Your future, our focus
There are times when a coach wouldn’t mind if the clock stopped in mid-tick and the entire proceeding could be turned back just by pushing a button the way it is done watching game film.
Real life was not looking too grand for the Northwest College men’s basketball team several minutes into last Saturday night’s game against Central Wyoming in Powell.
The Trappers fell behind 23-5 faster than you can snap your fingers. Coach Brian Erickson took one look at the scoreboard and yanked all five of his starters.
“I subbed in five guys right away,” he said.
Things turned around almost as swiftly. By halftime Northwest led 39-37 and in the late going the Trappers were even better, holding Central without a field goal for the game’s last eight minutes.
Offensive aggressiveness and defensive trapping aided the recovery, Erickson said.
“We have plenty of things we need to improve on, but we’re starting to get it and do the things that work for us.”
The victory, following a 71-67 triumph over Western Wyoming at home two days earlier, upped the Trappers’ record to 14-8 and gave them a four-game winning streak.
A big reason for the turnaround against Central was the outside shooting of freshman guard Grantham Gillard. Gillard hit five 3-pointers as part of his 25 points. Sukhjot Bains gave the Trappers 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Gillard scored 13 against Western with all but one point coming from a 3-point shot.
“I’ve been pretty hot lately,” Gillard said. “It’s just knocking down the shots. Once you make one you think you’re going to make all of them. We’ve been working the ball around to get the shots.”
Against Central, Levi Londole, Clint Bateman, Joel Maumba and Jordan Rood each added 7 points.
The Trappers shot 53.1 percent from the floor.
Against Western, NWC shot 50 percent and put four players in double figures.
Gillard and Maumba scored 13 points each, Bains 12 and Rood 11.
Northwest is 2-2 in Region IX after winning the title last year, and must face Gillette (22-0) and Casper, the teams that inflicted those losses, for a second time in its next games.
“I feel a lot better now playing them than the first time,” Erickson said.