Lewis-Clark State sweeps Walla Walla before Christmas break

The Lewis-Clark State men’s and women’s basketball teams guaranteed a jolly mood for themselves going into the holiday break.

The women ended 2023 with a 60-34 win and the men closed out the year with an 87-67 victory — both against the Walla Walla Wolves — on Wednesday at the P1FCU Activity Center.

It was the perfect end to a calendar year in which both teams find themselves atop the Cascade Conference standings going into 2024.

Here’s how Wednesday’s double-header played out:

Unwelcome gift for Walla Walla

The Warrior women’s holiday gift to the visiting Wolves (5-6, 2-4) was a 23-0 start and 13 points from two-time Cascade Conference Player of the Year Callie Stevens in the first quarter.

Lewis-Clark State (9-2, 5-1) didn’t allow a bucket until 1:39 remaining in the opening frame. It was a good bounce back after a poor start in a loss to Bushnell (Ore.) the previous weekend.

“This was a good game for us coming back from a tough loss,” Stevens said. “We came out strong and fast in transition. And, it was more like, we got to get back after that loss and fuel the fire. Let’s push the ball and show people what we’re made of. That wasn’t us in the last game.”

Stevens finished with a team-high 16 points. Freshman Tatum Brager joined her in the double-digit club, scoring a career high 11.

The first-year player has seen a significant jump in playing time over the last two weeks with an injury to sophomore Payton Hymas. Brager’s play has progressed with the extended minutes leading up to her double-digit night Wednesday.

Brager’s night coincided with one of the better team performances the Warriors have had this season.

Nine of the 11 players to see the court for LCSC on Wednesday registered at least a point and 10 of the 11 players to get time recorded a mark in either rebounds, assists, blocks or steals.

“It’s exciting seeing confidence building up in everyone,” Brager said. “Everyone’s seeing the floor and we’re playing our game.”

LCSC went into halftime up 40-16 over Walla Walla. The Wolves had an added aggression coming out of intermission, but it wasn’t enough to make a dent in their deficit.

For the Warriors, all 11 players who saw the court recorded at least 12 minutes of playing time.

The extended time on the court for the whole roster and the quality of win against the Wolves will do the team good after the holidays. LCSC begins 2024 with a two-game road slate against Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho, and coach Caelyn Orlandi hopes the year-ending win will help the Warriors in that away trip.

If not, there’s always her New Year’s resolution:

“Everyday, coming to practice, you want to be better than you were the day before,” Orlandi said. “Got to be 1% better, and that’s what we’re trying to do. We want to be better every single day. As a team, as a coach, you’re never going to be satisfied. You got a long season, you got a long ways to go. You got to peak at the right time.”

Warrior men see 2023 out

Senior forward Jaedon Bradley set a career-high of 23 points and had his first double-double as a member of LCSC’s roster in two games the previous weekend against Corban (Ore.) and Bushnell.

The encore was even better — 28 points and 11 rebounds to set a new career-high in points and to secure his second double-double on Wednesday.

He and senior guard Davian Brown, who had a near double-double himself with 15 points and nine boards, had scored 12 of the Warriors’ first 14 points to take a six-point early lead against Walla Walla (3-7, 2-4) on Wednesday.

The Wolves didn’t go down without a fight and went up by as much as 33-26 with just over five minutes left in the first half.

LCSC (8-4, 6-0) closed out the half on a 19-6 run to go into halftime up 45-36.

Walla Walla got back within four in the second half but never got closer and the Warriors continued to bolster their lead until the 20-point final.

Over the course of the year, LCSC has been working on getting to know each other as teammates, as is the norm with a largely retooled roster.

Injuries and departures threw a wrench in that progress early in the season and the Warriors started 2-4.

Since then, LCSC is 6-0, all games against league competition. Further evidence of the growing trust has been its fastbreak and transition offense — which played a big role in the Warriors retaking their lead and growing it on Wednesday against the Wolves.

“I think we just started off slow and sluggish on defense,” Brown said. “But then, after the first five minutes, we came out ready. And we can’t have that from here on out. We got to start off right with our approach. I think our defense led to offense.”

Similar to the women, the men’s win was a total display of a team in which everyone contributed.

One of the highlight plays of the game came from the team’s two lowest-scorers on Wednesday — an example of the wholly contributions from the roster: junior guard Gorden Boykins (listed at 6-foot-1) soared up to get a block on Walla Walla’s 7-foot center Soren Dalan. Freshman post Alton Hamilton got the rebound and delivered a cross-court pass to sophomore guard John Lustig, who capped the play off with an emphatic dunk.

That play was an example of LCSC’s stellar fastbreak offense. It was also an example of the wall-to-wall defense the Warriors have been playing the last month.

“As far as shutting down the post goes, it’s a team thing. It’s not just me and (Anthony Peoples Jr.),” Hamilton said. “We’re the last line of defense, but we always got that help man. So, our whole team is guarding (the post). That’s where they play their offense, so once we shut him down, they all shut down.”

