The Northwest College men’s basketball team responded with two wins after blowing a late lead and falling to Dawson Community College 86-83 on Friday. The Trappers then defeated  Miles Community College 80-57 on Saturday and Cochise College 71-70 on Tuesday in Yuma, Arizona.

DAWSON CC 86, NORTHWEST 83

Bringing in a tough opponent on Friday the Trappers (10-5) took on the Buccaneers (9-6) in what proved to be a difficult game from the start.

Dawson came out strong, building as large as a 14-4 advantage in the first 3:30 minutes.

Northwest responded and tied the game just three minutes later on a Logan Woolstenhulme 3-pointer, before his jumper gave Northwest the lead.

“We didn’t start the game well. I thought we settled in, just had some early turnovers,” coach Andy Ward said.

The Trappers pushed the lead to as many as five at 31-26, but the Buccaneers didn’t let Northwest break away as the visitors tied the score once again at 31 with just under eight minutes left in the half.

Leading 38-35 with just under three minutes left, the Trappers went on a 10-2 run, building a double-digit advantage late.

Dawson got a basket in the final minute, and it was 48-39 going into the locker room.

In the second half Dawson scored the first six points and eventually cut the lead down to a single point.

Northwest settled in and established its lead once again, pushing it out to 12 at 67-53 with 11 minutes remaining on a Nayel Girard dunk.

The Trappers maintained that lead through much of the second half, not allowing the Buccaneers to get closer than six until the final minutes.

Northwest held a 10-point advantage at 79-69 after a Woolstenhulme free throw, before things went south for the Trappers.

A 12-1 stretch over the next 2:30 minutes gave the visitors the lead, but Northwest answered on a Mateo Trujillo jumpshot.

Dawson answered with free throws with 21 seconds left, and Northwest answered with Braydon Bradshaw going 1-2 at the line to tie it at 83 with four seconds left.

The Buccaneers raced down the court and sank a 3-pointer with .3 seconds remaining on the clock following review.

Northwest fired the ball downcourt, but nobody touched it and the ball was turned over to Dawson which inbounded it and ended the game with the 86-83 comeback win.

“We did a pretty good job of handling their press, except for the first part of the first half and then the last three minutes of the game,” Ward said. “I critiqued myself (watching film) a lot on just not having them ready and prepared to play in those last three minutes like we needed to. The guys made some mistakes, but just organizationally I needed to do a better job … We can learn from it. I think that’s the main thing, so that it doesn’t hurt us when it really matters … I think it’s unfortunate we lost the game, but I think we handled it the right way. We learn from it and become a better team because of it.”

Trey Rinn led with 19 points, Woolstenhulme had 13, Trujillo had 12 and R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle added 11.

Eli Patterson led with six rebounds, Trujillo had seven assists, Girard had five steals and Bradshaw had the lone block.

NORTHWEST 80, MILES CC 57

The Trappers welcomed in the Pioneers (7-8) on Saturday for their final home game before the winter break.

Scoring was hard to come by early for both teams, as the game was tied 7-7 six minutes in.

Both teams started finding the basket over the next five minutes, with Northwest taking a 19-15 lead with eight minutes remaining on a pair of Travis Theran Archibald free throws.

Northwest led by as many as nine several times late in the half, and held a 33-26 advantage at the break.

Early in the second half the Trappers pushed the lead to double-figures.

Things went from bad to worse for Miles, as just three minutes in the Pioneer coach received a technical foul, and a second one shortly after.

Due to the ejection of the Miles coach and no coach replacing him during the contest, it is likely but unknown as of press deadline if the game will be entered as a forfeit.

Despite the departure of the Pioneer coach, the two teams continued playing as Northwest built a 20-point lead.

The Trappers pulled away throughout the second half for the 80-57 win.

“I thought we did a good job defensively. We shot the ball a lot better in the second half. The guys did a good job of responding to a tough home loss the night before,” Ward said.

Archibald led with 14 points, Patterson and Whittle each had 11 and Rinn added 10.

Bradshaw and Whittle both had eight rebounds, Girard had four assists while Woolstenhulme and Girard each had three steals.

NORTHWEST 71, COCHISE 70

Continuing the busy week in Yuma, the Trappers took on the Apaches (9-3) on Tuesday.

Northwest started out slow, as the Apaches held an 11-2 lead five minutes in.

