B-Ball: Two Home Games to Continue League Play: LBCC’s Men’s and women’s teams have up and down week

With both men and women’s teams playing two games a piece, against Umpqua and Chemekta, LBCC’s basketball teams have faced some adversity this past week. The women’s team finished 1-1 over the week, while the men unfortunately lost both games.

Both games were at home on Jan. 11, with the first opponents being Umpqua. The women’s team ended up losing the game 91 to 58. LBCC was lead by freshman Courteney Landis and Jade Bevandich. Landis carried the team, finishing with 15 points and scoring all of her points from behind the three point line (5 for 9 on the game). Landis also tallied up a rebound with one steal, and three assists. Bevandich contributed 11 points, six rebounds, one steal, and three assists as well.

With four of their players finishing the game in double figure scoring, Umpqua had a balanced attack. Freshman Jordan Stotler, Bria Thames, and Ashley Brackin scored 23, 17, and 11 respectively. Sophomore Tasia Bilbrew also contributed 18 points of her own. Umpqua dominated the defensive rebounds, out-rebounding the Roadrunners by nine and ending the game with a 13 total rebound advantage. LBCC finished with 10 more total turnovers, which seemed to be a deciding factor in the game.

The men’s team also fell short to Umpqua on Wednesday night. Led by Marchant brothers, Brodie and Jesse, the final score was 84 to 76. Jesse Marchant finished the game with 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Brodie had a team-high 19 points. The game was mainly decided in the first half, as Umpqua jumped out to a 46-37 lead. The Roadrunners fought back in the second half, outscoring Umpqua 39-38, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.

Both teams hosted again at the Jan. 14 games, against Chemeketa. The women’s team dominated from the start to finish winning the game 77 to 59.

“Defensive pressure in the first quarter set the tone,” said Head Coach Debbie Herrold. “We’re moving in the right direction building the culture of believing that we belong in the top half of the league.”

Landis and Bevandich both had game great games again, but were also aided by freshman Molly Aranda, who picked up a double-double (18 points, 17 rebounds) and sophomore Bailee Tally who also had 13 points.

“We had good communication and our aggressiveness was better than the previous game,” said Aranda. “When we all work together everything goes well. We did really well in boxing out in practice and it showed in game.”

LB flipped the script in this game, winning the rebound and turnover battle, which are always key stats in any basketball game.

“Chemistry of the team is working well and in practice we are pushing each other to do well,” said Landis. “When we all bring our full effort the win comes easy.”

The men’s team fell to Chemeketa, with a final score of 92 to 77. Brodie Marchant again had a big game, and also had help from sophomore Kendrick Abraham and freshman Isaac Garber. Marchant had a team-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Abraham had 15 points with three steals, and Garber had 11 points as well.

“We got impatient,” said Head Coach Everett Hartman. “We need to learn to play and grind for a full 40 minutes. [Umpqua’s] three’s were extremely accurate and we lost the shooters when they got open.”

The deciding factor in the game seemed to be the performances for Chemeketa’s Brennen McNabb and Tregg Peterson. The freshman McNabb had a game-high 29 points, torching the Roadrunners from behind the arc (8 of 12 on the game). Sophomore Peterson also had 22 points, going an absurd 6 of 7 from the three point line.

Both teams will travel to Coos Bay on Wednesday, Jan. 18 to play Southwestern Oregon Community College. Southwestern’s men team has a league record of 2-2, and the women’s team has a record of 1-3. The women’s team will look to carry the momentum from Saturday night and the men’s team will try to get back on track. The next home game is a while away, coming on Jan. 25 where the Roadrunners will host Lane Community College. All stats, standings, and game schedules can be found on Nwacsports.org.

Story by Nick Fields

Photos by Joshua Knight