With one spot already clinched in the NWAC North division the EvCC Trojans walked onto the court with a goal of staying in that playoff race. Currently tied with three other teams for third in the standings, they needed this one to assert themselves amongst the elite. The only thing standing in their way to having a positive record of 6-5 was the Skagit Valley Cardinals.

The Trojans came out of the gate flying all over the court and keeping the ball moving seamlessly. In the first few minutes they would go on a quick run of 9-3 with strong inside scoring from Sean McLaughlin and Noah Jones. However, the Cardinals would get a couple of fouls that would go their way in order to slow the momentum of the Trojans and allow them to claw their way back to a tie, 13-13, with 14:50 left in the first. Both teams would battle back and forth for the majority of the first half until around four minutes left to play. The Trojans just couldn’t miss and the defense locked up the Cardinals as they began to create a gap. EvCC would end up going on a crucial 8-2 run, orchestrated by Forest Grant and Said Hersi, to put them up by 14 to end the half.

“We’ve always been really competitive and we play really hard. There has been times where we haven’t played smart and that’s cost us, but tonight we did a really good job of playing smarter,” said Coach Larry Walker.

At halftime Derek Brown Jr. would be leading the team in scoring with 14 points, while adding 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Said Hersi would drop another 11 points, shooting 60% from three, and Quadir Williams would lead with a game high 3 assists. Skagit Valley would be led by Ben Ayre with 18 points while shooting 7/8 from the field.

The second half would be a story of willpower as it seemed as if the Trojans would refuse to walk away from Skagit Valley with a loss. For the rest of the game, both teams would be playing tight and physical as the fouls began to rack up on both sides. Jones was a big proponent of drawing fouls in the second half putting a lot of Cardinal players in foul trouble.

When asked about playing smart basketball Jones said, “It’s fun. When you know the other team is making dumb decisions and it’s just going your way, it just makes the game more fun.”

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Trojans wouldn’t lose a step and would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game. In the end, EvCC would have six players in double digit points, three Trojans with 20 or more, led by Brown Jr. (27), Jones (21) and Hersi (20). Efficiency and eliminating second chances closed it out in the end. The Trojans dominated the boards tonight, outrebounding Skagit Valley by 12 with final counts of 45-33. They also shot efficiently finishing the game with 58.8% from the floor as the Cardinals shot 42.9%.

“We want to make NWACs. We got to do what we got to do to win,” said Brown Jr.

The Trojans next game is at Olympic Community College on Febr. 20 at 4:00 p.m..