Eagles Rise Above Wolves
Morgan Doyle, Sports Information Assistant
College Place, Wash. – After a back-to-back battle against Northwest in the second half the Wolves were not able to overtake the Eagles.
Ryan Ricks had the first points of the game with a three-pointer for the Eagles. Spencer Woodworth quickly closed the gap with a layup, and Ricks returned with another three-pointer which took the Wolves down 6-2. With seventeen minutes left in the first half, Wesley Burke hit a three-pointer for Walla Walla. Northwest went on an eight-point run, up 17-5 with twelve minutes left. Three free-throws from Burke brought the Wolves to a 17-8 deficit, and Josh Meyer retaliated with a jumper creating an eleven point lead 19-8. Michael Isotalo had a three-pointer for Walla Walla with ten minutes left, and the Wolves were down by ten, 21-11. A jumper from Alec Calloway with eight minutes left brought the score to 28-15, and the Wolves momentum picked up. Burke had a layup and free-throw and Jordan Underwood followed with a three-pointer with six minutes left in the half. Burke had another three-pointer with four minutes left, and Walla Walla was down 40-26. Four consecutive points from Cameron Silver with two minutes left brought the game to a 12-point difference, 44-32. Back to back layups with just under a minute left from Roy Zavala and Burke created only a 7 point gap, 44-37. With twenty seconds left Danie Ghebremichael had a three-pointer for the Eagles followed by a buzzer-beater from Burke taking the Wolves into the second half down 47-40.
The Wolves started off the second quarter with momentum off of two free throws from Dylan Browning followed by a three-pointer from Jacob Vargas making it a two-point game, 47-45. Justice Martion had a layup for the Eagles with seventeen minutes left, and Browning followed right behind with a layup and Northwest was only up by two, 47-45. A back-to-back battle ensued, with a jumper from Tre Benton for the Eagles followed by a layup by Jacob Vargas. With thirteen minutes left a layup from Vargas made it a one-point game, 53-52. The game progressed to 55-55 after a three-pointer from Isotalo, and the Wolves continued to flourish. The game continued to be a battle between the two teams with a layup from Kaelan Hicks for the Eagles with 10 minutes left, and Burke followed with a three-pointer for Walla Walla, 62-59 Eagles. Northwest's lead grew to seven points after a layup from Kaelan Hicks with six minutes left, 68-61. A layup from Zavala brought the Wolves deficit to five and Burke closed the gap with the three-pointer, and Walla Walla was only down by two 68-70 with three minutes left. With a minute left in the game Tre Benton had two free throws for the Eagles and the Wolves were down 76-70. A layup from Dylan Browning made it a four-point game, 76-72 with just under a minute left. The last thirty seconds of the game was a battle of free-throws with a point for the Wolves from Burke, followed by two free-throws from Ryan Ricks leading to the Eagles victory 78-73.
The Eagles were led by Tre Benton with 17 points and 6 rebounds, and Kaelan Hicks with 13 points and 6 rebounds. The Wolves were led by Wesley Burke with 27 points, and Jacob Vargas and Michael Isotalo with 10 points each.