The Centralia College men’s basketball team dug itself another early hole and couldn’t quite get out of it come crunch time, losing to Bellevue College — the preseason No. 2 in the NWAC — 87-81 at home on Tuesday.
The Blazers are 2-4 in their past six contests, and all four losses have come by single-digits.
“We just have to do a better job of starting from the jump and focusing more on the physical side of the game, on defense and on the glass,” CC coach Joe Chirhart said. “(If) we do that, these close games will start to go our way.”
OJ Dybdahl scored 27 points to lead all players on the floor, and also had nine rebounds. Nashon Henderson-Crews posted a 15-point, 10-assist double-double, and Bryson Williams had 11 points and six steals, spending the mosting of the game defending a Bulldog 5 inches taller than him.
The Trailblazers trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and went into halftime down 13. The gap hit its greatest with just under 15 minutes left, when Bellevue scored a putback to make it 60-43. CC went on a 27-13 run to make it a three-point game, but couldn’t get any closer than that.
The Blazers are set to host Skagit Valley on Saturday.
