Monday, Mar. 17, 2008

Tri-Cities girls win Media Classic battle

By Jack Millikin, Herald staff writer

YAKIMA -- Shoni Schimmel and Danielle Walter are familiar with each other's moves on the basketball court, having played against each other in AAU ball since grade school.

But the pair especially enjoyed being teammates for the first time at the Media Classic on Sunday at Yakima Valley Community College, where they combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocked shots and seven steals as the Tri-City Herald girls all-stars beat the Yakima Herald-Republic all-stars 89-83.

Schimmel, a Hermiston sophomore, led all scorers with 24 points and kept the crowd entertained with her flashy play, including a dazzling behind-the back assist to Tina Miller in the first quarter and then a 30-foot swish from the right hash to end the frame.

The two-time Oregon 5A all-state guard added nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Schimmel also won the girls 3-point contest, beating Arianna Mohsenian of East Valley 19-11 in the final round.

"We had been talking all week about playing together, calling each other and texting," said Walter, a Pasco sophomore who added 13 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals. "We even tried to set up an alley-oop, but the (Yakima) girl backed up and took it away."

The Tri-City boys team wasn't so lucky against the Yakima squad, losing by a record margin 114-83. It was Yakima's 16th win in 19 tries since the series began in 1994.

But with Schimmel and Walter brining their 'A' game on the girls side, it was tough for Yakima to find anyone to match their unique skills.

"I think when you get two players with a playground style, they feed off each other," said Tri-Cities coach Cheryl Holden, who guided the Columbia Basin College women to their second NWAACC title on March 2. "Shoni is just a quality player, and in an all-star game her skills are going to shine just a little bit more."

The Yakima girls led 69-65 heading into the fourth quarter, but Schimmel scored seven points during a 16-5 run to give Tri-Cities an 81-74 lead with 4:30 left in the game.

"Our advantage was we were quicker," Schimmel said. "They won it the last three times, so we wanted to get them."

Mohsenian hit a 3-pointer with 1:07 left to tie the score at 83, but Moses Lake's Kelly Sutherland made a steal and fed Hanford's Chelsey DePeel for a layin with :39 seconds left, then later hit a short jumper to cap the scoring.

"I really liked this team, and both sides showed there's a lot of quality players in Eastern Washington," Holden said. "The high school teams have done well. I was proud of the level of play they brought to the state tournaments."

Lindsay Roberts of Richland added 10 points for Tri-Cities. Kinzi Poteet of Grandview led Yakima with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Yakima boys 114, Tri-City 83

The good news for Tri-City Herald all stars was that they outscored Yakima in the second half 55-44.

The bad news was it was too late to matter.

Yakima shot 55 percent (30 for 55) in the first half to build up a 70-28 halftime lead and coasted to an easy win.

"We looked like a deer in the headlights," said Tri-Cities coach Lane Schumacher, also the CBC coach. "At first we couldn't make any baskets, and then we couldn't make any defensive stops."

Cody Bruns of Prosser regrouped from his nightmarish shooting performance at the 2A boys state tournament to hit 7 of 13 shots for the Yakima squad -- including 4 of 4 from 3-point range -- for a game-high 20 points.

"Before the game I was shooting around with Jordan Starr, Taylor Elmo and Kellen Crawford, and I was feeling pretty good," Bruns said. "I told them it wouldn't carry over into the game, because it never does."

The 2A state football player of the year drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the final 3:17 of the first quarter as Yakima took a 35-16 lead heading into the second quarter. Bruns then scored seven points -- including two more 3-pointeres -- to spark a 12-6 Yakima run to open the second half. The score at that point was virtually insurmountable at 82-34 Yakima.

"It matters. You hate to lose," said Gavin Gilmore, a 6-foot-8 Pasco senior who led Tri-Cities with 11 points. "We came out to have fun and they came out to win. When it comes down to it, they played defense."

Kody Fullerton added six points and seven rebounds for Tri-Cities.

Yakima boys 114, Tri-Cities 83

TRI-CITIES (83)

Winston 6, Cruzen 3, Griffin 3, Sanford 3, Lopez 2, Siefken 5, McKinney 9, Vlaco 6, Ross 6, Grogan 9, Meeks 6, Fullerton 6, Gavin Gilmore 11, Brown 8. Totals 32-90 12-24 83.

YAKIMA (114)

Solis 8, Cody Bruns 20, Koopmans 4, Blodgett 3, Pynch 4, Berndt 4, Borton 6, T. Elmo 8, Starr 11, J. Elmo 6, Elmore 11, Komstadius 9, Newman 11, Carl 7, Crawford 2. Totals 49-101 5-6 114.

Tri-City 16 12 25 30 -- 83

Yakima 35 35 18 26 -- 114

Highlights -- Gary Winston 3 rbs, 3 stls; Tom Sanford 3 rbs; Boris Vlaco 3 rbs; JJ Ross 4 rbs; Kody Fullerton 7 rbs; Gavin Gilmore 3 rbs; James Brown 5 rbs; RJ Solis 4 rbs; Bruns 5 rbs; Joel Koopmans 6 rbs; Pynch 4 rbs; Evan Berndt 5 rbs; Matt Borton 6 rbs; Taylor Elmo 3 rbs; Jordan Starr 4 rbs, 4 assists; Javaray Elmore 7 rbs, 3 assists; Kevin Komstadius 7 rbs, 4 assists; Patrick Newman 3 rbs; Brady Carl 7 rbs, 3 assists.

Tri-Cities girls 89, Yakima 83

TRI-CITIES (89)

Sutherland 8, Brown 8, Worley 2, Walter 13, Smith 6, Miller 4, Roberts 10, Barott 2, Shoni Schimmel 24, Molsbarger 3, DePeel 9 . Totals 31-93 17-23 89.

YAKIMA (83)

Klarich 6, Smiscon 5, Curtis 6, Valdez 6, Mohsenian 14, Sillery 3, Kinzi Poteet 16, Stohr 8, Jimenez 5, Wyatt 4, Schutt 4, Patterson, Guthrie 6. Totals 31-76 14-24 83.

Tri-City 20 24 21 24 -- 89

Yakima 21 19 29 14 -- 83

Highlights -- Kelly Sutherland 6 rbs, 3 assists, 3 stls; Jordan Brown 3 rbs, 3 stls; Danielle Walter 9 rbs, 3 stls; Brianna Smith 4 rbs, 3 stls; Tina Miller 5 stls; Lindsay Roberts 4 rbs; Schimmel 9 rbs, 4 stls; Chelsey DePeel 3 rbs, 3 stls; Janae Klarich 6 rbs, 6 assists; Denise Smiscon 5 rbs, 4 assists; Arianna Mohsenian 5 rbs; Katelin Sillery 4 rbs; Poteet 8 rbs; Jasmine Stohr 8 rbs; Joelle Patterson 4 rbs.

* Jack Millikin; 582-1406; jmillikin@tricityherald.com