Red Devils Roundup: Catching up with Lower Columbia College athletics
From the Jump — Length, experience leads to hot start for LCC men’s basketball
Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com
NWAC Men’s Basketball
Red Devils reel off big wins over Portland, Pac-U
The Lower Columbia College men’s basketball team will have a different look this season, but that’s only if you’re looking at the back row of the team picture. The Red Devils have added a deep, and tall, bullpen of bigs who can stretch the floor, but they’ll also feature a fleet of experienced guards who will be the glue between the past and the future.
With that heady mix the Red Devils are off to a perfect start in the young season, improving to 3-0 last week with wins at home over Portland College and Pacific University (Forest Grove).
The Red Devils are carrying a bigger roster this season, with 11 players on the active roster along with four red shirts working in at practice .ead coach Mickey Polis says that’s been a boon to the program across the board, after spending much of last season with just six or seven healthy players at each practice and watching a lot of three-on-three reps.
“It makes my practices a little more enjoyable,” Polis noted with a wry laugh.
But LCC has also added a lot of size to the ranks, even after losing the likes of Jonah Zeller and Carter McCoy from the block over the offseason. That new wave of talent and size includes listings of six-foot nine-inches, two players at six-foot eight-inches, and another at six-foot seven-inches.
But they’ve got a few guys who’ve already been growing their brains, and games, to go along with all that brawn.
“I’ve got a nice balance of sophomores and freshmen and that’s something that I’ve really tried to emphasize while I’ve been here,” Polis explained. “But it’s really nice to have those sophomores to lean on early in the year since they know what it takes to play our style of basketball at this level.”
LCC TKO’s Boxers
The Red Devils wrapped last week’s efforts with a 71-46 win over Pac-U at Myklebust Gymnasium. Amir Locus led LCC with 12 points and seven rebounds in the victory.
Lower Columbia jumped out to a 34-20 lead at the half, and shared the ball around to keep the offense moving.
Keshawn Lewis netted 11 points for LCC, while David Young, Kap Laila and James Grose all notched eight points.
On the flip side, Pac-U struggled shooting the ball from anywhere on the court, which the Red Devils can take at least some credit for.
The visitors hit just 2 of 16 shots from beyond the arc (12.5%), and tallied just a 28.6 percent clip from the field overall on 56 attempts. MIles Hornage led the Boxers with 14 points and four rebounds.
LCC shares the rock to top Panthers
The Red Devils opened last week at home against Portland College and came away with a thorough 88-69 victory.
Three LCC players finished with a dozen points in the contest, with Kap Laila standing out just above the rest. Laila tallied 12 points with five rebounds and four assists in the win.
Lower Columbia found itself in a tight ball game for most of the first half, with a feisty pack of Panthers doing their best to ruin a good time at The Bust. Jackson Leach scored 14 points with five steals and five assist to lead Portland, while Vashon Hardges scored 18 points with seven rebounds.
But the Red Devils offense had enough in reserve to provide some separation down the stretch.
Malik Brown posted 12 points with three assists for LCC, while James Grose also netted 12 points.
Locus backed up his teammates with a balanced stat line of 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the victory, and Keshawn Lewis, Javares Reid, Camryn Berry and David Young all scored nine points for LCC.
The Backcourt Bunch
One of the Red Devils obvious strengths out of the gate has been their backcourt play. That group includes nearly all of the experience LCC has to offer with Malik Brown (Tigard, Ore.), Keshawn Lewis (Tacoma) and David Young (Sacramento) all returning to defend and distribute.
“They played big minutes for us last year in our amazing season, winning 26 games, and they’re going to be a big part of our success again this season,” Polis noted. “They get it. They’ve been through it. And they’re back to do it again.”
The Tall Guys
It’s important in this section not to lose the forest for the trees. That is to say, these guys aren’t just big, they’re athletic too.
“When you have size like that, and all four of them can move their feet and defend and block shots, it just makes everything a lot easier,” Polis noted.
Javares Reid is the biggest of the bunch (6’9”), and the freshman from Las Vegas wears a pair of sport goggles (think Horace Grant), too. Then there’s Amir Locus, a 6-foot 7-inch sophomore transfer from Phoenix who can rebound and distribute with the best of them.
Then you can add in Kap Laila, a 6-foot 7-inch freshman who made his way to the LCC campus after spending time at the University of Portland as a student manager for the basketball team.
“He played really well for us the other night,” Polis noted. “He’s definitely somebody that I think will be a big focal point for us this year.”
