(Longview, WA) Red Devils showed no mercy on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as they celebrated sophomore night with an 84-44 win over the Centralia Trailblazers.
It was a busy night at Myklebust gym with a night full of recognitions and awards. Before the game the Red Devils took time to recognize their two sophomore players,
Bailee Larson and
Hope Bleak. Then at the half it was time to honor two new members into the Red Devils Hall of Fame, Mollee (Schwegler) Strand, who played on the 2009-10 and 2010-11 WBB and softball teams before moving on to play at Oregon State University. Also, inducted was Jill (Powell) Mackin, who played softball for the Devils in 1998 & 99. Jill was a member of the 1999 NWAC Championship team.
Along with all of that, Lower Columbia Athletics was presented with the 2023 NWAC Presidents Cup. This award is based on academic performance of the athletic teams. LCC is the only school to have won both the President's cup and the Director's Cup (given for athletic performance) in the same year. The Red Devils have done it twice now, first in 2019 and again in 2023.
With all of that going it would have been easy for the Devils to have been a little side tracked last night but they were all business. The Red Devils came out of the gates strong shooting 48% from the floor and 50% from the arc in the first quarter to go up 26-15 on Centralia. The second quarter was much the same with the devils extending their lead to 21 at the half, 44-23.
Devils finished the night shooting 45% from the floor, 47% from beyond the arc, and hit 13-20 FT for 65%. LCC forced 20 turnovers and stole the ball 16 times to complete the 84-44 win.
Reigha Niemeyer lead the Devils with 16 pts.
Kayla Kasubuchi was two rebounds short of a triple double, finishing the night with 12 pts, 10 ast, and 8 rbs
Karlee VonMoos also hit a double-double with 12 pts and 13 rbs, along with 4 steals.
Payton Torrey came off the bench to add 12 pts, pull down 5 rbs, and also stole it 5 times.
Bailee Larson had a good night with 11 pts and 5 rbs.
The Red Devils (9-1) are currently tied for 1st, with Green River (9-1), in the west region standings. There are only two games left in the regular season.
This Saturday the Devils will travel to Des Moines, WA to face the Highline Thunderbirds at 12:00 pm.
Then on Wednesday, Feb. 28, the Devils will face the Green River Gators in the final game of the season. Game set for a 5:30 tip at Tacoma Community College.
