The Grays Harbor College men regained their mojo during crunch time. Alexia Thrower never lost hers as the Chokers swept a co-ed basketball doubleheader.
Cornelius Holifield’s basket with 6.6 seconds remaining gave the Choker men an exciting 75-74 win over Pierce College in the second half of the NWAC twin bill Saturday at the GHC gym.
Earlier, Thrower dropped 41 points as the Grays Harbor women ran their winning streak to 14 with a 90-81 triumph.
MEN
Chokers 75, Raiders 74
Holifield’s basket capped a wild finish to a tumultuous second half.
After playing a near-flawless first half in which they shot 54 percent from the field and committed only four turnovers, the Chokers (1-1, 3-12) saw a 10-point halftime lead disappear in less than 10 minutes.
Capitalizing on Choker miscues and wild outside shooting, Pierce (0-2, 2-13) led 56-50 with 10 minutes remaining and 67-62 with less than five minutes left.
The remaining stretch, however, featured seven lead changes.
Grays Harbor’s Will Weems took a long pass from Jalen Gibson-Starks for a two-handed dunk (injuring his finger in the process) that put GHC up 73-72 with 55 seconds remaining.
The Chokers regained possession following a Raider miss. But Patrick Kennedy’s block of a GHC shot turned into a Marcel Ferguson layin at the other end for a one-point Pierce advantage with about 15 seconds on the clock.
Disdaining a timeout (“I felt this group wasn’t flustered,” GHC coach Kevin Williamson explained), the Chokers freed up Holifield along the baseline for a reverse layin that dropped with 6.6 seconds on the clock.
Pierce’s Daniel Gregory missed from just inside the 3-point line as time expired.
Grays Harbor’s switch to a man-to-man defense in the second half time appeared to bother the Raiders. Williamson, however, believed the biggest difference was on offense.
“In the first 10 minutes of the second half, we were shooting (a lot) of long 3-pointers,” the first-year Choker coach said. “Then we got some paint touches and that opened things up.”
Holifield, a freshman guard from Menifee, Calif., finished with a team-high 17 points. Sophomore guard Guy Bean came off the bench to add 14 points. The massive 6-foot-9 Weems tallied 10 of his 12 points in the second half while also grabbing nine rebounds.
With Bean and Weems doing most of the damage, Grays Harbor’s reserves accounted for 37 points.
Pierce’s Gregory led all scorers with 18.
WOMEN
Chokers 90, Raiders 81
The conference’s leading women’s scorer, Thrower hit 17-of-23 field-goal attempts (most of them on drives) and 7-of-9 free throws.
As a tribute to her versatility, she led the Chokers not only in scoring but rebounding (with 13) and even assists (with six).
Sandin Kidder added 11 points for the Chokers (2-0, 14-1). Reserves Destanne Sunchild and D. Feaster also provided a lift during a run of eight successive points closing out the third quarter that gave Grays Harbor a permanent lead at 57-49.
There were, however, some anxious moments ahead.
Thrower drew her fourth foul at the 7:15 mark of the fourth quarter. Sydnet DeWitt converted the two free throws to trim the margin to three.
Choker coach Chad Allan, however, made no attempt to substitute for his sophomore standout. That proved to be a shrewd non-move, as Thrower scored 12 points during the remaining span and never picked up her fifth personal. Two other Chokers also finished the game with four fouls.
“You’ve got to ride the horses that brought you to the finish,” Allan observed. “We’ve been lucky that we haven’t had a lot of people foul out.”
As it developed, the Raiders never came closer than three during a freewheeling fourth quarter.
After Thrower converted an Estelle Wilson pass to make it 78-67 with 3:28 remaining, the Chokers weren’t serious challenged in the waning moments.
Ruby Daube scored 21 points and DeWitt 20 for the Raiders (1-1, 5-10).
Both Choker teams visit Highline for a doubleheader on Wednesday.
WOMEN
Pierce 16 13 20 32 — 81
GHC 18 22 17 33 — 90
Pierce (81) — Hudson 2, DeWitt 20, Dixon 7, Barnett 3, Daube 21, Palu-Thompson 12, Mukisa 14, Donaldson 2. FG — 26-68 (.382). FT — 17-23.
Grays Harbor (90) — Brisbois 9, Thrower 41, Sikora 9, Kidder 11, Wilson 9, Feaster 3, Bell 2, Hernandez, Sunchild 6. FG — 35-71 (.493). FT — 16-23.
MEN
Pierce (74) — Sandhu 9, Gregory 18, Roberson 5, Uelese 2, Raybon 12, Kennedy 8, Ferguson 11, Ibsen, Wea, DiPalma 9, Oriakhi. FG — 28-60 (.467). FT — 10-16.
Grays Harbor (75) — Gibson-Starks 6, Lind 9, Holifield 17, Thomas 6, Fischer, Weems 12, Bean 14, Marrotte 6, Laing 2, Jackson 3. FG — 29-55 (.527). FT — 9-12.
Halftime: Grays Harbor 43, Pierce 33.
