LYNNWOOD — Edmonds Community College’s Craig Roosendaal made the most of his minutes in last week’s NWAACC clash with Shoreline.
In just over 20 minutes of action, Roosendaal connected on eight of nine fields goals and made all six of his free throw attempts for a game-high 24 points.
And when the Tritons needed him the most, Roosendaal responded to the challenge.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward scored 13 of his team’s final 16 points to lead Edmonds to a 103-98 victory over Shoreline Jan. 18 at Edmonds Community College.
After the Dolphins had taken an 88-87 lead on a 3-point goal by Thomas Wilzen at the 6:15 mark of the second half, Roosendaal immediately responded with his own 3-pointer to give the Tritons a 90-88 advantage.
Later on, Roosendaal sank a pair of free throws to give Edmonds a 92-90 lead before a putback by Shoreline’s Derrick Holland tied the score. Trailing 96-95 with 2:31 left in the game Roosendaal sank a shot to give Edmonds 97-96 lead before a layup by Collin Waterton boosted Shoreline to a 98-97 advantage.
Roosendaal, a King’s graduate, then posted up and hit back-to-back shots to lift the Tritons to victory in a game that saw eight lead changes and three tie scores in the final 10 minutes of play.
“Right when I came in off the bench I don’t think they matched up,” Roosendaal said. “I had a couple of open shots … a couple after that was just because they had a small guy and I just posted up.”
Edmonds coach Keith Kingsbury saw the mismatch and was glad that his players went to Roosendaal.
“I think our kids identified where the mismatch was,” Kingsbury said. “That’s pretty good on their part. We can’t be yelling and screaming all the time.
“It was just a matter of who made some shots in the stretch and we happened to get a few down.”
Edmonds trailed Shoreline 57-51 at halftime and fell behind by 12 points early in the second half. The Dolphins shot 53 percent in the first half, while the Tritons were making 50 percent of their shots.
“We didn’t come out with enough intensity,” Roosendaal said. “Our defense in the first half wasn’t even close to what it should have been.”
A combination of better defense and poorer shooting resulted in Shoreline connecting on 44 percent of its shots in the second half. Edmonds improved to 55 percent.
“I thought our kids hung together pretty good,” Kingsbury said. “We were down 10 or 12 at one point and we kept coming back.”
Shoreline freshman center Sunri Nicholas, who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds, fouled out with just under eight minutes to go in the contest.
Six Tritons scored in double figures. Cameron Rowland and Ryan Rourke each had 13 points. Josh McCleod scored 11, Lorenzo Durant added 12 and Roger Russaw had 10.
Edmonds’ first-half performance was in contrast to its last two games, which the Tritons won by a combined 86 points.
“In the second half, I thought our defense picked up,” Kingsbury said. “I thought we played harder … we have to kind of get focused and be ready to go.”
Edmonds outscored Shoreline 52-41 in the second half.
The victory kept the Tritons (4-1 in the league, 13-3 overall) in a second-place with Bellevue in the North Division. Whatcom (5-0, 13-2) handed Edmonds its only league loss. Shoreline (2-4, 4-11) fell to fifth place in the division.
“It’s a neat mix of kids,” Kingsbury said of his team. “I think they know they have something special. Something special doesn’t mean you’re going to win the whole thing. It means you’re going to be competitive. That’s our goal — to be competitive.”
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