All Over Again

Prosser Girls Down Elma in Familiar Fashion ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Same day, same time, same court, same opponent, same consequences.

And for Prosser’s girls, parallel events were taken even further with the same victory — one point away from the same score.

 

 

A year after defeating Elma 61-56 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals, the Mustangs sent the Eagles packing again Thursday night, 62-56, to reach the semifinals for the third year in a row.

These two also met in the 2008 trophy game for third and sixth, and Prosser won that one, too, 79-51.

“We’ve played them the last two years and we’ve figured out exactly what they like to do,” said junior Tamara Jones, who scored 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. “They’ve got some great players but we played another great defensive game.”

Elma’s college-bound standouts were definitely a handful as 6-foot Brandi Thomas, a WSU recruit, put together 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Western Washington signee Katie Colard had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

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But with the streaky Colard connecting on just 3 of 19 shots — a defensive job credited mostly to senior Kelli Wilson — the Eagles shot 34 percent from the field while Prosser shot 45.5, including an even 13-for-26 in the second half.

“We remembered them real well from last year and that gave us a lot of confidence,” said sophomore Helen Petersen, who made 3 of 4 free throws in the last 37 seconds and finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. “We stuck with our tough man-to-man and doubled when we could on the big girls. Everybody did their job.”

Including a feisty freshman, Sydney Mercer, who came off the bench to score four field goals in the middle two quarters and grab four rebounds in 14 big minutes of support. He two baskets in the third quarter came in the final minute after Elma had trimmed an eight-point deficit to 42-41.

“That’s Syd the kid,” smiled coach Mark Little, whose team extended its win streak to 13. “She was ready when it was her turn.”

“She’s a kick, a real spark plug,” Petersen added. “Sydney came up huge for us.”

The Eagles were within 54-51 and had the ball with three minutes left but over their next five possessions came away with two turnovers and two missed shots without an offensive rebound.

“Elma can do some damage and you can’t stop them, just make it as tough as you can,” Little said. “The kids did a fantasic job and everybody chipped in. They worked very hard for this.”

Even with Elma’s 6-0, 6-1 front line, the Mustangs owned a 41-30 advantage on the boards. In addition to her defense on Colard, who didn’t hit her first field goal until late in the third period, Wilson collected five assists.

Prosser (21-3) will now turn its attention to another familiar state opponent — West Valley of Spokane — in tonight’s 9 p.m. semifinal. The unbeaten Eagles (24-0), who outlasted Ellensburg in Thursday’s late quarterfinal, defeated the Mustangs 63-49 in last year’s trophy game for third and sixth.

Wolves On The Attack

Howe Scores 17 to Lead Wapato into Showdown with Hounds ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Wapato boys basketball coach Adam Strom did not mince words with Jacoby Howe. The instructions were clear and unqualified.

Attack.

Early, often and always.

 

“I was point-blank with Jacoby this morning,” Strom said. “I told him, ‘You have the ability to get to the basket from anywhere on the floor. It will help you and it will help us.’ He knew what I was talking about, and that today we had to have that.”

Howe then suited up and delivered the goods.

A day after offering just two points in a first-round loss to Deer Park, the junior guard led the Wolves to a 69-54 loser-out victory over River Ridge on Thursday in the Class 2A state tournament in the SunDome.

In a survivor’s duel between two district champions, Wapato overwhelmed the taller Hawks with tough defense and a more intense desire to stay in the tournament another day.

“We were more mad than sad about yesterday,” said senior Matt Guevara, who started the game on his braced left knee and contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds. “The difference today was we had our intensity back. And we didn’t let down.”

“That’s the team I’ve watched all season,” said Strom, drawing a contrast to the one he saw Wednesday that came out flat against Deer Park and fell 64-58. “We had that look of resilience again.”

And much of that was thanks to Howe.

After starting a 10-0 run in the second quarter by converting a 3-point play, Howe scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the second half to help repel all of River Ridge’s attempts to get back in the game. He finished 6-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line and was a big reason the Hawks’ piled up 29 fouls.

