ABERDEEN — Lower Columbia College looked adversity in the eye against Grays Harbor on Tuesday night, but the Red Devils completed a 12-point comeback in the final five minutes of the game, capped by a Sherman Royal bucket with three seconds left to beat the Chokers 81-79.
“Real proud of the group and how they responded to adversity,” LCC men’s basketball coach Mickey Polis said.
Polis credited Grays Harbor for its competitive performance that had the Red Devils playing catch up for most of the game.
Trailing at half, the Red Devils worked to close a double-digit deficit. They clawed their way back to within two, but the Chokers held off the run and pushed their lead back to ten.
Down 12 with just over five minutes left, Polis said his team had to pick up the pace and push the tempo and get aggressive when attacking the rim.
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“It just took us another spurt to get going,” Polis said.
It took a team effort to get the team going again, Polis said, but the climb back started with a big 3-pointer from Cole Hardy to help swing the momentum back in LCC’s direction. Ky-mani Pollard “set the tone” during the Devils’ comeback and Taylor Pomeroy continued to knock down shots as he’s done all season, Polis said.
Once LCC fought back to tie things at 79-79, former Mark Morris Monarch Rarey Sommer came up big on the defensive end of the floor. Sommer took a charge with 25 seconds left to take the ball back and give the Red Devils an opportunity to hold for the last shot.
Polis drew up a play and his team executed to perfection.
“We did a good job of making them go the opposite way,” he said.
The ball ended up in Royal’s hands, where he sunk to go-ahead bucket with three seconds remaining. The Red Devils didn’t get ahead of themselves and kept the Chokers in the backcourt where they could only muster a Hail Mary heave that bounced off the rim to send the Red Devils home with the come from behind win.
Pomeroy continued to score in droves for LCC and finished with 29 points and shot 9-for-12 from the field. Sherman scored 12 points, including the go-ahead bucket and Sommer notched 11. Pollard added eight points of his own and served as LCC’s primary facilitator with six assists.
Polis said the win was important for his “young team” and insisted that any steps forward in this COVID-19-shortened season are a bonus as his players don’t lose a year of eligibility.
“It’s a great learning opportunity for all these guys,” he said.
Moving forward, Polis said the goal is to get more opportunities two grow over the final weeks of the season, however they have already seen next Tuesday’s game against Highline canceled due to COVID19 protocols.
The Red Devils (4-1) should be back on the court at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Tacoma Community College.