Freshman aims to help Everett CC create waves at NWAC tourney

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 9, 2017

EVERETT — Uju Chibuogwu can do it all.

One moment the freshman forward on the Everett Community College women’s basketball team is receiving the ball in the post, backing her defender down and scoring down low. The next she’s pulling up from well outside the 3-point line and draining a long trey.

And now she intends to help the Trojans create some unexpected waves at the NWAC Basketball Championships.

The Trojans are flying under the radar at this year’s NWAC tournament, which is taking place at Everett CC this week and next weekend, and if the Trojans are to pull off any upsets it’s no doubt that Chibuogwu will be right in the middle of it.

Everett, the No. 4 seed from the North Region, faces Lower Columbia, the No. 1 seed from the West Region, on Saturday at 6 p.m. But while the Trojans are the underdog, Chibuogwu is the kind of player who can turn the seedings upside down. The 5-foot-11 Chibuogwu was among the NWAC leaders in scoring (11th at 18.9 points per game), rebounds (eighth at 9.7 per game) and blocked shots (fourth at 2.3 per game). But in addition to being a force inside, Chibuogwu also has an outside game, as evidenced by her team-leading 3.1 assists per game and 42 3-pointers. She was named first-team all-NWAC North Region, as well as the region’s Freshman of the Year.

“I haven’t coached a more versatile player, and I’ve been here 40 years,” long-time Everett CC coach Chet Hovde said. “I’ve had guards who were tremendous one-on-one and played D-I basketball, and some inside players who went on to play D-I basketball. But she can play inside, she can play outside, and she’s hard to stop.”

“My favorite players are LeBron James, Elena Della Donne, Seimone Augustus, so players with a wide a range of what they can do,” Chibuogwu explained about her versatility. “Mainly LeBron James, he does everything, so I made it kind of my point in my play to be able to pass it as much as I can shoot and rebound. I want to be able to kind of be an eye on the court. I feel like I can do a lot, I have a wide range in my game that still hasn’t been shown.”

Chibuogwu came to Everett with a strong pedigree. Last year she was named the Associated Press 2A state Player of the Year after leading Shorecrest High School to a state championship. However, she was held out of Everett’s first seven games this season for academic reasons, with the Trojans going 1-6 in those games. But since Chibuogwu entered the fray Everett is 13-6, including winning nine of its past 11 to surge into a three-way tie for second in the region — the Trojans are seeded behind Peninsula and Bellevue because of tiebreakers.

The wide variety of Chibuogwu’s contributions were the main driver in the turnaround.

“It was immediate,” Hovde said about the change in the team once Chibuogwu began playing. “We can get the ball inside, we didn’t have somebody we could actually do that with. It causes problems for the defense. We like her inside because she can draw fouls close to the basket. But if there’s a 6-footer checking her who can’t get out to the wing, Uju can step out to the 3-point line and hit it. So it’s a 1-2 combination we like.”

The Trojans are going to need all they can get out Chibuogwu if they’re to take out Lower Columbia (26-3), which comes into the tournament riding a 12-game winning streak. Everett has a pair of capable support players in freshman forward Alexis Biggerstaff, an Alaska native who averaged 11.9 points per game and was named second-team North Region, and freshman guard Serafina Balderas, a graduate of Arlington High School who is averaging 8.8 points per game.

However, the Trojans are without two of their starting five because of injury. Sophomore forward Lily Hilderbrand, who was leading NWAC in field goal percentage (63.9 percent) while averaging 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, suffered a broken collarbone that ended her season. Meanwhile, freshman forward Tyra Lopez, who was scoring 10.5 points per contest, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee that ended hers. Their losses make Everett’s task all the more difficult.

Never the less, Chibuogwu and the Trojans believe they have what it takes to continue their momentum and progress through the tournament, despite their underdog status.

“We don’t really care what people think about us because we know what we need to do,” Chibuogwu said. “We’ve seen teams that we thought were weak and got up on us, and we’ve seen teams we thought were stronger and we got up on them. So there’s really no telling, a record doesn’t mean anything, it’s the integrity of the team and each person on the team. So we don’t really mind having people doubt us, it’s putting chip on our shoulder and making us wanting to win more.”