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“Yesterday I think we were a little big-headed,” Howe confessed. “I had to step up and do more. If I attack the basket it opens up our shooters, and I had to do more of that. Yesterday we didn’t attack the zone enough.”

Wapato also did a stellar job defending that same zone against a River Ridge squad that started a front line measuring 6-3, 6-4 and 6-5 — well above the shorter Wolves. Strom’s defenders sagged in on those tall kids and generally left the perimeter open, and the Hawks could cash in on only 2 of 24 attempts from 3-point distance.

“We had to counter their size, so we kind of welcomed the 3-pointer and clamped down on the inside,” said Strom, whose team held Evergreen Conference MVP Joel King to five points. “It was a real credit to team defense.”

Wapato pushed the margin to 18 in the third quarter and had a strong answer both times River Ridge threatened to make a comeback.

The Hawks got within 48-38 on the first basket of the final period, but, after Strom called a 30-second timeout, the speedy Howe went coast-to-coast for a layup.

The closest River Ridge got was 54-46 with 3:35 left, but Efrain Reynoso followed with a huge hustle play as the 5-9 junior won a battle for an offensive rebound and converted a 3-point play.

“I questioned their physicality after yesterday’s game and some of them were kind of insulted,” Strom said. “But today they were very physical against a taller team. The kids showed their true heart today.”

Wapato (18-6), which got double-figure scoring from seniors Rigo Alvarado (11) and Greg Strom (10), will play CWAC rival Grandview (17-9) in a loser-out game today at 9 a.m.

East Valley Dumps Champs

YAKIMA, Wash. — That the East Valley Red Devils upended defending champion Lynden to stay alive Thursday in the Class 2A girls state basketball tournament — and, in the end, looked good doing it — is actually quite remarkable.

Especially when compared to the Red Devils’ Wednesday opener and the first half of their 40-31 triumph over the Lions, during which they looked, well, quite awful.

East Valley shot a toxic 8-for-53 (15 percent) in their first-round loss to Pullman and then actually went downhill from that over the first two periods Thursday, sinking just three of 22 field-goal attempts (13.6 percent) to trail 15-11 against a Lynden team that wasn’t shooting much better.

“Six quarters of that. Dreadful,” East Valley coach Robi Raab said. “And we’ve got kids who can shoot the ball, too. It’s just a question of hitting some shots and getting into a rhythm.”

They didn’t find that rhythm at the SunDome, though, until the second half of Thursday’s game, when they began adhering to one of the oldest axioms in the game: Pound the ball inside.

As soon as the Red Devils began working the ball in to 6-foot-3 Annie Martinez and 5-10 Jamie Hodgson, that roach coach of an offense began purring like a Porsche.

Martinez scored all 11 of her points and Hodgson all seven of hers after halftime. Guard Yasamin Mohsenian found them three times for baskets, hitting Martinez twice with assist passes and setting up Hodgson once, during a 10-0 third-quarter run that put the Red Devils ahead 25-19.

“My coach told me to stop fading and go into the defense, to be the strong post that I am,” Martinez said. “He wanted me to face up a lot more and make a move, go around people.”

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“He wanted us to pound it inside, make sure we had looks inside,” added Hodgson, who twice made the assist passes that led to Martinez layups.

And, as typically happens when an offense starts having success in the lane, the defenders pull back, leaving the jump shooters open. When that happened at the outset of the fourth quarter, Martinez kicked the ball out to guard Kaylah Gonzales for an open 3-pointer that ignited an eight-point East Valley run, bumping the Red Devils’ lead into double digits.

“They finally started to understand what the defense was giving them,” Raab said. “They understood the spacing. Plus, Annie relaxed a little bit and Jamie relaxed and they played a great second half. But the big difference in the second half was the defense that Yasi (Mohsenian), Magaly (Carillo) and Riley (Ramynke) played on No. 20 (Lynden guard Hannah Shine), because she’s a really outstanding player. We went box-and-one, some diamond-and-one, we mixed things up when we could. We went zone a little bit, went man at times, just trying to give them different looks.”

The tactics worked to some degree, with Shine scoring six second-half points after putting up 10 before the intermission.

