Spokane Tops Wenatchee Valley in Their First Conference Game on the Road
The Wenatchee Valley College men's basketball team trailed Spokane by three points with 2.6 seconds to go on Wednesday night, but Kellen Drake's inbounds pass went through the hands of Greg Giese and bounced harmlessly out of bounds. And the Knights' chances to win went along with it.
The Knights committed 19 turnovers in their 66-63 loss against the Sasquatch, but none bigger than the one on the final play, which left Wenatchee Valley unable to get a shot away to tie the game.
"The coaches have to take the brunt of the blame for problems with execution like that. We have to devote more practice time to it and really stress it," Knights coach Jimmy Hill said. "I was really proud of the effort that the kids put forth tonight, but we have learn how to finish games."
In the Knights' first Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges home game of the season, they gave the Sasquatch, who came into Wednesday night 9-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, all they could handle.
"It was a dogfight," Spokane coach Clint Hull said. "We got just enough stops and made just enough free throws down the stretch to pull this one out."
Free-throw shooting was an obstacle for both squads, as WVC made just 11 of 25 (44 percent) from the stripe and Spokane shot 15-for-28 (53.6 percent).
Derek Gianukakis and Damal Neil each hit one of two from the line on consecutive Spokane possessions to give the Sasquatch a 64-59 lead with 1:20 to go.
Matt Best answered for the Knights with a nifty up-and-under move in the paint to bring it back to a three-point WVC deficit.
After Spokane came up empty on its trip upcourt, Giese dribbled into four Sasquatch defenders and got fouled, making both free throws to make it 64-63 Spokane with 26.8 seconds left.
Wenatchee Valley nearly intercepted Spokane's dangerous cross-court inbounds pass, but was forced to foul Kevin Cameron, who sank both shots to give the Sasquatch a three-point lead with 21.7 ticks on the clock.
Giese came off a screen underneath the basket and tried to get in position to take the game-tying three from the corner, but Drake's pass was knocked away by a Spokane defender. The Sasquatch promptly turned it back over to the Knights as Hill frantically called timeout.
Giese appeared to be in position to have a shot on the second go-around, but he never got the chance.
"Giese hurt us last year, and judging from that and from film we've seen from this year, we knew we could not take a possession off against him defensively," Hull said. "We did a better job on him in the second half."
Drake led the Knights with 14 points, while Best added 13 and Bill Buckingham had 12. Giese finished with 11.
Neil led Spokane with 15 points and 10 rebounds.