Everett, WA – The battle for north region supremacy continued on Wednesday night on Larry Walker Court as the Trojans played host to Whatcom CC. After starting conference play 1-2, the Orcas pulled off impressive wins over Edmonds and most recently a big upset win over Skagit Valley. Meanwhile the Trojans at 2-3 needed to get back into the win column after a tough home loss last weekend to Peninsula.
Through the first five minutes of action, the two teams exchanged buckets until Everett steadily built out to a nine-point lead with just over eleven minutes to play in the first half. Then both teams began to catch fire, and a barrage of three-point buckets would ensue for the remainder of the half. Whatcom, a team that ranks 4th in the NWAC in the most three-point field goals made, found their rhythm and before the half was over made 12 threes, and shot 46%. The Trojans made 8 threes of their own, but did most of their damage inside the paint, and shot 66.7% from the floor. At the halftime buzzer, Everett had a narrow lead 53-51. Jailin Johnson led EvCC in scoring with 14 points, and Ethan Martin was also in double figures with 11.
The deep ball did not show signs of slowing down in the second half, and within the first five minutes each team hit three more from downtown. Derek Smith had all three for the Trojans, and helped maintain a two-point lead.
But the Orcas owned the next five minutes and used a 10-3 run to get back out in front by five by the next media timeout. With seven minutes to play, Everett clawed back to reclaim the lead on a Derek Smith lay in and from there fans would be entertained by four lead changes. Hayden Conaxis tied the game at 90 on a dunk after receiving a nice pass from Raefe McEnroe with six minutes to play. Everett was able to keep Whatcom at bay for the remainder of the game despite the Orcas nailing five more threes.
The Trojans won in a thriller, 112-107. Whatcom finished the game with 24 made three-point field goals and shot 45%. They only had 13, two-point field goals. Meanwhile the Trojans had their best offensive game of the season with 112 points and shooting an incredible 72% from the floor, even better than their free throw percentage of 68%, making 17 of 25 from the line. Everett dished out 27 assists and scored 54 points inside the paint. They also got tremendous production off the bench with 30 points, 19 of which from Hayden Conaxis and 11 from Nate Harding.
Derek Smith led EvCC in scoring with 22, while Jailin Johnson scored 20 and had 10 assists. Raefe McEnroe and Ethan Martin each put up 18, while starter Daniel Headdings drew the tough defensive assignments, scored 4, had 4 assists, and got 4 rebounds.
Everett improves to 3-3 in the north region standings with a big match up against Skagit Valley waiting in the wings. The Cardinals were at one point ranked #1 in the NWAC, but SVC has lost three out of the last four games, including a recent overtime loss to Bellevue. Everett will travel to Mount Vernon on Sunday, February 4th for a 6pm tip off.