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What a difference confidence makes.

The Skagit Valley men jumped out to a 9-0 lead against Columbia Basin and never looked back for an 85-74 victory Saturday at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges basketball championships at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

“They’re just a better team,” said CBC coach Rolando Garcia. “Even with a timeout (during that opening run) we just didn’t respond.”

That’s what Skagit Valley coach Brock Veltri was hoping for.

“We talked all week long that we wanted to come out and have a fast start,” said Veltri. “We were able to get some shots to fall, and when you see a couple of shots falling in it helps your confidence. The hoop starts to look about 10 feet wide.”

The Hawks fought back, as Mitchell Zapien scored seven points in a 12-6 run. But Skagit Valley responded with an 8-0 run and was never really threatened again.

“I was concerned about their shooters, and we heard they were a scrappy bunch,” said the Cardinals’ top player, Malik Barnes. “We have some speed, and we had some 2-on-1s and3-on-1s out there. Our team maximizes that ability.”

Indeed, when the Hawks missed some shots early in the game, the Cardinals pushed the ball and got some easy baskets.

Part of the problem for the Hawks was while the Cardinals were making baskets in the first half, CBC was struggling from the floor.

The Hawks shot an icy 33 percent (12 for 36) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, while the Cardinals were a sizzling 62 percent (18 for 29).

“CBC, they’re as good an offense as there is in the NWAACC,” said Veltri. “We were trying to do some things to slow them down.”

It didn’t help that the Hawks shot 3-for-21 from the 3-point line.

Skagit had a 48-29 halftime lead.

“We like to think of ourselves as a second-half team,” said CBC guard James Lopez, who scored 19 points and had 11 assists. “(But that slow start) killed us. We always start off slow.”

Garcia told his team at halftime to pick things up.

“I just told them our urgency needed to be there,” Garcia said.

It was, and CBC cut into the lead to get within 14 points. But that was it until the final minute, when the Hawks closed with an 8-0 run in the final minute for the final score.

Dustin Watts led Skagit with 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting, while Barnes and Greg Cox added 14 points each.

Buddy Walter led the Hawks with 20 points and eight rebounds. Zapien finished with 13 points, and Brandon Oswalt came off the bench to score 10.

Despite the loss, Garcia liked his team’s tenacity, especially in the second half.

“I’m still proud of them,” he said. “I told them ‘I now you guys were giving your all.’”

And Lopez says the Hawks aren’t done.

“Tomorrow will be a different day,” Lopez said. “We’ve got those sophomores, and we want to send them off with a trophy.”

That quest begins at 8 p.m. today, when CBC (16-11) takes on Chemeketa (14-14) in a loser-out game.

Skagit Valley (19-9) plays Clark (25-1) at  4 p.m. today in the quarterfinals.

COLUMBIA BASIN — James Lopez 7-14 5-9 19, Justin Smith 1-5 1-2 3, Mitchell Zapien 6-14 0-0 13, Steven Walter 10-14 0-2 20, Andrew Reddout 2-7 3-4 7, Jordan King 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Oswalt 4-9 0-0 10, Jordan En’Wezoh 0-0 0-0 0, Kyler DeWitt 1-8 0-1 2. Totals 31-73 9-16 74.
SKAGIT VALLEY — Elijah Smith 2-5 1-2 5, Greg Cox 5-8 0-0 14, Olajuwon Diggs 0-5 0-1 0, Malik Barnes 4-9 6-10 14, Isaac Ladines 4-8 2-4 10, Elijah Jordan 0-2 0-0 0, Vince Payne 2-7 0-0 6, Dustin Watts 11-13 0-2 22, Jordan Garcia 1-5 0-0 3, DJ Billingsly 4-7 3-3 11, Kenny Berger 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Watts 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 33-69 12-22 85.
Halftime score – SVC 48-29. 3-point field goals – CBC 3-21 (Oswalt 2-5, Zapien 1-1, King 0-2, Walter 0-2, DeWitt 0-3, Smith 0-3, Lopez 0-5), SVC 7-20 (Cox 4-6, Payne 2-3, Garcia 1-4, Jordan 0-1, Watts 0-1, Barnes 0-2, Diggs 0-3); Rebounds – CBC 38 (Walter 8), SVC 49 (Diggs 7, Ladines 7); Assists – CBC 19 (Lopez 11), SVC 22 (Smith 6); Turnovers – CBC 14, SVC 18. Fouls – CBC 18, SVC 14. Fouled out – Reddout.

Published with permission of the Tri-City Herald. Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.