Byrd Named Player of the Year, All-Conference Teams Announced
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Northwest Christian’s Javonte Byrd continued to have an outstanding year, being voted the 2015-16 Cascade Collegiate Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year after a voting of the league’s head coaches.
Byrd led the Beacons with 14.3 points per game as NCU claimed the regular season title and the number one seed in the postseason tournament. Byrd also ranked eighth in the conference in steals with 1.8 steals per game and 10
th in three-pointers made with 67, an average of 2.3 makes per contest.
Another Beacon earned postseason recognition as Omar Richards was named the conference’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Eastern Oregon’s Kalvin Johanson. Richards ranked eighth in the CCC in rebounds with an average of 7.2, as he helped NCU earn the best defense in the conference, allowing only 69.2 points per game and holding opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (.410).
Johanson was the league’s top blocker, averaging two blocks a game to total 62 blocks on the season, finishing with 26 more than second place in the conference. Eastern held their opponents to the second worst shooting percentage at .414 percent.
Eastern Oregon’s Kentrell Washington earned the CCC’s Newcomer of the Year award, helping the Mountaineers earn the third highest scoring offense in the conference. Washington finished fifth in the conference in scoring with 19.1 points per game and was the top rebounder with an average of 12.6 rebounds per game, a total of 392 boards on the year. He also finished in a tie for fifth in assists with 150.
After one of the most successful seasons in program history, Northwest Christian’s Luke Jackson was named the CCC Head Coach of the Year. Finishing the season with an overall record of 27-6, going 17-3 in the CCC, Jackson’s success carried over to the CCC tournament, defeating Warner Pacific to earn NCU’s first ever conference championship while also setting a new school record for wins in a season.
Below is the complete list of all-conference players and awards.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Javonte Byrd, SR., G, Northwest Christian
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kalvin Johanson, F, Sr., Eastern Oregon
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Omar Richards, F, Sr., Northwest Christian
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Kentrell Washington, F, Jr., Eastern Oregon
COACH OF THE YEAR: Luke Jackson, Northwest Christian
FIRST TEAM
| Name |
Institution |
Pos. |
Cl. |
Hometown |
| Javonte Byrd |
Northwest Christian |
G |
Sr. |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Ben DeSaulnier |
Southern Oregon |
G |
So. |
Philomath, Ore. |
| Earl Jones |
Warner Pacific |
G |
Sr. |
Henderson, Nev. |
| A.J. Monterossi |
Corban |
G |
So, |
Beaverton, Ore. |
| Lavar Moore |
Oregon Tech |
G |
Sr. |
Waterbury, Conn. |
| Joey Nebeker |
College of Idaho |
F |
Jr. |
Melba, Idahol |
| Omar Richards |
Northwest Christian |
F |
Sr. |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Dak Shagren |
Northwest |
G |
Jr. |
Custer, Wash. |
| Joel Spear |
Southern Oregon |
G |
Sr. |
Adelaide, Australia |
| Cyrus Ward |
Corban |
F |
Sr. |
Gig Harbor, Wash. |
| Kentrell Washington |
Eastern Oregon |
F |
Jr. |
North Las Vegas, Nev. |
| Taylor Young |
Warner Pacific |
G |
Sr. |
Hawthorne, Calif. |
HONORABLE MENTION: De’Jon Bowman, Jr., Warner Pacific, Mike Dupree, Jr., Northwest, Alix Hernandez, Jr., Evergreen, Austin Kuemper, Sr., Northwest Christian, Emanuel Morgan, Jr., College of Idaho, Brock Otis, Sr., Evergreen, Case Rada, Sr., Eastern Oregon, Ryan Spady, Walla Walla, Blake Updike, Sr., Multnomah, Jordan West, Sr., Southern Oregon, Joel Yellow Owl, Jr., Oregon Tech, Aitor Zubizarreta, Jr., College of Idaho