threaten the hosts.
The Trappers led 50-32 at the half, and by as many as 25 before the final horn.
“I thought we were prepared, but I thought we came out pretty nervous,” Erickson said. “I think with the crowd behind us and a kind of excitement to be able to play [Western] again ... I talked to our guys about settling in quick, and I think once we settled in we did a really good job.”
After Desilien, Hubbard scored 17 points, sparked by 4-of-4 shooting from the arc (all in the first half). Boucher and Ammar Rehman each added 15, and Morgan tallied 14. Boucher picked up another double-double with 13 rebounds.
The Trappers fired efficiently from the floor, recording 52 percent, while Western stumbled to just 39 percent.
Erickson and Rehman both made special mention of the NWC defense after the unit forced 26 turnovers and collected 14 steals.
“I think a big part of tonight was our defense,” Rehman said. “When our defense is working, the offense just comes to us; when our defense goes, we go.”
And now, the Trappers are going to the national tournament.