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Women- Team Overall
Women- Individual Leaders
MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Lower Columbia 73 vs. Mt. Hood 68
It took Lower Columbia two overtimes to accomplish a feat that they last achieved a half century ago - win the conference championship in men's basketball. The Red Devils beat Mt. Hood 73-68 in double overtime to win the NWAACC title behind Steven Trotter's 20 points and eight rebounds. Tourney MVP Chris Bannish added 16 points, Keith Nelson scored 15 and Bryan Freshwater had 12 points and seven rebounds. The Saints were led by Gregg Barlow's 22 points and Jeremy Wyatt's 11 points. Both teams had chances at the end of the contest and in each overtime to win the game but LCC outscored MHCC 10-5 in the second overtime to win their first NWAACC Tournament title. They last won the championship in 1954 when the NWAACC was known as the Washington State Junior College Athletic Conference. The NWAACC Basketball Tournament began in 1965 and LCC has qualified for it 26 times, more than any other college, but had never won it until this year.
Game Stats
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Chemeketa 36 vs. Clackamas 55
Clackamas rallied from a five point halftime deficit and went on to win their first ever NWAACC women's basketball championship with a 55-36 triumph over Chemeketa. The Cougars were led by Cindy Alldrin who scored a game high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, good enough for Most Valuable Player honors. Lindsay Calmettes added 12 points and Ashley Cadotte grabbed 19 rebounds for the Cougars who finished the season at 26-4. The Storm, who shot 3 for 34 from the floor in the second half (9%), got 17 points from Annie Hartle and nine from Julie Melcher. Hartle and Courtney Bothum had nine rebounds each for Chemeketa (22-8) who became the second straight defending NWAACC champion to lose in the title game.
Game Stats
Peninsula 99 vs. Tacoma 60 (men)
In the game for 3rd place, Peninsula came out with a lot of intensity. Tacoma looked flat only shooting 23% from the floor and possibly still feeling the effects of Sunday's last second loss to Mt. Hood. Peninsula leading by 22 points at the half kept the pressure on Tacoma scoring 25 points of turnovers, and shooting 58% from the 3-point line. Marques Echols of Peninsula led all scorers with 21 points.
Game Stats
Lane 57 vs. Umpqua 72 (women)
In the women's 3rd place game, the Timberwomen controlled the game from beginning to end, leading by as many as 22. The Titans made a late second-half run led by LeeAnne Genovese and Domonique King came within 10 and Umpqua held them there. The Timberwomen were led by Devina Brooks, Micaela Williams and Lindsey Heard who scored 17, 17 and 18 pointes respectively. This is Umpqua's fifth 3rd place finish in the NWAACC Basketball Championship.
Game Stats
Skagit Valley 44 vs. Centralia 63 (women)
Led by Nikki Johnson with 23 points and 11 rebounds, the Trailblazers exploded for 41 points in the second-half to defeat the Cardinals 63-44 after being tied 22 at half-time. Centralia dominated the boards grabbing 51 rebounds. Skagit Valley finishes 7th for the tournament while Centralia takes home the 4th place trophy.
Game Stats
Edmonds 61 vs Walla Walla 70 (men)
In the second game of the day, Walla Wall pulled away from the Tritons in the last three minutes of the contest to win 4th place in the tournament. The game was another close one with 15 leads changes and eight ties. The Warriors were led by Robert Pankowski and Matt Kelly who scored 16 points each. Edmonds finishes 7th for the tournament. The difference for Walla Walla was their free throw shooting (88.9%, 16/18) and points off turnovers (18).
Game Stats
Clackamas 81 vs. Big Bend 73
Clackamas defeated the Big Bend Runnin' Vikes with 24 points from Brandon Gill and 22 points from Alex Swerzbin. The Cougars and Vikings were played evnely the whole game with 12 lead changes and 9 ties. Clackamas took the lead for the final time with 1:53 remaining. The Cougars complete an excellent season finishing 5th in the tournament with a 22-8 record. Big Bend (19-11) finishes 8th.
Game Stats
Yakima Valley 63 vs Walla Walla 73
In the 5th place game, the Yaks faced the Warriors in a very close game. At half-time the Warriors led 44-39 66.7% shooting from the 3-point field going 8/12 .The Warriors, led by Laura Sprague who scored 31, 9/13 from the 3-point line. The Yaks kept Walla Walla within striking distance the entire game but could not overcome the Warriors. The Yaks take 8th for the tournament and the Warriors take home the 5th place trophy.
Game Stats
Day 3- NWAACC Basketball Championship
Men's Recap
Many of the men's games on Day 3 of the NWAACC Tournament were close but the best game had to be Mt. Hood's 67-65 semifinal win against Tacoma with a tip-in at the final buzzer. Lower Columbia pulled away from Peninsula in the other semi to set up a matchup between the Red Devils and the Saints for the '04 championship. TCC takes on Peninsula for third place, Edmonds and Walla Walla play for fourth and the day begins at 11:00AM with a contest between Big Bend and Clackamas for fifth place.
Women's Recap
Clackamas defeated Umpqua and Chemeketa beat Lane in an all-Southern Region semifinals. The Storm have won four NWAACC titles in the past twelve years while the Cougars have only been to the championship game once, that coming in 1997 when they lost to Umpqua. The women's title game will begin at 6:00 on Monday. Before that game, UCC and Lane will play for third place, Centralia plays Skagit Valley for fourth place, and an all-Eastern Region battle for fifth place will start the tourney's final day on Monday at 11:00AM.
DAY TWO SUMMARIES
MEN:
Tough going for tournament host Columbia Basin as they lost the first game of the day and were eliminated by Centralia. Two exciting games happened with Big Bend edging Seattle and Mt. Hood defeating Edmonds. The day ended in an overtime game with Skagit Valley outlasting Spokane. Lower Columbia, Mt. Hood, Peninsula and Tacoma advanced to the semifinals with wins.
WOMEN:
No close games happened on Saturday as the second contest of the day turned out to be the best one with Walla Walla beating Whatcom by 10 points. It will be an all-Southern Region semifinals as those teams, who defeated their East opponents on Friday, knocked off their competition on Saturday. The East teams did survive Day 2 and will play each other on Sunday.
Highlights from Friday's Tournament Games
 
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FROM THE HIGHLINE vs. PENINSULA GAME
Day One Summary- Men
The highlight of the first day of the men's tournament had to be Linn-Benton's stunning upset win over East Region champ Big Bend. It was the only game of the eight played that the top seed did not come out on top. The quarterfinals will feature three region titlelists with the top matchups being Edmonds against Mt.Hood and Chemeketa versus Lower Columbia.
Day One Summary- Women
The opening day of women's tournament play saw a great matchup in the 2:00 game as Umpqua outlasted Walla Walla. Chemeketa avenged an early season loss to Yakima Valley with a 22-point win. The other six games all saw the top seeds win as three region champs survived the first day. All four teams from the Southern Region are still alive for the NWAACC title.
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