It was a tight battle between Centralia College and Lower Columbia College early on Wednesday in Centralia, as the two teams were separated by just two points at halftime.

The Red Devils pulled away in the second half, and the Trailblazers faded late in a 78-62 loss.

“We were executing exactly what we wanted to do,” CC coach Tiffany Twiddy said. “We were taking our time and executing our offense. That second half, we might have gotten a little gassed. They keep a pretty quick pace, and we couldn’t keep up with it.”

The Trailblazers controlled the game early in front of a packed, energetic crowd, taking a lead in the first and leading by five after one. The LCC offense started to find a rhythm in the second, but even then, CC entered the locker room trailing just 31-29.

The Red Devils took control late in the third, going on an 11-2 run to extend a five-point lead to 14 heading into the final frame.

The Trailblazers didn’t help themselves, as they turned the ball over 10 times in the third. By the end of the night, they had turned it over 28 times.

“If you turn the ball over that many times, you’re hard-pressed to win a game,” Twiddy said. “We just have to take care of it and execute a little better.”

Ella Baumgartner led CC with 20 points, and Abi Lundblad logged a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Marecia Barnett added 16 points, while Kate Carpenter tallied three points, eight rebounds, five blocks, and three assists. Meletava Fonohea brought down eight rebounds.

Adna alum Karlee VonMoos scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds for LCC, and Napavine alum Morgan Hamilton added four points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Now officially in the second half of league play, CC (5-15, 2-5 NWAC West) will look to stack wins to grab the fourth playoff spot in the West Region.

South Puget Sound, Green River, and LCC are all tied for first at 6-1 in conference play, but CC is just one game back of Highline for the No. 4 spot. In the Trailblazers’ first meeting against Highline on Jan. 18, the Thunderbirds came away with a 64-58 win.

Twiddy is confident that the Trailblazers will be able to get in, especially if they can pull off an upset against SPS or Green River in their second meeting, but she stressed the importance of beating the teams below them in the standings.

“We need to get the gettable games,” Twiddy said. “If we get those and take care of business, we should be able to sneak our way in.”

Centralia College will head north on Saturday to take on Tacoma Community College in the first game of a women’s-men’s doubleheader.