It was an evening of firsts for the Grays Harbor College men’s basketball team on Saturday.
For the first time, the Chokers hosted an NWAC game on campus at the GHC Gym and it was a victorious one. Withstanding two runs by visiting Edmonds, Grays Harbor sealed the game with a 19-7 run for a 90-78 season-opening win.
Sophomore Keeandre Rowland led all scorers with 23 points, with freshman Trevion Cotton adding 15 points and John Robinson 12 points for the Chokers (1-0 overall).
“It is a tremendous win, a must-have win,” GHC head coach Alonzo Cole said. “We had to have this one. The guys played hard and it was one we didn’t want to let slip away. We want to develop a new attitude in this program and bring winning ways here.”
There were plenty of trivia answers created in this contest, but the Chokers needed to hold off the Tritons first.
Playing an uptempo style on offense, GHC created mismatches and mistakes from Edmonds, which was pivotal to taking the game over for good.
After losing their halftime lead at 48-45 by the Tritons’ 10-2 run, the Chokers got a boost from Cotton and Robinson to take the lead back. Cotton hit a free throw, then fought through three post defenders for an offensive rebound putback to tie the game at 48-48 with just over three minutes gone in the second half.
Robinson took a long baseball pass from Jacob Rainey for a layup in transition and drained a trailing 3-point basket for a 53-48 lead on GHC’s next two possessions. The run turned into a sustained offensive push, giving GHC a 69-56 lead with 11 minutes remaining off a Jordan Phillips steal and layup.
Edmonds made its big push to get back into the game, slowing down GHC and hitting better from the field. A 15-2 run in just 2 1/2 minutes tied the game at 71-71 with 8:15 remaining. The Chokers called timeout, then turned on the speed.
Started in the paint by Cotton and Jared Jackson, GHC shut off Edmonds and forced several mistakes. A Cotton dunk kept the momentum going, with Guy Bean, Rainey and Robinson contributing for the game-clinching run.
The Tritons were held to just two 3-point baskets, which came when the Chokers held their biggest lead of the game, an 87-72 margin with 3 minutes left in the contest.
“Edmonds is a better team than what they showed today and the guys made an effort to make sure we didn’t lose,” Cole added. “We made some mistakes, but we played together as a team. Playing at home is worth 3-4 wins a season than at a neutral site. We are home. We practice here. We know the bounces off the rim. And, we got the win here.”
Since this is the first time GHC Gym has been used for an official Grays Harbor College men’s basketball game, there were several firsts in the contest. Here is a short list:
• First field goal converted: GHC’s Tiki Hickle, an offensive rebound putback.
• First rebound: GHC’s Tiki Hickle.
• First 3-point basket: Edmond’s Mitch Wetmore, with GHC’s Rowland getting the Chokers’ first one on the next possession.
• First dunk: GHC’s Cotton, a running slam.
Sunday’s Game Dolphins 77, Chokers 72
Jacob Rainey led GHC with 15 points and John Robinson and Trevion Cotton added 13 points each in a close non-division loss to Shoreline on Sunday afternoon.
Down by two at halftime, 37-35, the Chokers were sunk at the free-throw line. The Dolphins converted 23-of-30 attempts for the contest, including 15-for-19 in the second half.
GHC didn’t shoot as well as it did on Saturday, but knocked home 28-for-66 from the field, four more field goals than Shoreline in the same amount of attempts.
On Dec. 1, GHC wil host Olympic College in another non-division contest at GHC Gym.