Gonzales finished with 11 points for East Valley (19-5), which will play Clarkston (12-13) at 9 a.m. today for a berth in Saturday’s fifth-eighth place game. And after Wednesday’s dismal debut, the chance to play for a trophy sounds pretty good to the Red Devils.

“It feels amazing,” Hodgson said. “We didn’t want to go out without a win.”

West Valley’s Zone Dooms Ellensburg

YAKIMA, Wash. — For a time, it appeared that the energy and playmaking with which Ellensburg had logged a notable first-round upset in the Class 2A state tournament would sustain the Bulldogs for another night.

But then two notable things happened.

West Valley changed from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, after which talented 6-foot junior Shanique Nilles returned from a first-half knee injury.

 

And the combination proved too much for 10th-ranked Ellensburg, which dropped a 35-28 decision Thursday night to the unbeaten and second-ranked Eagles of Spokane in the SunDome.

The quarterfinal defeat denied the Bulldogs (19-7) a fourth shot at CWAC rival Prosser in the semifinals, and left them in a 2 p.m. loser-out game today against Elma. West Valley (24-0) will oppose the Mustangs tonight at 9.

“We were a step slow all night,” said Ellensburg coach Craig Faire after his team made only four field goals after the first quarter and nine for the game. “We stood around and didn’t get any post offense going all night. We didn’t come to play.”

Nilles, felled by an under-the-basket collision with 1:49 left in the first quarter, was helped to the bench and spent the remainder of the half with an ice bag on her right knee.

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She didn’t start the second, but returned to action with 6:24 left in the third quarter wearing a brace. And while her mobility appeared limited, Nilles scored eight of her game-high 15 points to key West Valley’s triumph.

“It still really hurts,” she said afterward, while being carried piggyback by an assistant coach. “But the team is too important, so I had to play.”

Nilles described her injury as “a large contusion, but it will be fine.”

On a night when neither team found an offensive flow — Ellensburg also played a bothersome 2-3 zone — the Bulldogs struggled mightily after leads of 10-2 and 12-7 at the first-quarter break.

They had made enough 3-pointers to help neutralize Archbishop Murphy’s size advantage, but on this occasion were just 3 for 24 from long distance. Ellensburg also was outrebounded 44-37, with Nilles, 6-0 Hannah Love and active 5-8 Leah Peterson patrolling the back line of WV’s zone.

Nilles helped West Valley move from a 16-16 halftime tie to a 23-20 lead starting the fourth quarter. She scored three straight points to give the Eagles a 30-25 cushion with 2:04 to play, but the Bulldogs’ Shannon Bland hit 3-ball with 1:30 remaining made it 30-28.

Ellensburg would not score again, however, as WV sealed the game from the foul line.

Dearia Gordon, whose 27 points and 12 rebounds had carried the Bulldogs the evening prior, shared team scoring honors with Andrea Bland, totaling eight to go with 13 rebounds before fouling out.

Teammate Kim Kelly had seven points, but Ellensburg finished with 17 percent shooting (8 for 47), including 12 percent (3 for 25) during the second half.

West Valley, which shot 24 percent (9 for 38) got seven points and 13 boards from Love.

Greyhounds Stick Around

YAKIMA, Wash. — Tony Vela scored all of two Grandview points Thursday at the SunDome, but when the Greyhounds were celebrating their 58-48, win-or-go-home Class 2A state tournament triumph over Tumwater, there was a whole lot of back-slapping, high-fiving and you-da-man pointing directed at the sophomore guard.

That’s because when Christian Schrank scored the Greyhounds’ go-ahead basket with 1:53 to go, it came after a nice drive-and-dish from Vela. And when Derek Newhouse coolly swished a 13-foot jumper 48 seconds later, the reason there wasn’t a hand in his face was because Vela had made another slashing move through the lane, drawing the defenders to himself before dumping it down to Newhouse alone on the baseline.

Those baskets fueled a 9-0 Grandview run that clinched a 9 a.m. date for the Greyhounds today against Wapato, with the winner of that one clinching a trophy.

“When the ball’s in Tony’s hands, good things are going to happen,” Grandview coach Roy Garcia said of Vela, who finished with six assists. “He is so unselfish, and he’ll always find the open man. And when he’s got the open shot or the lane to the basket, he’s a great finisher, too. It’s going to be a pleasure to watch him for the next couple of years.”

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In a back-and-forth game that saw 14 lead changes and nine ties, the teams were knotted at 46-46 when Vela knifed into the lane and earned the payoff to a conversation he’d had earlier with Schrank.

“We saw that (opening) a couple of times, and Tony told me to go to that little box on the right side and he’d find me,” said Schrank, who finished with 14 points.

“It happened a few times,” Vela said. “I’d drive down there and Derek (Newhouse) would be open on the left. That time I drove and looked but didn’t see Derek there, but knew Christian would be in the box .”

“Tony made a nice move off the dribble,” Schrank said, “and then made the great pass.”

“And he was ready for it,” Vela said, returning the compliment, “and made a great move.”

Schrank’s basket put the Greyhounds (17-9) up 48-46, and following a Tumwater turnover, their next trip downcourt was almost a repeat performance. This time, though, Vela looked to Schrank on the right and passed left to Newhouse, who nailed the baseline jumper for the last two of his game-high 17 points.

“That,” Vela said, “was a big relief, getting the lead up from two to four. He’s drained that shot a lot of times for us.”

Down the stretch, Daniel Nielsen (13 points) scored a fast-break layup and hit a pair of free throws as Grandview made its last six foul shots. Kyle Warner led Tumwater (12-13) with 14 points.

For Garcia, getting the Greyhounds into the state tournament in his second year after replacing longtime Grandview coach Scott Parrish was only part of the job.

“Getting here was important, but now the game changes,” Garcia said. “Now we’re here, you win a game, and it’s all about moving forward.”

Battling for More Than Bragging Rights

YAKIMA, Wash. — In their previous two meetings this season, Wapato and Grandview played for their rivalry and rankings in the upper tier of CWAC boys basketball.

Today it will be for so much more.

For the second time in four years, Wapato and Grandview will try to eliminate each other from the trophy round in a 9 a.m. loser-out clash today in the Class 2A state tournament.

Battling back from their first-round setbacks, the Greyhounds (17-9) first ousted Tumwater 58-48 on Thursday and then the Wolves (18-6) sent River Ridge packing, 69-54.

“Roy (Garcia) will have his guys ready, we sure know that, and it will be an intense game,” said Wapato coach Adam Strom. “Grandview can run and shoot and they’re quick to the ball — a lot like us.”

Each team won on its home court this season. Grandview prevailed 75-74 on Dec. 11 as Adrian Vela broke loose for 27 points, and Wapato won 68-57 on Jan. 23 with five players scoring in double figures.

In the 2007 state 2A tournament in Tacoma, Grandview eliminated Wapato in the Friday loser-out round, 42-36.

“It will definitely be an exciting game,” Strom said, “but I sure wish it was on Saturday so we’d both get trophies.”

Today’s winner will play the Mount Baker-Clarkston survivor on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. for fifth and eighth place.

NEVER SAY DIE: Early in the second half of their Thursday loser-out girls game, the Kingston Buccaneers were trailing by 20 points against a Squalicum lineup filled with taller, quicker, better-skilled athletes. And to the Buccaneers, that simply didn’t matter.

“We weren’t going down without a fight,” said Elle Sander, one of three Kingston seniors .

And they sure didn’t. Scrapping every step of the way, Kingston actually rallied from that 38-18 deficit to pull within 48-44 with 1:13 remaining before the Storm put the game away at the free-throw line.

“We haven’t had to do that (rally from a large deficit) very often before,” said coach Penny Gienger, “but I knew we had fight in us.”

Gienger, who left a long career as Bainbridge coach after last season, became the Bucs’ coach on an interim basis when the previous coach resigned just days before the season began. Considering the fire the Bucs demonstrated on Thursday, it’s not surprising Gienger holds them in high regard.

“They were a breath of fresh air,” Gienger said. “This was one of my favorite seasons ever.”

