Whitworth ‘big men’ overwhelm Linfield
Basketball coaches love to talk about matchups, and how much each game revolves around who you are playing and what they can do.
Nothing could illustrate that point better than Whitworth College’s 90-54 Northwest Conference victory Saturday night over Linfield before an alumni-night crowd of 825 at the Fieldhouse.
It was the Whits’ second lopsided win this season over the 5-14 Wildcats. So why have the Pirates (13-6 overall, 7-3 and alone in third place in the NWC) been able to dominate Linfield? The matchups.
“We knew we had a size advantage,” Whitworth coach Jim Hayford said, before explaining how his team took advantage of the inside matchups.
“We ran our best power play 10 consecutive times in the first half, because we wanted to dictate that we were going to shove the ball down their throats. Our big guys were salivating. They responded to the challenge and came through.”
The Wildcats start four guards, all generously listed as an inch or two taller than 6-feet. Yet the Pirates’ two 6-4 forwards, Lance Pecht and George Tucker, stood out like redwoods in a pine forest. Confronted with matchup problems inside, the Wildcats had to sag to help, leaving 6-3 shooting guard Jon Young alone outside.
The result: In the first 4 minutes, Young had buried three 3-pointers and Whitworth led 14-2. Linfield made a line change – the Wildcats’ starters combined for four points in the opening half – to get bigger people off the bench, but the pattern was set.
Whitworth led 40-21 at the half, by as many as 38 – on reserve Calvin Jurich’s layup with 2 minutes left – in the second half and breezed to its seventh consecutive home win.
Young, despite nursing an injured left foot that forced him to sit the second half, finished with 14, Pecht and Tucker (perfect in five field-goal attempts and four free throws) combined for 34 and 6-7 junior college transfer center Kevin Hasenfus continued his recent strong play, with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
“I love him on the defensive boards, especially in the second half,” Hayford said. “Kevin’s a transfer and it usually takes a transfer about half a year to get comfortable. He’s been getting better and better every weekend.”
Now the Pirates head on the road for Oregon, where Friday they will meet Willamette, tied for first in the NWC at 9-1. Whitworth has won the past two seasons in Salem, but is 1-5 on the road this year.
“We haven’t proven we can win on the road yet this year,” Hayford said. “Fortunately we have four more road games to prove we can be a good road team. I think we can be. That’s the next challenge that has to be answered.”
“Jeremy Mangum had 18 points, nine assists and five rebounds as Community Colleges of Spokane shot 54 percent from the field en route to an 80-66 win over Walla Walla in Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges action at Spokane Falls.
Humberto Perez added 18 points – including 4 of 8 from 3-point range – and six rebounds as the Sasquatch (16-4, 5-1) had four players reach double figures in scoring while holding the Warriors (9-10, 3-3) to 38.3 percent shooting.
Joel Ryman added 17 points and Jordan Hammond had 12 points and seven rebounds for CCS.
Walla Walla was led by the 24 points and nine rebounds of Curtis Carlson, the only Warrior to reach double digits.
“Frank Clair had a game-high 18 points and added five rebounds and five assists as No. 22 North Idaho (17-4, 7-3) held off Dixie State 66-57 in Scenic West Athletic Conference action at St. George, Utah.
Mac Hopson added 14 points and Jordan Sutton chipped in with 11 points for the Cardinals.
Moleni Taukiuvea had 13 points to lead Dixie State, with Travis Bunker and Rick Schoff adding 10 points apiece. Logan Magnusson added five points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Rebels (13-9, 4-6).