Everett, WA – Everett returned home on Saturday afternoon after a tough road loss to Skagit Valley earlier in the week. It was their 4th loss in a row, moving them to .500 in north region play after EvCC's promising 4-0 start.
Battling through injuries, EvCC returned their full compliment of available players and flexed their muscles early against the 5-16 Orcas. The Trojans led by as much as 21 in the first half, making nine threes and shot 47.5% from the floor as a team. By the halftime buzzer Everett led 48-27 and were led in scoring by Jadin Penigar's 17 points.
Whatcom opened up the half outscoring Everett 18-12 through the first five minutes of action. It wasn't a clean start to the half defensively for either team. Fifteen fouls were called in total, and Whatcom entered the bonus with fourteen minutes to play in the half.
Everett got a rhythm back with an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back out to 22. The Trojans continued to do the majority of their damage inside the paint and kept a comfortable twenty-plus point cushion for the remainder of the game. In the closing minutes Ruppe Wilson punctuated the game with a breakaway dunk and Everett won going away 106-73. Penigar led all scorers with 26 and Tyriq Luke finished with 20. Tucker Molina scored in double figures and handed out 8 assists to go with his 8 rebounds. Colton Spencer in his first game back from injury scored 11 off the bench on 4 of 9 shooting.
The Trojans move up to 5-4 in the north standings, now tied with Bellevue for third place. They'll get another home game next Wednesday, and will take on Shoreline who just upset #2 ranked Peninsula on the road. Everett defeated the Dolphins 78-72 in overtime in their previous meeting, the only overtime game of the year for the Trojans. Tip off is set for 7pm.