Columbia Basin defeated Chemeketa at home to open up the December Invite 88-71. Keiren Brown and Zadkiel Rodarte each had 18 to pace the Hawks.

A sluggish start for the Hawks would not matter against Chemeketa as they were able to pull away in the second half for the big win. Early in the first half, shots were there for CBC, just not falling as both teams were gridlocked at 25-25 with just 6 minutes to go in the first. Rodarte and Kory McClure were able to get it going from there to salvage the first period as Rodarte poured in 9 to finish off the half ahead 46-31.

Outside of the break, Basin was able to turn on the gas as they turned a 15 point lead into a 30 point lead in the first 5 minutes of the period. Brown added a personal 7-0 run of his own along the way. As the subs came in, Chemeketa was able to cut it down to 19 with 7 minutes to go but it wouldn't be enough as the starters came back in to push it back to 30 points with a little under 5 to go. From there, the Hawks were able to navigate the final minutes while easily backing into the 88-71 final score.

CBC moves to 6-2 on the year and will take on Mt. Hood in Day 2 of the Invitational with tipoff slated for 6pm on Saturday.