Ryan Lockman scored a game-high 17 points and Columbia High led from the first quarter on last Friday en route to a 56-41 Trico League boys basketball victory at winless Ilwaco.
The Bruins’ fourth win, and second of the season over Ilwaco, kept them in seventh place in the standings with a key game coming up at home against eighth-place Seton Catholic on Monday. CHS lost at Seton on Jan. 18. (Due to an earlier-than-usual publication schedule this week, we were unable to obtain the result prior to press time.)
“We came out with a lot of confidence and it showed throughout the game,” Bru-ins Coach Dave Garwood said. “The game was close midway through the second quarter, but then we slowly pulled away and kept a double-digit lead from that point on.”
Columbia (4-9 in Trico, 4-11 overall) took a 16-10 lead into the second quarter last Fri-day. It extended its advantage to 32-19 by halftime and led 44-29 after three quarters.
Clayton Gross and Blake Walker each tallied eight points for the Bruins, who had eight players get into the scoring column. Jordan Mc-Clain scored seven, Jabal Gilbert had five, Jared Gar-wood and Tanner Rabino- witz both put in four, and Tristan Bond added three.
Garwood praised the play of Gilbert, in particular, citing his rebounding and inside defense as keys to the win.
On Jan. 21, the Bruins look-ed to even the score with the Castle Rock Rockets. CHS lost the first meeting at Castle Rock on Dec. 13 by 10 points.
Columbia spotted Castle Rock a 12-6 lead after the opening eight minutes of play but closed to within 23-19 by halftime.
The Rockets regained the momentum in the third quarter, though, and pushed their lead to double digits at 34-24 with one quarter to go.
In the final frame, both teams warmed up offensively and tallied their highest quarter score of the night. The Bruins netted 15, the Rockets 16 for a final score of 50-39. It was Castle Rock’s fifth win in a row.
“The third quarter was our demise and we couldn’t recover from that,” Garwood noted.
Lockman led CHS with 12 points, Garwood scored six, and McClain had four.
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