The EvCC men's basketball team had their Thanksgiving dinner and then hit the road to take part in the 33rd annual Red Devil Classic, hosted by Lower Columbia College. The Trojans have been a regular participant in the tournament since it first began in 1986, and for the past seven years, the Trojans have faired well finding themselves in the championship game in each of those years, winning the tournament as recently as 2016. The past two seasons Everett fell in the Championship game to Spokane, and after a convincing first round victory this year over Centralia (Full Box Score of 92-69 Win over Centralia), the Trojans and Sasquatch met again, this time in the semi-finals.
The first six minutes of the game was very tight, with both teams exchanging leads. Spokane built a lead to as much as 6, but Everett tied the game back up with 4 minutes to play in the half, and eventually reclaimed the lead for themselves, holding it until about 35 seconds to play in the half. Spokane took the lead back and extended out to three before the halftime buzzer.
The second half remained close, only a one point game with 7:27 minutes to play, but 8 Trojan turnovers in the final six minutes of action played an impact on the outcome of the game and Spokane pulled away to win 94-84. Devin Smith had his best game as a Trojan to date, scoring 20 points, and snagging 9 rebounds to go along with 2 assists. Full Box Score
In the final game of the tournament, Everett took on the Saints of Mt. Hood CC out of Gresham, Oregon. MHCC defeated a strong Yakima Valley team in the opening round of the tournament, but fell to host Lower Columbia College by a final score of 84-69. Both teams looked determined to finished the weekend at 2-1 as opposed to 1-2 and it was a one point Trojan lead with 13:42 to go in the half, before Elijah Seybold's back to back 3 point field goals jump started a run that would continue to build. By halftime EvCC sat on a 52-30 lead thanks to a stifling defense that forced Mt. Hood to just 24% shooting from the floor and forcing 10 turnovers.
Another strong defensive half allowed Everett to cruise in for the win by a final score of 92-65. Elijah Seybold finished with 20 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor. He also added 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Full Box Score
After the weekend, the Trojans move to 5-1 on the young season, with their next slate of action scheduled for this coming weekend. They will travel to Spokane to play in the Bigfoot Classic Friday-Sunday, another tournament that EvCC often participates in. They'll open up with Seattle University's club team, and could face other NWAC teams such as Big Bend CC, Tacoma CC, Blue Mountain CC, and of course a potential rematch with host CC of Spokane.