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Team Falls 66-53 To Miles In Region IX Contest
A late first half surge by Northwest College appeared to provide the Trappers the spark they would need to shake off the doldrums in their game against Miles Community College. Unfortunately for NWC head coach Janis Beal, the second half saw no similar spark as the Trappers fell 66-53 on their home floor.
“We just lacked intensity out there, especially in the second half,” said Beal. “If you look at the 50-50 balls out there, whether they were rebounds or times when the ball was loose on the floor — almost all of those went to Miles. We just weren’t hustling to the ball.”
After trailing for much of the first half, it appeared the Trappers were prepared to take control just before halftime. Back-to-back 3-point buckets by Andressa Augusto and Savannah Minder gave Northwest its first lead since early in the contest.
The Trappers had three consecutive trips down the floor with an opportunity to add to their newfound lead, but were unable to convert on each occasion. As a result, Northwest’s lead was just three points, 24-21, at intermission.
“That hurt a bit,” said Beal. “When you have an opportunity to go into halftime with a bigger lead, you really want to take advantage so you have that momentum.”
After the half, the momentum was all in the hands of Miles. The Trappers’ lead quickly evaporated as the visiting team scored the first nine points of the second half. Northwest spent the better part of six minutes battling back from the deficit caused by that run, only to have Miles slap them with an even larger scoreboard surge.
Starting with approximately 11 minutes remaining in the contest, the Trappers went more than five minutes without hitting a bucket from the floor. During that span, the team’s only point came from a lone free throw as Miles outscored the Trappers 18-1 during that span. Northwest was never able to get the margin below double digits from that point on.
Minder finished with a teambest 15 points in the contest. Augusto and Imari Simpson each added 14 points. The trio was responsible for all but 10 of the Trappers’ points as Northwest played the game without season scoring leader Kennedy Allen, who missed the game for personal reasons, according to Beal.
“Not having our leading scorer hurts, but this was on us,” said Beal. “We didn’t play with the intensity we needed in the game.”
The Trappers also struggled to shoot and protect the basketball. Northwest hit less than 32 percent of its shots in the game, including just a 4-for-17 showing behind the arc. The Trappers were guilty of 30 turnovers in the contest.
Leslie Blackburn hauled down 12 rebounds for Northwest, which did own a 40-33 advantage on the rebounding glass.
The Trapper women fell by an 80-48 score on Saturday at Western Wyoming. Stats from that game were unavailable in time for inclusion in today’s story. A complete write-up from that contest will appear in Thursday’s edition.
MILES 66, NORTHWEST 53
Minder 15, Augusto 14, Thronburg 4, Blackburn 4, Lund 2, Simpson 14.