Friday, Jan. 18, 2008

Girls notebook: League races hit halfway point

By Rene Ferran, Herald staff writer

This weekend marks the end of the first half of the league season for most of the Mid-Columbia leagues, and there are a couple of heavyweight matchups set for the Tri-Cities.

Tonight, the top two teams in the CBL 3A square off as Hanford plays host to Southridge. Then Saturday night, Moses Lake comes to Pasco in a matchup of last year's CBL 4A co-champions who are unbeaten in league play this season.

The Falcons come into tonight's game unbeaten in league play at 3-0 and as the only 3A team to sport a winning record (5-3) against the 4A division.

Still, coach Evan Woodward said, "The nice thing is I don't think we've played our best basketball yet. But that's OK. We want to play our best basketball at the end of the season."

Woodward based his assessment on the fact that in some of his team's biggest games -- Moses Lake, Pasco and Kamiakin -- the Falcons had a subpar quarter.

"But I like our combination of inside and outside players, older and younger players," he said. "I like the emphasis on team that we have."

The Suns, meanwhile, are a bit of a surprise at 3-1 in league play, their only loss coming last Saturday at home to West Valley.

"We knew they'd be very athletic, and they've got some pretty good scorers," Woodward said. "They're playing good team basketball."

Southridge's rise epitomizes the balance in the league this season. Behind the Suns is a three-team logjam at 2-1 with Eastmont, Kennewick and West Valley.

"Every game is like a playoff game in this league," Woodward said. "You're always fighting for something."

One team missing from the CBL 3A title race so far is Kamiakin, the defending champion that has started league play 0-4.

It's no secret why the Braves have been struggling. They're shooting just 31 percent from the field and averaging 24 turnovers per game.

"That's 24 times we don't even get to try for a basket," said coach Tammy Hutchison, whose team plays host to Kennewick tonight. And when they do shoot, "there's 3-footers that are not being made, layups, putbacks not being made."

In their four losses, the Braves have had only one double-digit scorer in three of them and none in the fourth. "To win ballgames, you need contributions from two or three players," Hutchison said.

"I keep telling them that they need to brush themselves off, get up and keep plugging along. Eventually we'll get it going. We hope to be like West Valley last year and peak at the right time, at the end of the season."

After an easy week last week -- a bye, then a road game at Eisenhower -- the pace picks up for Pasco this week as the Bulldogs travel to Walla Walla tonight, then play host to Moses Lake on Saturday and Richland on Tuesday.

The Blue Devils also are unbeaten in league play and are 6-1 at home with an average winning margin of 30.7 ppg. The Chiefs feature reigning league MVP Carly Noyes, who is averaging a league-best 22.3 ppg.

"It seems like every time we play them, she does something special against us," said Pasco coach Steve Davis of Noyes, who is averaging 16.5 ppg in six career meetings vs. the Bulldogs.

Tuesday's game corresponds with Breast Cancer Awareness Night. The Bulldogs will sport pink uniforms and pink shoelaces for the occasion.

NOTES: The second- and third-place teams in the CWAC square off Saturday night as East Valley travels to Othello to open the second half of conference play. EV won the first meeting 50-36 in Moxee. ... The Liberty Christian-Touchet rematch that will decide the Blue Mountain 1B title takes place Tuesday in Touchet. The Indians won 61-52 last Saturday in Richland.

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