Columbia Basin narrowly defeated Portland to advance to the Elite 8, 74-72. Trinidie Nichols had an MVP performance with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 6 steals. Aniyah Heavens added 21 points off the bench in support.
 
With an unfortunate draw in the opening round, the East Region champs had a 21-7 Portland team staring them down the barrel. The Panthers length in the front court presented a tough matchup problem. Out of the gate, Portland was able to knock down a few 3's to put the Hawks on their heels. Once they settled in, it became a back and forth game with either team leading by no more than 5 points.
 
Nichols was able to grab a couple of steals that gave CBC some easy buckets but just when it felt like the Hawks were going to start separating, Portland would knock down a couple of looks to stem the bleeding. Basin was forced to reorganize their offense to deal with the length but Heavens gave them clutch bucket after clutch bucket heading into the half all square.
 
In the second half, Portland maintained their steady dribble drive and low post dump-ins to hold the lead for most of the way. Late in the fourth, the Panthers took a 5 point lead with 3 minutes to go but a couple step-back jumpers from Heavens kept them right where they needed to be. At 1:42, Nichols canned a huge 3 to cut the lead to one. On the following defensive play, Nichols dislocated a finger and needed to be subbed out. After one possession out and a reslotted finger, Nichols proceed knock down 2 free throws for the 1-point lead and then with 8 seconds left, drove down the left side and connected with a right-handed layin with .8 left on the clock. Portland was unable to get a shot up as Columbia Basin survives the upset bid and advances to the Elite 8.
 
They will face the North 3-seed Shoreline at 2pm with another bid to the Final Four on the line.