Good Tuesday morning. Quick note this morning and that is that the University of California’s women’s basketball team – minus Snoqualmie’s Sela Heide, who did not play – fell yesterday to the University of Southern California in their final game before the holiday break, 77-54, to remain winless on the season. They will meet the Arizona schools in their return to conference play following the holidays.
With that, let’s now dust off a segment that we do a lot during the high school football and basketball seasons, but haven’t been able to do at all this fall and now winter – since last March, in fact, when the COVID-19 pandemic started and high school sports were shut down in Washington. And that is our preview and pick segment, where we preview and predict the winner of matchups involving Mount Si and Cedarcrest High School’s teams in both football and basketball (boys and girls).
Today, we will begin a mini-series of these where we will give each of the four college basketball freshmen from the Valley and all 2020 Mount Si High School grads – Heide, Jabe Mullins, Tyler Patterson and Hayden Curtiss – and their teams the spotlight in this series of games. We’ll do a game each for Heide’s Cal ladies and Mullins’ St. Mary’s College men later in the season. Today, though, we open the series with the first of a series of battles this fall which will pit Valleyites and their teams against one another. It’s Patterson vs. Curtiss, the Montana State University Bobcats men against the men from the University of Portland, nicknamed the Pilots.
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND PILOTS VS. MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BOBCATS
CHILES CENTER, PORTLAND, 12 NOON – NBC SPORTS NORTHWEST (COMCAST CHANNEL 179)
ALSO ON WCC NETWORK/WATCHSTADIUM APP AND ON KMTT 910AM RADIO, PORTLAND
The Bobcats and Pilots go at it in both teams’ final games before the holidays. We’ll take a look at each team, tell you how your Valley players have been doing, project whether they’ll play in the game, and give a season prediction for both teams, then our final verdict. So with that, the visitors lead it off. Montana State.
MONTANA STATE
Scouting Montana State: The Bobcats have started the season at 2-2, and are coming off a loss to Washington State last Friday night over in Pullman. Coach Danny Sprinkle has what we think is a fairly interesting mix of guys on the Bobcats roster; there’s several transfers on the squad and there’s also an international flavor to it, with players from Canada, Germany, England and Spain on the squad. Amin Adamu and Xavier Bishop currently lead the team in scoring, averaging just over 14 points a game, followed by Jubrile Belo, averaging 12.5 points a contest for the Big Sky Conference team.
So how has Patterson been doing?: Well, for what it’s worth, quite well, thank you. Snoqualmie’s finest leads the team in three-pointers made and attempted (10 and 13 respectively) and is in a tier of players right below the top scorers mentioned above in scoring average, averaging eight points a game for MSU. He has started all four games and is second on the team in minutes played at 102, averaging around 25-26 minutes a contest. He has received high praise for his work ethic in practice from coaches and the results speak for themselves on the floor. He is coming off a season-low three points in the Bobcat loss last Friday to WSU, which came off his season-high water mark of 11 points and five rebounds in a December 13 blowout win by MSU over Yellowstone Christian College.
Yea or nay on Patterson playing today: Why we’re even asking that question, we don’t know, because the answer is hell yes, and he’ll likely start and again average his 25-26 minutes like normal.
Season expectation: After today, MSU opens up Big Sky Conference play, and they are expected to finish in the top half of the standings. Their season-opening dominating win over the University of Nevada-Las Vegas raised a few eyebrows, and it is hoped they’ll be able to carry that spark over into conference play. But the Big Sky is a one-bid pony into the NCAA national tournament, and with stalwarts Eastern Washington and Montana in the way, the Bobcats are going to need to beat both of those teams during the course of the season to have a chance to punch a spot in the Big Dance most likely.
PORTLAND
Scouting Portland: The Pilots have what can be best described as a pleasantly surprising start, currently 5-2 overall. However, some will argue that the strong start to the year isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on, as some of those wins came against NAIA foes, including Kirkland-based Northwest University. They do, however, have two wins against NCAA Division I teams, those coming against in-state rivals Portland State and Oregon State. So today’s game could be a bellwether to show whether the Pilots will be able to maintain this solid start. Ahmed Ali leads the Pliots in scoring, averaging just under 20 points a contest for the West Coast Conference team.
So how has Curtiss been doing?: Well, he’s played in all seven games, coming off the bench in all of them. The North Bend product has averaged around three points a contest in limited minutes – he’s averaging around eight minutes a game for UoP and has had moments where he was able to make his mark and contribute to the overall efforts. He continues to work hard and the opportunity today to meet Patterson might be one that could perhaps motivate him a little bit, we’ll see.
Yea or nay on Curtiss playing today: We’ll say yes to this also. This non-conference schedule has seen coach Terry Porter make a concerted effort to get all of his players playing time, to see what they have in the cupboard this season. We’d expect that to continue today.
Season expectation: Well, after today, they’ll have one more non-conference game – against Seattle University, who they fell to in their season opener, December 30 in Seattle – then they’ll open conference play at home against Loyola Marymount January 7. With the WCC being very top-heavy, with top-ranked Gonzaga and perennial tournament contenders BYU and Mullins’ St. Mary’s leading the way, and up-and-comers Pacific and Pepperdine as well, the Pilots are not expected to do very well in the WCC. Porter is in the last season of his current contract to coach Portland, and many do not expect him to be retained following the season. However, if the Pilots are able to build off their strong start, have a competitive showing in conference play, and somehow make a lower-tier postseason tournament, that might give the Portland Trail Blazers legend and former NBA head coach another shot next season. Whatever the case, any amount of opportunity Curtiss has to work with Porter will be a tremendous help to his overall game and help prepare him for the remaining years of his college career.
FINAL VERDICT
This game we expect will be a very competitive one, and not just between the two Valleyites, either. Both teams possess solid, athletic groups which should make for a very exciting battle in this one. We are going to take Montana State in a close one here.
MONTANA STATE 65, PORTLAND 60
About Rhett Workman
Rhett Workman is the editor of the Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal. Workman is a veteran sports journalist, having covered Snoqualmie Valley sports for nearly a decade with the Snoqualmie Valley Record newspaper before starting up the SVSJ. Workman’s coverage has earned the support and respect of Valley coaches, players, parents and fans, and the SVSJ continues the standard of coverage that Workman brought to the Valley Record.View all posts by Rhett Workman →