Saturday was a day to achieve goals, and the Clark College men’s and women’s basketball teams did just that.
The Clark men put the finishing touches on a perfect NWAACC West Division season by edging Highline 57-54 at Des Moines.
The Clark women claimed the outright division title with a 80-54 victory.
Next stop is the NWAACC Tournament, beginning March 1 at Kennewick.
MEN: Clark 57, Highline 54 — It was a tough shooting day for the Penguins as they made just 33.9 percent of their field goal attempts and still came out on top to finish 16-0 in the division.
The Penguins were without leading scorer Sean Price, giving him a rest heading into the postseason.
Collin Spickerman led Clark with 11 points and seven rebounds, Max Livingston had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Kyle Thurston had 10 points. (Click here for the complete boxscore)
Clark finished the regular season on a 22-game win streak and ranked No. 1 by the NWAACC coaches.
Next for Clark (24-1) is a matchup against the South’s No. 4 team in the first round of the NWAACC Tournament.
WOMEN: Clark 80, Highline 54 — Haley Grossman scored 22 points and pulled down 16 rebounds as the Penguins wrapped up the division title outright.
“I thought maybe we peaked a couple of weeks agao, then we lost to Lower Columbia,” Clark coach Al Aldridge said. “Our last two games we’ve got that spark back.”
Clark (23-3, 15-1) already had clinched the top seed for the NWAACC Tournament and finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak.
Grossman made 10 of 14 shots and also had four steals.
Shantell Jackson scored 18 points and had seven rebounds, and Brooke Bowen had 12 points. (Click here for the complete boxscore)
Clark, ranked No. 2 by the NWAACC coaches, will have a 10 a.m. first-round game at the NWAACC Tournament on March 1 against South No. 4.
