At this point in the season, South Wasco County head coach Jim Hull is worried less about the standings and more about overall progression.
At the Bounc’n Cancer Tournament in Echo, South Wasco County lost games to Echo and Nixyaawii by an average margin of 2.5 points, and had late chances to pick up wins.
Now with a 3-4 record on the record, the Redsides are looking toward building for the rest of the season.
“There are good learning lessons with close games because it is good experience,” Hull said. “We need these challenges in non-league play. Wins and losses, for our future, mean nothing right now. It is about our growth with this new team. We are still adding players and they are figuring out their roles.”
On Thursday, SWC trailed 25-18 at the half, but then battled back for an 18-10 run to go out in front, 36-35, entering the final period.
With time running out, the Redsides committed a turnover, but then the Cougars hit two free throws to increase their lead to three points with 16 seconds left in regulation.
After a timeout, SWC set up a final play to tie the score, but the 3-pointer fell short of hitting its mark.
Overall, SWC hit on 22 of 51 field goals, but went 0 for 8 from 3-point territory, and added 3 of 9 from the free throw line.
Ty Herlocker scored 21 of 27 points in the second half, and tacked on 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals to lead the Redsides.
Nick Ward added nine points, three assists and two rebounds, Haven Stephenson had five points and eight boards, and Skyler Anderson scored two points in his first action of the season.
“I thought in the second half, we showed that growth,” Hull said. “Our offensive execution was so much better and they did a great job of showing the amount of patience that they needed to show and getting the ball at the right place, so we can be successful. We still have a lot to work on, but it was good to see us, coming off a break like this and not practicing as much as we would like, doing fine.”
Echo hit on 19 field goals, three from long distance, and converted 9 of 23 from the line.
Morgen Marcum tallied 26 points, and Clay Jensen followed up with 11 points, including two 3-pointers in the final quarter.
In their 38-36 loss against Nixyaawii, SWC trailed by two points with 2.5 seconds and, after a missed front-end free throw by Nixyaawii, the Redsides had an errant pass broken up, as time expired.
Stephenson and Ward led with 11 points, Keith Kegel notched eight points and Herlocker had six points for the Redsides.
Stephenson pulled down eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals, and Ward added three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Kegel dished off five assists, had four rebounds and three steals, and Herlocker, who battled foul trouble, totaled six rebounds and two blocks.
Through seven games, Hull sees more opportunities coming for his perimeter players, especially with Herlocker putting up solid numbers of late.
“Ty is going to start attracting attention, so the beneficiaries of that are going to be Nick (Ward), Haven (Stephenson) and some other guys,” Hull said. “That is what good teams do. We realize that teams are going to try to take away our inside game or one of our inside players, so they are going to give up something else to us. We just need to continue to work on making sure that we get the ball in places where they can be successful.”
Nixyaawii reeled off 13 field goals, seven from 3-point territory, and went 5 of 7 from the line.
Mick Schimmel had 19 points, and Chandler Case ended up with 13 points.
South Wasco County (3-4 overall) next travels to Dufur at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
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