Pendleton, OR - Everett Community College Men's Basketball improved their record to 12-2 over the weekend, winning all three games and averaging 101.3 points per contest. Everett took on Chemeketa out of Salem, OR on Friday night and after the first ten minutes of action it was just a one point game in favor of EvCC. The Trojans then caught fire over the final ten minutes of the half, outscoring the Storm 31-20. Tryriq Luke was on his way to another solid game off the bench, leading all scorers with 13 on 4 of 5 shooting. The high powered offense for Everett continued into the second half, shooting 59% from the floor and making 6 more threes to add to the 9 they sank in the first half. Fifteen total made threes tied a season high and the Trojans cruised to an opening night win, 97-73. Luke finished the game with 20 points (his season high), and sophomore JT Smith lit it up from beyond the arc, making 6 threes and finishing with 18 points (his 2nd highest total of the season & career). As a team, 57.9% from the floor was the best yet this season.
Game two of the weekend against the host Blue Mountain Timberwolves would end up being the closest. BMCC entered the game at 6-3 with a signature win over Pierce College and confidence on the home floor. The Trojans conceded the first bucket of the game, but built out to a ten-point lead over the next five minutes of play. Blue Mountain clawed back to within two on a made three, and would later tie the game at 42 on another made three, with one minute to play in the half. Everett responded by scoring the next five points, including a buzzer beater to end the first half by Jordan Medcalf, taking a 47-42 lead into the break.
The host Timberwolves fell behind again by as much as 16 in the second half, but an 8-0 kept them hanging around. With under nine minutes to play Blue Mountain got back to within three, but that's as close as it would get. With 3:44 to play Tucker Molina beat his man off the dribble, sliced through the lane and slammed home a dunk that seemingly took the wind out of BMCC's sails. Now back up by 8, Everett got the stops and hit free throws down the stretch when they needed to seal the 97-91 win. Jadin Penigar led the Trojans with 23 points and Tucker Molina had his best game of the season scoring 20 and making 8 of 8 free throws. It was not a hot night from three point point range as it was the night before, but Molina went 2-2, and 19 converted free throws ended up being the difference. Blue Mountain had two players combine for 56 points, but the rest of the team was shut down by the Trojan defense, going 14 of 32.
The final game of the weekend came against the winless Chokers of Grays Harbor College. From the opening tip off, it was a mismatch and the Trojans never looked back, starting the game 11-0 and finishing with a final score of 110-59. Redshirt sophomore Eddie Bouah scored a career high 24 points and all nine Trojans that logged minutes found their way into the score column. Another redshirt sophomore, Lul William scored a career high 14 points and the team tied a season high 10 steals and forced 18 turnovers.
Everett has one final non-conference game before north region play begins on January 11th. The Trojans will take on Spokane a team that they defeated earlier this season 83-66 back on November 26th on a nuetral floor. The game is set for Thursday, December 29th on Larry Walker Court. If Everett can win that game, the 13-2 start will mirror the 2019-2020 team that started off 13-2, won 12 of 14 north region games, and claimed the program's third straight north region championship before the 2020 post season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