The Trappers chipped away at the lead, but Cochise never allowed Northwest an opportunity to take the lead as Northwest did not get closer than four points over the next 10 minutes.

Northwest got within three points several times later in the half, but continued trailing the entirety of the first half, down 27-21 at the break.

The Trappers stormed out of the locker room, scoring the first nine points and taking their first lead of the game.

Cochise kept things close, but the Trappers built a 41-34 lead after the first nine minutes capped by a Whittle jumper.

The Apaches cut down the lead several times, but Northwest held off those challenges and pushed the lead to double-digits after an Archibald 3-pointer with 7:37 remaining, leading 51-40.

Northwest maintained its double-digit advantage until 2:38 remaining on a Rinn 3-pointer at 65-55.

Cochise then cut into the lead, going on an 8-0 run in just over a minute.

Northwest held off that push, keeping its lead through strong free throws at the end, making it a 71-67 scoreline before a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Cochise made the final score 71-70.

Trujillo led with 19 points, Rinn had 16 and Bradshaw added 15.

Girard had 10 rebounds and eight assists, Trujillo had four steals and Bradshaw had three blocks.

Northwest had two more games in Arizona, taking on host Arizona Western College (10-3) on Wednesday night and Central Arizona College (5-7) on Thursday. Those results were determined after the press deadline.

“We just are continuing to work on the things that we know win basketball games,” Ward said.

Check for full recaps of those games in the Dec. 30 edition of the Powell Tribune.

DAWSON CC 86, NORTHWEST 83

Total rebounds then offensive rebounds in ()

Points — Trey Rinn 19, Logan Woolstenhulme 13, Mateo Trujillo 12, R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 11, Braydon Bradshaw 9, Eli Patterson 8, Nayel Girard 7, Isaac Wolfe 4

Rebounds — Eli Patterson 6 (3), Mateo Trujillo 5 (1), Logan Woolstenhulme 5 (4), Nayel Girard 4 (1), R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 3 (1), Braydon Bradshaw 2 (1), Isaac Wolfe 1 (1), Travis Theran Archibald 1

Assists — Mateo Trujillo 7, Nayel Girard 4, Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, Braydon Bradshaw 1

Steals — Nayel Girard 5, Trey Rinn 2, Travis Theran Archibald 2, Mateo Trujillo 1, Eli Patterson 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1, R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 1

Blocks — Braydon Bradshaw 1

NORTHWEST 80, MILES CC 57

Points — Travis Theran Archibald 14, Eli Patterson 11, R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 11, Trey Rinn 10, Mateo Trujillo 7, Braydon Bradshaw 6, Nayel Girard 5, Logan Woolstenhulme 4, Monybuony Kor 4, Isaac Wolfe 3, Richy Rodriguez 3, John Hendricks 2

Rebounds — Braydon Bradshaw 8 (2), R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 8 (2), Logan Woolstenhulme 5, Eli Patterson 4 (1), Mateo Trujillo 4 (1), Mateo Trujillo 3, Monybuony Kor 2, Nayel Girard 2, Trey Rinn 1, Travis Theran Archibald 1 (1)

Assists — Nayel Girard 4, Mateo Trujillo 3, Isaac Wolfe 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 1, Trey Rinn 1, Eli Patterson 1, Richy Rodriguez 1, Travis Theran Archibald 1

Steals — Logan Woolstenhulme 3, Nayel Girard 3, Mateo Trujillo 2, Isaac Wolfe 1, Trey Rinn 1, Travis Theran Archibald 1

NORTHWEST 71, COCHISE 70

Points — Mateo Trujillo 19, Trey Rinn 16, Braydon Bradshaw 15, R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 8, Nayel Girard 5, Eli Patterson 5, Travis Theran Archibald 3

Rebounds — Nayel Girard 10 (1), Braydon Bradshaw 5, Logan Woolstenhulme 5 (2), Trey Rinn 4 (1), R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 3, Mateo Trujillo 2, Eli Patterson 1 (1), Travis Theran Archibald 1

Assists — Nayel Girard 8, Mateo Trujillo 4, Trey Rinn 2, Braydon Bradshaw 1, Isaac Wolfe 1, Logan Woolstenhulme 1

Steals — Mateo Trujillo 4, Braydon Bradshaw 2, Logan Woolstenhulme 2, Nayel Girard 1, Eli Patterson 1

Blocks — Braydon Bradshaw 3, R’Zha Zha’Quire Whittle 1