The Covid-19 season is over and the Lower Columbia College men's basketball team has a lot to be proud of including a 7-2 record.
 
But the season finale does have a bit of a bitter taste.
 
The Grays Harbor Chokers came to Longview on Friday May 21^st and played well in an 86-71 victory over LCC.
 
Justin Evans had 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Grays Harbor.
 
Rebounding was a sore spot for the Devils as the Chokers won the glass war 42-27.
 
The Red Devils were swimming upstream the entire night.  Grays Harbor took a 13 point lead in the first half but the Devils rallied late in the period to make it a 38-32 deficit.  Grays Harbor then had a 19 point lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the game.
 
The Devils were able to chip away and get the score down to eight, but Grays Harbor had numerous second chances with 12 offensive rebounds.
 
Freshman Sherman Royal III and Ky-mani Pollard led LCC with 19 points each.  Royal had seven rebounds. Pollard had six steals.
 
Lower Columbia struggled from distance, hitting just 6 of 23 three-point attempts.
 
Taylor Pomeroy had had 13 points.  Solomon Campbell had a good showing off the bench with 10 points including a slam dunk.
 
Marlon Lundgren-Garcia did a good job in the second half hitting the boards when it seemed the Devils couldn't get a rebound. Lundgren-Garcia had eight rebounds.
 
Prior to the game, departing sophomores Dawson Fritz, Pomeroy, Logan Grabenhorst and Rarey Sommer were honored with framed photos and kind words crafted by head coach Mickey Polis.
 
All four of those players were great contributors and great people in the program and their futures are bright.
 
Speaking of the future, the Red Devils have commitments from some big time talent and so they are ready to get back to semi-normal come fall.
 
The work continues in the off-season.
 
LCC ended up tied with Highline, both teams with 7-2 records.  Highline had to cancel its trip to Longview due to Covid-19 after the T-Birds won the matchup in Des Moines.