SCC Men’s Basketball faces region leading and #2 ranked Whatcom Community College on Saturday In SCC Gym

By Douglas Palmer, SCC Athletics Director

The Shoreline Community College Men’s Basketball Team faces its biggest challenge on Saturday in the SCC Gym, as it faces Whatcom Community College at 4:00 PM. The Orcas have beaten SCC twice already this year and WCC is leading the NWAACC Northern Region with a 10-1 mark, and they are 18-3 overall. WCC beat the Dolphins 118 to 109 at the Pierce College Tournament back at Thanksgiving, then defeated SCC 120 to 97 when the Dolphins traveled to Bellingham on January 14th.

Joe Bodman
Photo by Wilson Tsoi

But the Shoreline team is on a roll, winning their last five games in a row while averaging 108 points a game and giving up only 91 points per outing, for an average victory margin of 17 points. SCC has knocked off then NWAACC #1 team, Bellevue College (now #4) and North Seattle Community College who also defeated SCC (111 to 99) during the first run through the region schedule.

The Dolphins are now tied with Peninsula College for third place in the region with a 8-3 record and are just a half of game behind Bellevue College for 2nd place who has played one less game than SCC, as BC is 8-2 in the region so far.

For the year, the Dolphins led by second year head coach, Greg Turcott, are 14-8 overall and has surpassed the number of wins for last season, when SCC was 13-13 and finished 6-10 in the region. The Dolphins are averaging 105.59 points per game for the season, leading the NWAACC in scoring. SCC is the highest scoring men’s junior or community college in the United States and only trails NCAA III Grinnell College of Iowa, who leads all organizations and divisions, with 111 points per game.

Avery Scharer
Photo by Wilson Tsoi

Individually, SCC is led by sophomore point guard Avery Scharer who averages 17.36 points a game and is ranked 15th in the NWAACC in scoring. Scharer leads the NWAACC in assists in a wide margin, dishing out 10.14 assists per game while the next closest player only averages just over 5 a game. Scharer is also 15th in the league in steals with 40 and he did not play the first 8 games of the season as he sat out as a transfer player.

The Dolphins also have a another dominant player on the roster, as sophomore center Joe Bodman is second in the NWAACC in rebounds, averaging 11.52 per game while scoring 14.52 points per game. Bodman had 16 rebounds on Wednesday night against North Seattle in a 112 to 93 win.

Freshmen Will Acromite and Earlie Dixon are two other Dolphins scoring in double figures, with 15.68 and 13.00 averages respectively.

The top four teams in the region advance to the NWAACC Basketball Championship in March.