Bruins open new year on three-game win streak

“Our goal coming into our last non-league game (versus Riverside) was to just have a lot of different personnel groupings together and give some guys who don’t normally get a lot of playing time an opportunity to play more,” said Hallead. “I think we kind of got behind in the first three quarters because we were so focused on doing that. In the fourth quarter, we decided to get back to our strength, which is playing our starters and then we were able to take control of the game and get the lead.”

In the match-up versus Riverside, of the OSAA Class 3A Eastern Oregon League, the Bruins led 8-6 at the end of a low-scoring first quarter. Riverside outscored Columbia 12-7 in the second quarter to take an 18-15 halftime lead.

“It was by far our worst performance of the year (versus Riverside),” said Hallead. “We missed 12 easy layups, and nothing was falling for us - and we also had 20 turnovers. The long Christmas break hurt us, because we had a lot of guys missing due to either sickness or guys were on vacation. We had everybody back for this game, but we just didn’t have a lot of practices under our belt.

“We were getting banged around a lot because the refs were really letting us play. We were trying to make an adjustment to what was getting called and what wasn’t getting called.”

The Bruins’ offensive struggles continued in the third quarter, as they scored six points and trailed 27-21. The Bruins turned things around in the fourth quarter, outscoring Riverside 17-4. The Bruins were led in scoring by Porter Haskell’s 11 points.

Hallead said, “We can’t come out and play in our next game the same way we did against Riverside, because if we do that, then we will not be successful in our league.”

Columbia faced the Seton Catholic High Cougars (6-3) in its WIAA Class 1A Trico League opener Tuesday at home (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Bruins play at home Friday at 7 p.m. versus the Castle Rock High Rockets (3-3).

Columbia’s last Trico League win was in 2017; the last time the Bruins had a winning season was in 2002.

“We want to break that long streak of nearly 20 years of not having a winning season,” said Hallead. “Right now we’re on that path, but our league schedule is not going to be easy. There (are) some very tough teams in our league. King’s Way, La Center and Seton Catholic are probably the top three teams. Our focus is to compete with the top three and get sweeps over Castle Rock and Stevenson to get fourth place and qualify for the playoffs, which is where we want to be.

“I’m realistic and there’s a chance that we could upset one of the top three teams and have a ten-win season to qualify for the playoffs, which is a realistic expectation for us.”