Pasco, WA – For the first time since 1995, the Trojan men's basketball team has advanced to the NWAC Final Four. After decisive victories over Spokane and Lower Columbia, EvCC punched their ticket to the second weekend at the newly built recreation center on the campus of Columbia Basin College.
Everett met Spokane in the first round, a team they had beaten twice already earlier in the season. Despite double digit wins over the Sasquatch back in November and December, all bets are off at the NWAC tournament with each of the 16 teams starting at 0-0 and just four wins away from the NWAC Title.
It was a bit of a slow start offensively for both teams. Everett took an early lead but Spokane came back and took a 16-10 lead after nine minutes of action before eventually extending that lead to ten. It didn't last long as Jadin Penigar began to catch fire, making back to back threes and scoring another bucket to make it eight straight. The Trojans eventually tied it up on a steal and score by Tony MacArthur and reclaimed the lead with six minutes to play in the half. Penigar finished the half with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the floor, accounting for over half of the EvCC scoring. At the break Everett led it 36-34.
Spokane scored the first five points of the half, but over the next ten minutes Everett outscored Spokane 26-6 and put the game out of reach. Collectively the Trojans shot a stellar 57% from the field and made 11 of 20 threes in the second half. It was too much for the Sasquatch and Everett won it going away 86-58. Penigar finished with 28 points and put in an early case for an All-Tournament Selection. Tucker Molina was just as impressive with 19 points and his first college career triple double adding 10 assists and 12 rebounds. Leon Sayers also scored in double figures adding 16 and snatching a game high 17 rebounds.
In Coach Trautman's second Elite Eight appearance of his coaching career EvCC faced a familiar opponent in Lower Columbia College. The #1 seed out of the West defeated Everett earlier this season in the championship game of the Red Devil Classic. LCC also got the best of the Trojans in the 2019 tournament winning 96-94 in overtime.
At a time when redemption can dominate the mind, Everett came out locked focused on the game at hand. Although it was once again a slow start offensively, the defensive made it just as difficult on Lower Columbia and held the Red Devils (who average 80 points per game) to just 17 first half points on 5 of 33 shooting. With Penigar in foul trouble, Tyriq Luke picked up the bulk of the scoring slack in the first half and scored 13 points while Colton Spencer also chipped 8. Everett went into the break leading 31-17.
The Trojans kept in rolling into the second half. Jadin Penigar got his first bucket of the game early and Everett built out their lead to as much as 25. Lower Columbia stayed with it and chipped away, getting as close as 11 with a little over five minutes to play, but the Trojans always answered when needed. Once again it was another big win for the men in red, defeating LCC 69-49 and setting up a date with Clackamas CC in the Final Four.
Tyriq Luke and Colton Spencer each finished with game high's 18 points. Tucker Molina was more quiet than the previous night in terms of points but still came up with 15 big rebounds, 3 assists, and blocked 4 shots. Penigar finished with 13 points, all of which in the second half. All around it was a stellar defensive performance holding LCC to just 23% shooting from the floor and out rebounding the Red Devils 61-38.
Everett will face the Cougars of Clackamas Community College on Saturday at 5:00pm in Pasco. These two teams met earlier this year at the Pierce College Crossover Tournament in early December. Everett won the game in overtime 92-88 and were led by Colton Spencer's 25 points.