Photos
With the inclement weather that hit the Puget Sound region last week, he pretty much had to.
“I tried walking … but me and Dom (Williams) drove the car in the snow over to L.A. Fitness to get in the work,” said McLaughlin, who shoots 300 to 400 times per session. “My team relies on me to score.”
The 6-foot-6 standout from Bothell was sharp and nearly unstoppable Monday night, leading the Titans to a 92-80 victory over South Puget Sound CC in a Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges West Division game.
He hit a pair of 3-pointers and converted a couple of three-point plays – half of his 24 points in the first 71/2 minutes – to lead TCC’s 24-9 run to open the game.
After Ahmad Burse’s basket for the Clippers (5-10 overall, 1-4 NWAACC West) trimmed it to 24-12, TCC (13-3, 5-0) went on an 8-0 spurt, capped by Demetrius Smith’s layup, to grab a 33-12 lead.
“I thought we did a good job of building the lead,” TCC coach Carl Howell said.
In fairness to SPSCC, which upended Pierce College on Jan. 14 for its first divisional win, campus not only had been closed down because of the weather, the basketball teams had not practiced since that game.
“That’s nine days of inactivity, that is what you saw. Compounding that was our youth,” SPSCC coach Curtis Norwood said. “At halftime, we said now that the rust was off, go be the team we know we are.”
Nate Walker led the Titans with 26 points. Scotty Ewing had 20 for the Clippers.
Corban 82, Evergreen 65: Corban’s Jordan Carter scored a game-high 33 points as the Warriors handed the Geoducks (1-19 overall, 0-11 Cascade Collegiate Conference) their 13th loss in a row. Evergreen suited up six players.
Larry Green led the Geoducks with 22 points. Patrick Lewis added 13 points, Travis Wagner 12 and Elzie Dickins 10.
WOMEN
At Tacoma CC 66, South Puget Sound CC 56: After getting down 56-39 with 9:55 to go, the short-handed Clippers (3-11, 0-5) went on a 15-3 run to make a game out of it down the stretch.
“And you figured we missed four lay-ins in that run, or we would have been tied,” SPSCC coach Mychael Heuer said. “We had our opportunities.”
A big basket by Shante Watson for the Titans (7-7, 4-1) stopped SPSCC’s run, giving the Titans a 61-54 lead with 2:50 to go.
Alychia Colon, in her first game after suffering a major concussion against Green River two weeks ago, played all 40 minutes and led the Clippers with 15 points, 12 rebounds and four steals.
Corban 61, Evergreen 50: The Geoducks dropped their sixth consecutive game, falling behind second-place Corban early.
Jessica Edge paced Evergreen (4-16, 2-9) with a game-high 21 points.
One day after grabbing a career-high 21 rebounds, sophomore Danielle Swain had six rebounds to go along with her 12 points and Sami Clark scored 10 points and had a team-best six assists for Evergreen.
