By Zach McMahon in Sports
From the opening tip, the Clark’s women’s basketball team looked to apply pressure on an 0-22 Grays Harbor team.
The game started on an 18-0 Clark run. Clark remained in control all game resulting in the final score of 82-22.
Taylor Howlett led the way for the Penguins, scoring 19 points. She was also tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight.
Clark struggled shooting the ball shooting only 43.7 percent. But they relied on their tough defense forcing 27 turnovers and getting 20 steals.
Howlett thought defense was the biggest part of the victory. “We got rebounds and looked to push the ball up the court and set up easy shots on offense.”
Men’s:
With the NWAC tournament right around the corner, Clark was challenged by a tough Grays Harbor team but ultimately came out of the match with a win, 83-76.
Clark played some of their worst basketball offensively in the first half, scoring 32 points and averaging 35.1 percent from the field, and 25 percent from behind the arc.
Grays Harbor could not find their spark offensively either, shooting 43 percent from the field and 16 percent from the three point line, also ending the half with 32 points.
Although Clark’s shooting slightly increased after halftime, Grays Harbor responded with an onslaught of nine three pointers in the second half.
The Penguins defended their second placed seed in the NWAC West Region by driving hard to the basket and drawing 26 fouls throughout the game.
Grays Harbor Head Coach Jordan Altman and leading scorer Justin Johnson both received technical fouls in the second half.
Bryan Berg was the Penguin’s leading scorer with 22 points but had help from three other players scoring in double digits.
“Since the start of the season we have had a target on our back,” Berg said, “Everybody sees us at second place and brings their best going into these games. We have to anticipate every team is going to play their best game against us and the only way to respond is to play our best game.”