OC men's basketball denied NWAC championship game
Olympic College's men's basketball team had a berth in the Northwest Athletic Conference championship game within its reach Saturday at Everett Community College.
The Rangers led Yakima Valley 74-68 with under 45 seconds before things went haywire. The Yaks made three 3-pointers, the final coming with 12.4 seconds remaining after OC turned the ball over while trying to protect a two-point lead. Trailing 77-76, the Rangers had one final possession to try to win the game, but Aundree Polk saw his go-ahead 3-pointer miss prior to the buzzer.
"Unbelievable," OC first-year head coach Ryley Callaghan said after the game.
Yakima Valley (20-9) advances to face Bellevue in Sunday's title game. Bellevue (22-7) knocked off Wenatchee Valley (18-13) in Saturday's other semifinal, 84-76.
Polk led the Rangers (21-8) with 28 points —on 10 of 25 shooting from the field — and pulled down 9 rebounds. Caleb Morgan added 12 points off the bench. It was a tough shooting night for OC. As a team, the Rangers were 24 of 64 (37.5%) from the field and made 11 of 35 shots from 3-point range.
Alexzander Delgado led Yakima Valley with 18 points. He was one of four Yaks to score in double-figures. Yakima Valley shot 31 of 56 (55.4%) from the field.
The Rangers won seven Washington State Junior College Athletic Conference titles from 1947-64, but were looking to reach their first NWAC title game during the modern era of Northwest CC basketball. OC made the NWAC semifinal round once before, back in 2000.
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: OC men's basketball denied NWAC championship game
