Ccs Rides Behind Its 2 Chrises
They answer to the same first name and sport the same initials.
Both are past Greater Spokane League players of the year and present guards on the Community Colleges of Spokane men’s basketball team.
They are Chris Allen and Chris Anderson, two-fifths of the Sasquatch’s starting lineup that has longtime coach Sam Brasch feeling mighty good about this year’s team.
Anderson, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard out of Shadle Park (‘97), who played at Skagit Valley College last year, is knocking down 15.2 points per game. Allen, a 6-foot point guard from North Central (‘98), is averaging 14.3 points per game and 6.5 assists. Both were GSL MVPs their senior years.
In Saturday’s game against Walla Walla, the two combined for 46 points. Both shot 7 of 12 from the field and 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.
The capable guards - along with stellar 6-6 center Andre Ervin (18.7 ppg, 10.4 rpg) and 6-4 forward James Kiger (14.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg)- have helped CCS move to the upper division of the NWAACC Eastern Division.
At the halfway point of the season, the Sasquatch are 10-8, just one win short of last year’s 11-15 finish. Their 4-2 division record puts them a half game behind Wenatchee Valley and a whole lot better than last year’s 3-9 fifth-place team.
“I think possibly the best is yet to come,” said Brasch, whose team has not won the conference title since 1991-92 and has never won the NWAACC Tournament.
Brasch’s optimism has climbed now that his team is close to full strength. Big man Steve Chamberlain will return after missing eight games. The 6-7 center from Vancouver, Wash., had both knees scoped during Christmas break. He won’t be ready tonight when CCS plays host to North Idaho College (12-8) at SCC. He’s expected to return for Saturday’s conference game against Blue Mountain (9-11, 1-4) at SFCC.
Allen, one of Brasch’s sure bets last season, has never played on the same team as Chamberlain. The oldest of three children, he quit school in the fall to take care of his sick mother. He returned eight games ago.
A Whit above the rest
Their below-.500 7-9 record surely isn’t what we’re used to, but Whitworth Pirate Kevin McDaniel is having an above average season.
The 6-6 senior from Sultan, Wash., is averaging a Northwest Conference-best 9.5 rebounds per game on a team that’s second worst in rebounding margin (minus 4.2 rpg). The Pirates’ sole senior also is tied for 15th with 13.4 points per game.
“He’s playing as well as he’s ever played,” Whitworth coach Warren Friedrichs said.
But the Pirates’ coach can’t say the same for his eighth-place team, which is 2-6 in the conference heading into tonight’s game at last-place Whitman (0-8, 1-15). The Pirates have lost five straight conference games - including a rare sweep at their fieldhouse Jan. 14-15.
Turnovers have been one of the biggest problems. The Bucs’ turnover margin is a minus 3.06 per game. The only team worse is Whitman, which turns over the ball six time more than its opponents.
“We’re not playing as well as we were playing three weeks ago,” Friedrichs said. “(Those home losses) took a lot out of us. We haven’t been the same after that weekend.”
Saxons excel
Former Ferris High players are doing well in the Northwest Conference. Whitman junior transfer Leonard Harmon, a starter for the Missionaries, is fifth in the conference in scoring with 15.8 ppg. Harmon scored a career-high 33 points in an OT loss to Whitworth this year… . Craig Henneberry, a 6-5 senior, who has started in all 14 games, is averaging 11.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg for 4-10 University of Puget Sound. … Lewis & Clark’s John Mietus, a 6-5 freshman forward, is chipping in 5.9 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench.