Both Wenatchee Valley College basketball teams need to start winning soon, or else they’re not going to be able to get back into the race for a postseason berth. It’s as simple as that.

The men’s team has started Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges East Region play with a 1-4 record, while the women are 0-5 after winning nine of their 14 non-region games and earning a spot in the NWAACC coaches poll. The men are two games behind Treasure Valley and Walla Walla for fourth place (the top four teams in each region earn spots in the NWAACC Tournament), and the women are three games back of fourth-place Big Bend.

Both teams will embark on a pivotal road trip this weekend — they’ll play Treasure Valley (the Chukars women have an 0-5 East record) in Ontario, Ore., on Friday night, then head to Pendleton, Ore., and play Blue Mountain (both Timberwolves squads boast 2-3 East marks) on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights can win these games, but they’ll have to play better than they have been during the last two weeks to pick up some much-needed victories at the end of the first round of East play.

The squads have different approaches to the challenges in front of them, however.

Men’s coach Coby Weidenbach and his coaching staff implemented a series of changes at Monday’s practice.

“We needed to do something different, because obviously what we were doing wasn’t working,” Weidenbach said. “We practiced longer and pushed the intensity level and made the guys accountable to bring out their mental toughness.”

Weidenbach said that at Monday’s practice, the coaching staff asked the players to name five things they’re doing well and five things they needed to improve upon. The responses intrigued Weidenbach, and helped to give the coach a directive for the program.

“For the things they’re doing well, they responded with skill sets — rebounding, shooting, pushing the ball up the court,” he said. “For the things they can improve, they answered with things like focus, teamwork, consistency — more on the mental side.

“It was a breakthrough practice. We couldn’t continue down the path that we were on; if we did, we’d finish at 2-12, and that’s not acceptable. Nobody wants to lose. It’s a tough league, and we understand that, but the kids need to realize that if they don’t work hard and focus mentally, (teams) will beat us.”

Women’s coach Rachel Bromiley-Goetz, meanwhile, said that while tweaks can always be made to her system, she’s confident in her team’s overall approach and game plan. The key, in her mind, is simple execution.

“Nothing is broken, offensively or defensively,” she said. “We certainly have scouting reports, and they vary for certain teams or individuals, but if we execute our game plan, big changes aren’t necessary. Without using injuries as an excuse, the message to the team is that this is an opportunity to step up. Injuries happen to every team, and you have to be focused and confident enough in your players to step into new roles when new opportunities present themselves. There is still room for optimism moving forward.”

Both teams have seen the recent emergence of role players that have provided quality minutes off the bench to help lengthen their rotations in the wake of injuries or other defections.

For the men, Rocky Gipson, a 2007 Brewster graduate, tallied 15 points and eight rebounds in the Knights’ win over Columbia Basin on Jan. 16.

“He’s athletic and fast and has a lot of energy, and he’s a good teammate,” Weidenbach said about the 6-foot-5 Gipson. “He’s long and can jump and can get down the floor in transition. He works really hard and has helped our rotation. It’s great to get another fresh body in there.”

Lauren Schulz has provided that same kind of energy for the women’s team. Schulz, a freshman guard from Reardan, missed the first five weeks of the season due to injury, but had her best game of the year in the team’s Jan. 16 game against Columbia Basin, scoring 14 points in 19 minutes of play.

She’s helped to fill in for Bekah Waterhouse, who has missed all of East play with an injury. The team has also been without starting post Charity Degman due to injury for the last two games.

“(Schulz’s emergence) was perfect timing,” Bromiley-Goetz said. “She took care of business with her injury and kept herself engaged, and when the time came she stepped in. That’s a testament to the type of person she is. She’s so positive, such a team player, and she is very coachable.”