Bruin boys shuffle basketball lineup, win twice

The Bruins, guided by first-year Coach John Hallead, played with six of their regular varsity players in the games, as the team has been hit hard by illness.

“I guess now is the time to get that winter sickness out of the way before league contests begin,” said Hallead. “I have to give tremendous kudos to our role players for stepping up, as well as our junior varsity players we pulled up to play with the varsity this week. We really didn’t miss a beat.”

In last Friday’s home game versus Hudson’s Bay, freshman Mason Hamilton led the Bruins in scoring with 20 points and junior Dylan Nortz added 13. Columbia led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and 28-23 at halftime. The Bruins extended their lead to 45-39 after three quarters and then outscored the Eagles 9-6 in the fourth for the final margin.

“I was pleased with our defensive efforts against a very athletic Hudson’s Bay opponent, and it was definitely a big challenge for us,” said Hallead. “We allowed them (Eagles) to have a big run in the middle of the third quarter and they briefly took the lead. Our boys held firm though and we quickly got the lead back with a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.

“Senior Spencer Karlson is usually our leading scorer, but he took on a different role. We needed him to be our ball handler and our assist guy while directing our offense. He welcomed that role and it was good to see him go out there and help us do whatever he needed to do to help us get a win.”

In the match up at Corbett, Columbia led 26-21 at halftime and then outscored the Cardinals 29-12 in the second half to pull away and get a double-digit victory.

Karlson, a 6-foot-3 forward, led a balanced offense with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Bruin senior Osvaldo Orozco scored 11 points and Nortz added 10. Columbia’s Porter Haskell, a 6-9 senior post, had eight points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. Orozco had a team-high nine steals.

“I was very happy with our defensive effort against Corbett,” said Hallead. “Ozzy (Orozco), Armando Celaya and Dylan are very good perimeter defenders. When they are harassing guards, other teams are forced to get the ball inside. That’s a big defensive strength for us with Porter and Spencer defending inside.”

The Bruins were seeking to get a third straight win in a non-league match up Dec. 20 against the Riverside High Pirates in Boardman (result was after the printed edition deadline). The Bruins play Dec. 27 at 4 p.m. versus the Montesano High Bulldogs (0-3) at Montesano High School.