The Highline men’s basketball team won its first road game of the season 88-84 against Whatcom last Tuesday.
Guard Micah Jessie had it going early, scoring 18 of his 23 points on 7-10 shooting in the first half. Guard Kenny Curtis had 11 points and led the team with five assists in the first half. He finished the game leading Highline in all major categories with 26 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists.
These efforts helped the T-Birds go into halftime with a 47-44 lead.
Whatcom guard Kaleb Smith led the Orca Whales in scoring, with 20 points on 7-19 shooting.
The T-Birds shot much better from the field overall, 59.3 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from three point range.
“Whatcom wasn’t great defensively in the half court. If you aren’t turning the ball over against their press and gambling, you should get pretty good looks. Better shots equal better field goal percentage,” said Head Coach Che Dawson.
Highline did struggle at the free throw line this game, shooting 60 percent on 30 attempts.
“We will continue to spend time shooting free throws in practice. As a coach, you have to be careful not to bring too much attention to it, because you don’t want the players thinking about it,” said Coach Dawson.
Guard Earl Lee had his season debut in this game, and he had a much needed 12 points off the bench.
“In addition to being another body to provide some minutes, Earl always plays with energy and gives us a legitimate scoring threat from the perimeter and attacking the basket,” said Dawson.
Highline has had only eight active players so far this season.
“We have a combination of five guys out with injuries and forgetting the student part of student-athlete. We expect to have our full roster available once region play starts,” said Dawson.
The T-Birds faced 2-0 Blue Mountain at the Spokane College tournament, on Dec. 3 at 3:30 p.m. The tournament continues today and tomorrow, Dec. 4-5, in Spokane.
The T-Birds played 3-2 Olympic College on Wednesday in the Pavilion, with results unavailable at press time.
Olympic leads the entire NWAC in rebounds per game, pulling down 45.4 boards.
“Rebounding will be a huge point of emphasis this month. Olympic has some talent and just showing up for the game won’t get it done. We have to get stops and finish possessions defensively,” said Dawson.
The Highline women’s team hosted Skagit Valley Wednesday evening, with results unavailable at presstime. The Lady T-Birds travel to Port Angeles this weekend for the Pirate Classic, facing Olympic Dec. 4 at 11 a.m. and host Peninsula Dec. 5 at 4 p.m.