Not to be overlooked is Camryn Berry, who brings as much experience as anyone to the roster this season. The red-shirt sophomore measures in at 6-foot 8-inches and was described by his coach as an “ectomorph.” He also landed in the Top-10 in the NWAC for shots blocked last season.
“Having him back to protect the rim is really important,” Polis said.
New Recruits
There’s several players logging minutes for the Red Devils this season that local basketball fans will remember well, with several more spending this school year as red shirts in the program.
Hayden Yore of Kelso and James Grose of Napavine have both been logging real minutes and putting up real stats already. The guards have quickly earned the respect of their new coach, an old point guard himself in case you didn’t know.
“I love (Hayden’s) determination and all that he brings to the table both offensively and defensively,” Polis said. “He and James were definitely two guys locally who we wanted to try and keep.”
Yore entered the fray slightly more seasoned after spending his prep career grinding at the 3A level, while Grose made a name for himself shooting the lights out of 2B gymnasiums across the land. But both backgrounds seem like a great trailhead for success in the college journey.
“James can score in bunches… he gets out on the floor and runs really well in transition,” Polis said. “And he’s a shot maker. He can hit shots and you have to do that at the college level. You have to put the ball in the hoop.
The Red (Devils) Shirts
Even though you’ll have to wait another year to see them play live, there will be plenty of familiar faces at the end of the bench for LCC this season. In fact, the entire red shirt section of the roster comes from WIAA District IV.
Longview has two players working in the wings for the Red Devils this season. Mark Morris grad and old fashioned point guard Malakai Gray is now teamed up with R.A. Long grad and noted sharpshooter Lonnie Brown Jr. on the Red Devils’ roster.
The other two players working their way up through the LCC program are Cole Chester of Ridgefield and Parker Eiswald of W.F. West.
That Baseball Guy
The biggest dunk of the season so far doesn’t belong to a basketball player at all. In fact, it was an LCC baseball player who went viral on group chats around the Lower Columbia campus recently when he jumped and flushed a ball one-handed.
The dunk by Karsten hansen, a twitchy outfielder for the Red Devils, wouldn’t have been particularly noteworthy except for the fact that when he landed the rim was still in hand. Oh, and the event was captured on surveillance video and shared widely.
That poor man’s Shaq Diesel/Daryl Dawkins style rim-rocker left Myklebust Gymnasium in a state of disrepair for a few days, but in retrospect Polis considers it a blessing in disguise. Especially since it was a baseball guy, and his team wasn’t responsible.
“I’m just glad it happened when it did,” Polis said. “Otherwise it would have happened in a game and we would have had to cancel it and everything. It could have been much worse.”
What’s Next?
The Red Devils (3-0) will host Linn-Benton on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Lower Columbia will return to the court to host Blue Mountain on Friday at 7 p.m. as part of the Red Devil Classic.
NWAC Women’s Basketball
Red Devils pinned down by Peninsula
The Lower Columbia women’s basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start at home against Peninsula, Saturday, in a 69-54 loss at Myklebust Gymnasium.
The Red Devils barely made it into double digits in each of the opening quarters and trailed 35-23 at the intermission. Meanwhile, Alecsis Smith led the Pirates with 24 points and 13 rebounds in the contest.
Lisa Lorenz Corronto led LCC in scoring, coming off the bench to net 15 points. Karlee VonMoos tallied another double-double in the loss with 14 points and 16 rebounds.
As a team the Red Devils shot just 30.5 percent from the floor.
Lower Columbia (2-2) will be back on the court Friday at 3 p.m. against Snow College in the Snow College Tournament in Ephraim, Utah. The Red Devils will continue play in the tournament on Saturday.
Jamboree Time
The Red Devils will be hosting a high school girls basketball jamboree on Monday, at Myklebust Gymnasium. The event will begin with JV action in the afternoon and the varsity show taking over after the sun goes down.
The Schedule
4 p.m. Woodland JV vs Battle Ground JV
4:20 p.m. Kelso JV vs Woodland JV
4:40 p.m. Mark Morris JV vs Kelso JV
5 p.m. Mark Morris JV vs Battle Ground JV
5:20 p.m. Kelso vs Woodland
5:40 p.m. Woodland vs Washougal
6 p.m. Winlock vs Battle Ground
6:20 p.m. Kelso vs Washougal
6:40 p.m. R.A. Long vs Winlock
7 p.m. Mark Morris vs Battle Ground
7:20 p.m. Mark Morris vs Toledo
7:40 p.m. R.A. Long vs Toledo