The Columbia High Bruins held a nine-point lead in the first half and appeared to be on their way to bouncing back from a Dec. 15 home loss to Montesano earlier this week, but Hockinson had other ideas. The Hawks used a 16-0 scoring run to take control of the game and won 70-51 over the Bruins.
The Bruins (3-4) got off to a great start, leading 18-16 lead after the first quarter. A 12-5 Bruin rally, capped by a 3-point field goal from the corner by sophomore guard Hunter Wang (season-high 21 points), lifted the Bruins in front, 30-21, with 4:16 left in the first half.
Columbia’s offense then came to a screeching halt at that point, as the Hawks took control with a 16-0 run to take a 37-30 halftime lead. The Bruins, guided by first-year Coach Brady Trullinger, were unable to overcome the deficit in the second half.
“Our first half was definitely better than the second half and we were without three starters (Mason Hamilton, Jaden Wang and Bryce Wang), so we had to bring some guys up from the JV squad to play,” said Trullinger, whose only player with previous varsity experience this year is senior Angel Flores (nine points). Despite the absence of starters, our guys fought hard against a very good Hockinson team. I’m really proud of what they were able to do with all the adversity that we’re going through right now.”
Columbia outscored Hockinson 13-9, trimming the margin to 46-43 on Wang’s 3-point field goal with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter.
“We had the momentum going early in the game, but then for some reason, we lost it for a little bit,” said Wang, who sank four 3-pointers. “We need to focus on rebounding better in our next game.”
Things went downhill for the Bruins in the final two minutes of the quarter. Senior starting center Yadier Ruiz (two points) fouled out with 1:09 left in the third, which really hurt the Bruins. The Hawks had a height advantage with eight players 6-foot or taller, including 6-6 senior post Andrew Meier. When Ruiz fouled out, the Bruins lost their tallest player and were at an even more of a disadvantage.
The hot shooting Hawks answered the challenge with a 9-0 rally to take a 55-43 lead after three. The young Bruins (three seniors) never got closer than double digits for the remainder of the contest.
Ezekiel Orozco scored nine points for Columbia to support Wang in the scoring column.
“Even though we trailed at halftime, keeping the lead for most of the first half was pretty good to see,” said Trullinger. “They’re exhausted and they worked their butts off, and they did the best they could, and we made it close in the third quarter.
“I believe that we’ll bounce back and win our next game. We’re the kind of team that can move on and build from a learning experience like this to help us get better.”
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