YOUTH BOOST: In combating River Ridge’s much taller lineup on Thursday, Wapato’s boys got a nice lift from 6-foot-3 Austin Balderas, a freshman.

Called on with increasing frequency in the postseason, the young post made 3 of 5 field goals, got to the foul line twice and grabbed two rebounds in just over 10 minutes.

“Austin will be something special,” said Wapato coach Adam Strom following his team’s 69-54 win over the Hawks. “In my five years here, he’s our first legit back-to-the-basket post player. He’s got great hands and a good mind for the game — plus he plugs up the middle for us.”

River Ridge had its own impact ninth-grader in guard Brad Wallace, who led the Hawks with 16 points.

IN THE NAME OF THE GRANDFATHER: Burlington-Edison’s Katelyn Mataya plays a mean game of basketball, and it’s in her blood.

Her late grandfather, Frank Mataya Sr., is believed to be the only athlete ever to earn 12 varsity letters at Washington State University, and he did it in an era when freshmen were not eligible for varsity letters. That meant three letters in each of four different sports, if you can believe that — football, basketball, baseball and track.

Katelyn isn’t wasting any seasons herself. Just a sophomore, she already has five varsity letters.

SHORT JUMPERS: The Lynden boys’ 59-31 quarterfinal victory over Deer Park on Thursday was their 100th state tournament victory in school history. “We’re proud to be part of that tradition,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said. “We respect the players and coaches who came before us.” … After six 3-pointers on Wednesday and three on Thursday, Taylor Ulrich, a senior forward on the Squalicum girls team, is 9-for-19 on treys through two games. The tournament record for made 3’s is 13, held by two players, one of whom — Elma’s Katie Colard — has five treys in two games.

— Scott Sandsberry and Scott Spruill/Yakima Herald-Republic

Two Stand in Way of Rematch

Ephrata, Lynden will try to spoil title game replay ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Squalicum and Burlington-Edison remained comfortably on course for a Class 2A title game rematch, but there are a couple of dangerous teams eager and able to crash that party.

Ephrata and Lynden, who both missed qualifying for state last season, made it clear a title-game rematch is no certainty after they posted one-sided quarterfinal victories Thursday night in the SunDome.

Ephrata got 21 points and nine rebounds from Washington State-bound Patrick Simon, and a big second-half surge to knock off West Valley of Spokane 62-43. After West Valley closed to 30-28 early in the third quarter, the Tigers ripped off 11 straight points and 19 of 24 to take command.

Right before that, Lynden limited Deer Park to 13 second-half points in pulling away to a 59-31 victory. The Lions rode a balanced attack as three players scored in double figures and another collected nine.

Thursday’s results set up, with no disrespect to Burlington-Edison, perhaps the most anticipated match-up in this tournament with top-ranked Squalicum (24-1), a 80-63 winner over Mark Morris in Thursday’s final quarterfinal, taking on second-ranked Ephrata (22-2) in today’s 7 p.m. semifinal.

“They’re a fantastic team. There one of the top teams in the state — at any level,” Ephrata coach Brandon Everson said of Squalicum. “For this team, after what happened last year, to get to this point, it’s a good accomplishment. Our guys are looking forward to this match-up.”

Tonight’s game will feature the dynamic talent of Ephrata’s 6-foot-9 Simon against Squalicum’s balance, led by 6-0 guard Derek Dickerson and 6-2 guard Keith Stackhouse.

Third-ranked Burlington-Edison (21-4) will meet Lynden (21-5) in the 4 p.m. semifinal. Those teams met once this season, with Burlington-Edison beating Lynden 48-43.

“We’re familiar foes,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said of the Tigers. “We’ve had a lot of battles over the last few years. There won’t be any secrets.”

Stars Will Be Out in Semis

Final four teams are all ranked in the top six ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — There will be no shortage of star power in tonight’s semifinals of the Class 2A girls state tournament.

The SunDome’s final four will feature the No. 1-ranked team in River Ridge and the field’s only unbeaten team in second-ranked West Valley. It will also include fifth-ranked Burlington-Edison plus some Yakima Valley flavor in the form of seventh-ranked Prosser.

