Skagit Valley College completed a three game sweep at the 44
th Annual Turkey Tournament, sponsored by The Hampton Inn and Suites, with a 74-70 win over Big Bend on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals, who were in foul trouble most of the first half, trailed by as many as 16 points before the break. Skagit would regroup at the half to hold the Vikings to 24 second-half points and shooting just 36% from the floor. "We did a good job defending their initial attack in the first half, but improving our rebounding effort in the second half made the difference," said Skagit Valley Head Coach
Brock Veltri.
The Cardinals immediately closed the gap in the second half behind a pair of baskets from transfer Justin Burks, who would finish with 12 points on the night. He was one of four Skagit Valley players to reach double figures in the balanced Cardinal attack. Eshaya Wada led all scores with 17, Dakota Ayala had 16, and Dason Youngblood rounded out the group with 13 points as the Cardinals shot 51% from the floor in the second half.
"Our players did a great job of executing the half-time adjustments," said Coach Veltri. "In the second half we cleaned up the rebounding assignments and did a great job of being aggressive and getting to the free-throw line," Veltri added.
The Cardinals, who have won their last three games, will be on the road next weekend at the Pirate Classic in Port Angeles, Washington. SVC will play Tacoma Community College on Saturday afternoon and Green River Community College on Sunday.
