The following article was written by Clipper Staff Writer TJ Cotterill and was published in the 1-30-09 issue of the Everett CC student paper – The Clipper.

Hard work pays off for EvCC men’s basketball players

The Everett men’s basketball team sits tied for the fourth seed in the NWAACC North Division, only a half a game behind 4-2 Bellevue Community College and 4-2 Seattle Community College.

The Trojans are currently 4-3 after wins in their last four games against 4-3 Skagit Valley Community College and 0-6 Edmonds Community College.

The Trojans struggled on the road to this point, losing to Seattle and 3-3 Whatcom Community College.

“Right now we have some major lapses,” Coach Larry Walker said. “Those cost us some games and we just got to cut those down.”

The Trojans have played well at home under Walker, even going back to last season where they posted a 10-1 record at home and this season are 3-1.

The Trojans have given up an average of 81 points in their last two road losses, while at home they give up an average of 74 points.

“There is something mental about shooting on your home court,” freshman guard Jason Wright said. “You have made shots on that floor in practice so you know you can make them in a game, but on the road you haven’t made shots there before.”

This makes sense, since the Trojans shoot a higher percentage in every shooting statistic at home than they do on the road.

Stephen Waltman has become a go-to guy in the Trojan offense lately as he is averaging just under 20 points and 9 rebounds his last five games.

“Teams are going to have to be focusing more on [Waltman],” Walker said. “He is a force to be reckoned with.” Walker added, “It took him a little longer than I would have wished this year to get going but now he is getting it done.”

Nate Holthenrichs has also improved his game and has contributed four double-doubles in league games and overall has averaged just under 9 points and 12 rebounds a game.

“[Holthenrichs] and [Waltman] have been taking care of business on the boards,” Walker said. “In the preseason we got beat by some good teams but we also got killed on the boards and that is not the case anymore.”

Walker has also been concerned with their 3-point shooting, at 26 percent, though they lead the NWAACC in 3-point shots made.

The Trojans expected their 3-point shooters to perform well with Waltman taking attention in the middle and Grounds’ passing ability but shooters Kegan Bone, Daniel Thompson and Teagan Dooley have shot a combined 24 percent from the 3-point line in league games.

“We need to get more consistency out of our two and three men scoring wise,” Walker said. “One of these nights we are going to hit on all cylinders and just blow a team out.”

Sophomore co-captain Chris Grounds has led the way so far leading the NWAACC North Division in steals and assists per game and is second in points per game, for a team that will need to step up their game going into the second half of the season if they are going to reach the NWAACC tournament.

“I still think we can get first or second,” Walker said. “Our whole thing is to get to the tournament where everybody is 0-0.”