The win capped off a year that saw a historic conference start for LCSC. The Warriors haven’t started 6-0 in league since joining the Cascade Conference.

But the break also couldn’t come at a better time.

Lustig has been battling a chronic back injury the whole season and sophomore post Grayson Hunt has been out the last few weeks with an ankle injury, and is slated to return sometime in mid-January.

The break will hopefully help LCSC get its numbers up and its players rested enough for its away slate to begin 2024.

Like the women, the men will play Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho coming off of holiday vacation.

The College of Idaho men are the defending NAIA National Champions and Eastern Oregon has consistently been a tough outing for the Warriors.

Coach Austin Johnson has mentioned that the team has yet to be tested in a tough road stretch in conference play. They won’t have to wait long to find out how they do in that situation.

“Almost every team in our league got swept on that trip last year,” Johnson said. “So, my hope is that now we can go on the road and play some teams that are in the top of the conference. That we have a lot of confidence. We’re connected and together because we’ve been through some of these battles the last few weeks. … If you can win all your games at home and steal some on the road you can end up in a pretty good spot.”

Players of the night

Stevens finished her night with 16 points on 50% shooting and had four steals and three assists. Brager had her career-high with 11 points and two steals.

Bradley had a 28-point, 11-rebound double-double and Brown had 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Up next

Both the women and the men will play Eastern Oregon to begin its 2024 slate.

The women play at noon and the men play at 2 p.m., both Jan. 5, both in La Grande, Ore.

WOMEN

WALLA WALLA (5-6, 2-4)

Daniels 4-12 2-5 10, Jones 1-3 0-2 3, Casem 2-12 2-2 7, Wiltgen 1-7 1-2 3, Trevino 0-7 1-2 1, Fayard 0-0 0-0 0, Vaughan 0-0 0-0 0, Zamora 0-1 0-0 0, Rasmussen 0-1 0-0 0, Lopez 2-3 0-0 4, Castagna 0-0 0-0 0, Folkenberg 1-1 2-2 4, Casagrande 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 12-50 8-15 34.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (9-2, 5-1)

Wilson 2-4 3-4 7, Sander 3-9 0-0 7, Byrd 0-3 1-2 1, Holm 2-10 0-0 5, Stevens 6-12 1-2 16, Barger 0-2 1-2 1, Nelson 0-6 0-0 0, Brager 4-7 0-0 11, Beardin 0-1 0-0 0, Green 1-4 2-2 4, Herring 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 22-65 8-12 60.

Walla Walla 5 11 12 6—34

Lewis-Clark State 28 12 12 8—60

3-point goals — Walla Walla 2-24 (Casem 1-8, Jones 1-3, Wiltgen 0-5, Trevino 0-4, Casagrande 0-2, Zamora 0-1, Rasmussen 0-1); Lewis-Clark State 8-25 (Stevens 3-8, Brager 3-5, Sander 1-5, Holm 1-2, Nelson 0-2, Byrd 0-1, Barger 0-1, Green 0-1). Rebounds — Walla Walla 39 (Daniels 12); Lewis-Clark State 49 (Green 8). Assists — Walla Walla 4 (Wiltgen 2); Lewis-Clark State 15 (Sander, Stevens 3). Total fouls — Walla Walla 16; Lewis-Clark State 13. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none. Attendance — 603.

MEN

WALLA WALLA (3-7, 2-4)

Ford 7-14 0-0 16, Robertson 1-4 0-0 2, Sebirokwa 4-8 1-2 9, Vaughan 2-10 2-2 7, Dalan 5-13 1-1 11, Golden 2-6 0-0 4, Mestrov 3-3 0-0 7, Mireles 2-5 0-0 6, Twiford 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 28-65 4-5 67.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (8-4, 6-0)

Lustig 2-6 0-0 4, Brown 6-15 2-2 15, Stockton 3-5 1-2 8, Bradley 9-19 4-5 28, Hamilton 6-8 1-2 13, Raynor 2-7 2-2 8, Peoples Jr. 5-9 1-2 11, Boykins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-70 11-15 87.

Walla Walla 39 28—67

Lewis-Clark State 45 42—87

Halftime — Lewis-Clark State 45-39. 3-point goals — Walla Walla 7-23 (Ford 2-5, Mireles 2-4, Vaughan 1-6, Mestrov 1-1, Twiford 1-1, Robertson 0-3, Golden 0-3); Lewis-Clark State 10-29 (Bradley 6-11, Raynor 2-6, Brown 1-7, Stockton 1-2, Lustig 0-2, Boykins 0-1). Rebounds — Walla Walla 32 (Ford 9); Lewis-Clark State 43 (Bradley 11). Assists — Walla Walla 14 (Ford, Dalan 3); Lewis-Clark State 20 (Brown 6). Total fouls — Walla Walla 13; Lewis-Clark State 10. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none. Attendance — 737.

Kowatsch can be contacted at 208-848-2268, tkowatsch@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch.