Whitworth Catches Fire, Scorches Northwest

In the good old days say, the late 1980’s Northwest College would make an annual early-season visit to Spokane, take a beating from the Whitworth Pirates and then head home for the holidays.

Lots of things have changed, basketballwise, at the Kirkland school since then - for one thing, the Eagles seem to have better shooters and worse manners than they used to - but Saturday night at the Whitworth Fieldhouse, the Pirates (4-3) gave Northwest a 104-83 licking to conclude a busy and successful three-game weekend.

The Bucs got off to a 15-5 lead and shot 71 percent in the first half, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Jeff Mix, Tyler Jordan and Greg Jones were all in double figures by halftime and missed only 1 of 15 shots from the field as Whitworth took a 51-38 lead.

And then, amazingly enough, the Pirates shot better. They made 8 of 10 3’s in the second half to finish 14 for 19 for the game. Jones made all seven of his shots and scored 22 points, Jordan was perfect on 6 for 16 points and Mix also finished with 16.

Freshman Ryan Wilson added three 3’s and 17 points, Sean Weston had 12 and Doug Schulz 10. Jordan has a string of eight straight 3’s in the Pirates’ victories over Lewis-Clark State on Thursday and Northwest Saturday.

Maybe that explains why the frustrated Eagles - who shot 56 percent themselves - had Fieldhouse fans contemplating two words after the Pirate victory: anger management. In the last 20 minutes, Northwest picked up an intentional foul and a technical, not to mention the toddler in the front row behind the Eagle bench who was nearly KO’d by a flying chair launched by an upset player.

Yakima Valley CC transfer Rich D’Agostino led the Eagles with 19 points and freshman post Dan Schneider scored 16, and Northwest made 10 of 21 3’s.

But after losing three of its first five games on the road, Whitworth displayed some incredible shooting in its two “counting” victories and exhibition win over Capilano College on Friday.

“I was just thinking the other day how we hadn’t really had a half where we shot very well so far,” said Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs after the win. “Then we go out and shoot 70 percent!

“We’ve really worked hard on our motion offense, and we’re getting great looks. It seemed like both teams were playing defense tonight, but everything was going in.”

Jordan and Jones, both local products, were pumped up afterward. “It’s tons of fun playing at home,” said Jordan, from Gonzaga Prep.

Added West Valley’s Jones, “Everything just seemed to click this weekend. I kind of wish we weren’t going into a break, but coach will keep us sharp.”

The Pirates travel to Kirkland on Wednesday for a rematch with Northwest, then are idle until they play host to Pacific on Jan. 9.

Whitworth 104, Northwest 83

Northwest - Madsen 4-5 0-0 10, Swetman 0-0 0-0 0, C.Symons 5-6 1-1 13, White 3-6 0-0 9, D’Agostino 7-11 3-4 19, Potts 0-1 1-2 1, Olson 1-5 3-5 5, T.Symons 2-3 0-0 4, Eaton 2-6 0-0 4, Schneider 7-9 1-1 16, Russell 0-2 0-0 0, Endresen 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 32-57 9-13 83.

Whitworth - Ramey 0-3 0-0 0, Mix 6-9 4-6 16, Weston 2-4 6-6 12, Schulz 4-6 2-4 10, Nakanishi 1-1 0-0 3, Nelson 4-8 6-6 17, Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan 6-6 0-0 16, Jones 7-7 6-6 22, Ruebel 3-5 0-0 8. Totals 33-49 24-28 104.

Halftime - Whitworth 51, Northwest 38. 3-point goals - Northwest 10-21 (White 3-6, Madsen 2-2, C.Symons 2-2, D’Agostino 2-4, Schneider 1-1, T.Symons 0-1, Eaton 0-1, Olson 0-2, Russell 0-2), Whitworth 14-19 (Jordan 4-4, Nelson 3-6, Jones 2-2, Ruebel 2-2, Weston 2-3, Nakanishi 1-1, Ramey 0-1). Fouled out - D’Agostino. Rebounds - Northwest 23 (C.Symons, Olson, Eaton 4), Whitworth 21 (Jones 5). Assists - Northwest 21 (D’Agostino 9), Whitworth 21 (Jordan 6). Total fouls - Northwest 20, Whitworth 12. Technicals - Olson. A - NA.

, DataTimes