The first semifinal, set for 5:30 p.m., will pit the top-ranked Hawks (24-1) opposite Burlington-Edison (22-3).

Prosser (21-3) and West Valley (24-0), who met in last year’s trophy game for third and sixth place, will meet at 9.

While River Ridge of Lacey built a 33-24 halftime lead and rolled past Pullman 59-47 on Thursday, Burlington-Edison scored only eight first-half points against Eatonville and trailed the Cruisers 18-8 at halftime.

But B-E, after shooting only 14 percent (3 for 21) over the first two quarters, righted itself offensively and rode game-high totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds from 6-foot-1 senior Brenna Anderson to a 41-37 victory.

Ryleigh Swagerty’s 3-pointer with 6:11 to play put Burlington-Edison ahead 27-26 and triggered a 10-1 run.

For River Ridge, Samira McDonald, Kelsey Russell and Jennifer Cole combined for 43 points and the Hawks forced 26 turnovers to offset a 14-for-27 to 8-10 free throw disparity.

The evening’s late quarterfinal saw West Valley subdue cold-shooting Ellensburg 35-28.

Shanique Nilles, the junior-laden Eagles’ top scorer, missed part of the game with a knee contusion but returned to total a game-high 15 points.

Prosser, in the state semifinals for the third straight year, will look to avenge a 63-49 loss to West Valley in last year’s trophy round.

“We’re ready to take it a step further,” said Prosser guard Helen Petersen. “We made it this far last year and then had some tough losses. This time we’ve been getting better in every single game and our confidence is really high.”

The Mustangs extended their win streak to 13 with a 62-56 quarterfinal victory over third-ranked Elma.

Wildcats Hope Third Time is Charm

YAKIMA, Wash. — Records, rankings and recent history notwithstanding, Greg Sparling likes Central Washington’s chances in tonight’s NCAA Division II West Region tournament against host Western Washington.

The Wildcats, 16-10 and the region’s No. 8 seed, will take on the top-seeded Vikings, 25-5, at 7:30 in Sam Carver Gym.

Almost two weeks ago when the teams met on the same court before Fox Sports Northwest cameras, Central fell behind by 14 second-half points before bowing 90-86. Western’s bench accounted for 47 points.

On Jan. 23 in Ellensburg, Central was manhandled 84-70 with WWU guard Andrew Ready erupting for 23 points.

“We can’t let their bench score like that on us,” Sparling said Wednesday night en route to Bellingham. “And I’ve looked at their last 10 box scores, and Ready has made about three 3-pointers over that whole period.”

He made four in five attempts in Nicholson Pavilion, but that wasn’t the primary source of Sparling’s ire. Western had been the aggressor, and the coach made clear to his players afterward that such an approach was not acceptable.

Since then CWU has improved its game, though some of the momentum was lost when Humberto Perez broke his hand on Feb. 20 in a home win over Northwest Nazarene.

But beating a team three straight times can be tough, and Sparling feels Central has that and other underdog-related factors in its corner.

“Our guys had the opportunity to play at Western on TV, and a lot of these guys hadn’t been in that environment before,” he said. “And Western has the monkey on their back of losing in the first round of the tournament at home last year.”

Still, Sparling said the Wildcats must be more discreet regarding shot selection, and will need to rebound better (they were beaten 44-31 on the glass in Bellingham), among other things, in order to win.

“I don’t think anybody’s giving us a chance,” he said, “and a win would be absolutely huge for the university and the program. Our guys are the most focused I’ve seen them right now, so we’re going to go over there, take a big swing at ‘em and see what we can do.”

Four locals in All-State Volleyball

YAKIMA, Wash. — Eisenhower’s Tori Fisher and Selah’s Erin Smith, players of the year in their respective leagues, lead a local group of four seniors in Saturday’s 25th annual All-State Volleyball Series at Fife High School.

Fisher will play in the Class 4A-3A match at 6 p.m., and Smith will join teammate Veronica Sanchez in the 2A-1A match at 4 p.m.

Kittitas’ Ali Kilgore was selected to play in the 2B-1B match at 2 p.m.

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