Saints end the losing streak, defeat Portland

Wednesday night couldn’t have provided a better Sophomore Night at MHCC, as the Saints ended their 13-game losing streak by topping Portland Community College, 71-69.

Mt. Hood trailed for most of the game, and with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Saints were trailing by six.

With a great couple of stops in transition, the Saints brought it to just a three-point ballgame with 25 seconds left. The Saints had possession and found Saints forward Chloe Cummins, who had already hit three 3-pointers earlier in the game, open for another. She pulled up, but the shot looked rushed, and she air-balled it.

Game over, right? No.

The Saints made a remarkable hustle play to grab the offensive rebound and kicked the ball out to Cummins, and once again she pulled up for 3. This time, she drained the shot to tie the game at 69. “The second one I knew I had a good chance and (I) said ‘I’m taking this shot,’ there was no indecision like there was on the first one,” she said afterward.

With just under 15 seconds left, Mt. Hood’s defense came up with a huge steal, leading to a wide-open lay-in that would be the game-winning bucket. With 10 seconds left, the Panthers attempted to tie it back up, but the Saints defense held its ground, and forced a turnover. Mt. Hood would celebrate its last home game of the season with a 71-69 victory and end the 13-game slide.

“We’re pretty grateful to get another win. It was an exciting one,” said forward Nyah Curtis. “So that made us really happy, and it was one where we were consistently working. It’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

Shooting guard Makenzie Whitney led Mt. Hood with 20 points and four rebounds. She did so shooting a solid 54 percent, and hit 5-of-7 from downtown. Cummins closely trailed Whitney with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. She hit four 3-pointers, including that clutch, tying shot.

For Cummins, the only sophomore on the team, it was the perfect way to play her last game at home.

“It feels good… It’s a good way to end the streak, especially on our last home game,” she said.

Mt. Hood concludes its season tomorrow at Southwestern Oregon at 2 p.m.