Community Colleges of Spokane men’s team looks to defend NWAC title

The Community Colleges of Spokane men’s basketball team is making some waves this season in the ultracompetitive Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Sasquatch have won eight of their past nine games and are among four teams within two games of the top of the East Region with a 10-3 region record and a stellar 21-5 count overall.

With wins earlier in the season over North Idaho and Walla Walla – both ranked No. 1 at the time of the games – CCS elevated to No. 1 last week in the NWAC Under Armour Coaches Poll, though a loss to North Idaho on Saturday dropped them to fourth in this week’s poll.

Region rivals North Idaho (23-3, 11-2) and Walla Walla (19-6, 10-3) are both in the top four as well, while Big Bend (17-9, 9-4) is ninth.

After its 88-65 win over Wenatchee Valley on Wednesday, CCS has three games remaining in league play: at Columbia Basin (3-22, 2-12) on Saturday and at Blue Mountain (4-19, 2-11) on Wednesday, before the regular season-ending matchup against Big Bend on March 4, which could be pivotal in deciding playoff matchups in the region.

“There’s still lot to be decided with three games, there’s still a lot to decide in our region,” CCS coach Jeremy Groth said. “Our region’s been very tough top to bottom and every night you have to bring or else it won’t go your way, for sure.”

This really isn’t a new development, though. The Sasquatch are the defending NWAC champions, posting a 29-5 record last season, and are just picking up where they left off last season.

So the Sasquatch are playing with a target on their backs. “It comes with the territory,”Groth said. “For sure, we’re getting everyone’s best. That’s kind of what you want anyway, that what makes us give our best too.”

The current iteration is tops in the NWAC in points per game at 95.4, first in free-throw percentage at 76 percent and tops in rebounds at just more than 46 per game. And though they lead the league in boards, they don’t have an individual player in the top 20, so everyone is shouldering the load.

“It shows how deep we are,” Groth said, “and how much our guys really complete extremely hard. Everyone’s trying to get the job done, they don’t worry about those stat numbers for themselves.”

Every team has its standouts, though, and CCS has its share, led by a pair of sophomores.

Shooting guard Levi Taylor (Lewis and Clark High) was the 2015-16 NWAC Player of the Year as a freshman who came off the bench. He was named MVP or all-tournament team in every preseason tournament this season and averages 20.9 points, eighth in the NWAC.

Taylor has a season high of 38 points in a 103-74 win over Grays Harbor on Dec. 15. He has 12 20-plus games this season and had 18 points with nine rebounds in Wednesday’s win.

“Having Levi back (this season) has helped a lot, especially offensively,” Groth said. “He obviously brings a different element. He can score the ball in bunches, he really competes extremely hard, he wants to win very bad.”

Point guard Garrett Hull is the complete package. He averages 13.8 points and leads the team at 6.8 rebounds while averaging 3.6 assists. He is third in the NWAC averaging 2.4 steals.

Hull was also a starter on the CCS baseball team as a freshman and is expected to contend for a starting position again this season.

“Words don’t describe how much Garrett means to our program,” Groth said. “He leads us in rebounding as a point guard – that kind of shows you how much heart he really has.”

In the past two seasons, with Taylor and Hull as big contributors, CCS is a combined 49-10.

The Sasquatch have three others averaging double figures: center Cesar Sandoval (14.4), guard Cameron Gay (10.9) and guard Orin Porter (10.3).

It all makes for a fast-paced, competitive team that hopes to defend its title at the NWAC tournament starting on March 9, with the championship game March 19 at Everett CC.

Groth, a former star player at Curlew High School, is still No. 2 on the all-time prep scoring list for the state of Washington. He went on to star at Big Bend and NAIA school Concordia Irvine, where he led his team to a national championship and owns multiple 3-point shooting records.

With CCS, Groth is 105-43 as the head coach with a first and third-place finish in the NWAC Tournament to his resume.

Groth is looking forward to next weekend’s State 2B/1B tournament at the Arena not only to scout, but to reminisce about his playing days.

“For those kids that are out there, it’s going to be a once in a lifetime memory they’re going to make,” he said. “So I’m excited go there and watch. There’s definitely some guys, you know, recruiting-wise, but also just to go back there and just be a part of the atmosphere. It only comes around once a year and it’s a special time of the year.”