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PASCO -- The Yakima contingent may have considered a boys victory a foregone conclusion at the Round Table Pizza/Pepsi Media Classic.
But Tri-City had its eyes on a sweep Sunday at Pasco High School.
The Tri-City girls started the evening off with an 87-73 win after overcoming an early deficit, pushing their lead in the series to 12-8.
The Yakima boys eventually prevailed 125-121 in overtime, but the Tri-City squad had no intention of rolling over in front of a hometown crowd.
Walla Walla's Gary Winston drained three 3-pointers for Tri-Cities in the final 2:55 of regulation -- including two in the last 25 seconds -- to force overtime.
"It was kind of whoever had it in the last couple seconds," said Southridge guard Andrew Mendenhall.
James Lopez scored six of Yakima's 15 points in overtime before Robert Bonser put the final exclamation on the Yakima win with a breakaway dunk at the buzzer.
Mendenhall led Tri-City with 17 points but wasn't too pleased with the outcome.
"No one likes to lose," he said. "It's an exhibition, but I'm a competitive person."
Since the series began in 1994, the Yakima boys are 17-3 after their third straight win and 13th in the last 14 games. But Tri-City was happy to make this a memorable chapter in the 16-year series.
"We got blown out last year, but this was a fun one to coach," said Columbia Basin College coach Lane Schumacher, who guided the Tri-City boys. "This group was real athletic. Our guards were just as athletic as (Yakima's), and we had a nice inside presence, too."
Boys
Tri-Cities got out of the gate quick, using a 13-1 run and later an 18-4 run to take a 40-31 lead with 7:42 left in the first half. But Willie Blodgett, the CWAC player of the year from Wapato, hit a 3-pointer to pull Yakima back to within 65-64 with 14:12 remaining. Blodgett finished with 28 points in 26 minutes to earn game MVP honors.
"That's the first time I've ever seen him," said Mendenhall, who led Tri-City with 17 points. "I had a feeling the (pace) would be pretty fast. In this game, anybody can score."
And nearly everyone did. Only three of the 29 players on the floor went scoreless as the teams combined for 246 total points -- the fourth-highest in series history. The game also featured 10 lead changes and 11 ties.
Yakima took control with a 19-2 second-half run, capped by Matt Guevara's short jumper in the lane with 13:18 left in the game to take a 69-65 lead.
Pasco's Robert Montano chipped in 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Winston's late-game heroics were impressive considering he missed his first five shots and didn't hit his first bucket until 2:55 of the second half.
"We're just playing around out there," Winston said. "It's supposed to be an all-star game."
YAKIMA (125)
Henderson 2-6 2-2 6, Gaut 3-4 0-3 7, Willie Blodgett 9-23 8-11 28, Bonser 4-9 5-6 13, Fajardo 3-12 0-0 7, M. Lopez 1-5 2-2 5, J. Lopez 3-9 4-10 10, D. Blodgett 2-4 0-0 5, Hernandez 1-7 2-2 4, Trimble 3-10 2-4 9, Newman 4-7 0-0 9, Ramirez 3-8 0-0 7, De La Barrera 2-5 0-0 4, Guevara 5-9 1-2 11. Totals 45-118 26-42 125.
TRI-CITY (121)
Scales 0-2 0-1 0, Byrd 2-8 2-2 7, Griffin 2-8 2-2 7, Montano 7-12 1-5 15, Rada 4-7 0-0 10, Rojas 3-5 0-0 8, Andrew Mendenhall 6-17 2-4 17, Wilson 3-8 0-1 6, Lopez 1-3 2-2 4, Wiesner 0-3 0-0 0, Mendoza 4-6 0-0 9, Ortiz 3-8 1-2 10, Winston 4-12 1-2 12, Scott 2-4 0-0 4, Douglas 3-5 6-7 12. Totals 44-108 17-28 121.
Halftime--TC 54, Yak 48. 3-point goals--Yak 9-35 (Gaut 1-2, W. Blodgett 2-9, Bonser 0-2, Fajardo 1-4, M. Lopez 1-2, J. Lopez 0-2, D. Blodgett 1-2, Hernandez 0-4, Trimble 1-4, Newman 1-1, Ramirez 1-3), TC 16-43 (Byrd 1-3, Griffin 1-5, Montano 0-2, Rada 2-4, Rojas 2-4, Mendenhall 3-5, Wilson 0-2, Lopez 0-1, Weisner 0-1, Mendoza 1-2, Ortiz 3-5, Winston 3-9). Rebounds--Yak 83 (W. Blodgett 9, Henderson 7, Hernandez 7, Gaut 6, De La Barrera 6, Bonser 5, Newman 5, Guevara 5, Fajardo 4, Trimble 4), TC 68 (Weisner 9, Mendoza 7, Byrd 6, Rojas 6, Montano 5, Rojas 6). Assists--Yak 13, TC 19 (Scales 4, Griffin 4). Turnovers--Yak 15, TC 22. Fouls--Yak 22, TC 26.
Girls
For several guard-post tandems, this was a final opportunity to play together.
Haley Tank, Hanford's senior guard, wanted a chance to feed Laura Hughes inside one last time, and Moses Lake senior post Carly Noyes certainly made the most of her final high school game with sophomore Jordan Loera.
"We've been playing together so long. I'm really going to miss her," Noyes said. "We had a lot of tall girls. The guards did a good job getting it inside."
Noyes, the CBBN Columbia Division MVP, capped her prep career as the Media Classic MVP after scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Noyes will begin the next phase of her career at Washington State.
Hughes was equally impressive, recording 13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and even a pair of steals. Tank was only happy to help her teammate out.
"I wanted to make her look really good tonight. I think she had a great game," said Tank, who missed last year's Classic to play in an all-state game on the west side. But she was impressed with the quality of talent on the Tri-City team.
"This was a better team than the all-state team," she said.
Prosser senior Lacie French led Yakima with 14 points, going 3-of-5 from 3-point range. She hit a trey from the left wing with 15:15 to go in the second half to cut Tri-City's lead to 55-51.
But Tri-City followed with a 21-6 run over the next 7:45 to take a 76-57 lead.
"I love watching the high school kids. It's fun getting to see this kind of talent on one team," said CBC coach Cheryl Holden, who guided Tri-City. "Carly played well, and Danielle (Walter) had some nice passes."
Walter, a Pasco junior, finished with 10 points and five assists.
In the 3-point contests, Hannah Whitsett of Hermiston hit 13 of 16 shots -- including her first seven -- to beat Granger's Janae Klarich. In the boys' 3-point contest, Mark Wilson of Liberty Christian hit 10 in the final round to edge West Valley's Alix Hernandez, who hit seven.
Tri-City girls 87, Yakima 73
YAKIMA (73)
Klarich 1-5 0-0 3, Williams 3-11 2-4 8, Lacie French 5-9 1-2 14, Winckler 2-5 3-4 7, Yarlott 4-11 1-2 9, Zapien 1-5 5-8 7, gordon 0-3 2-2 2, Jimenez 2-8 1-2 7, Curtis 0-2 2-2 2, Sillery 0-1 2-2 2, Jones 1-3 1-2 3, Guthrie 0-4 0-4 0, Walker 1-3 2-4 4, Bush 2-4 1-3 5. Totals 22-74 23-41 73.
TRI-CITY (87)
Loera 3-7 0-0 6, Worley 2-3 0-0 5, Walter 3-10 3-4 10, Tank 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 4-10 0-0 8, Poteet 2-4 1-2 5, Whitsett 1-8 1-2 3, Hodgins 2-12 2-2 8, Molsbarger 1-2 2-2 5, Idler 2-6 0-0 4, Rivard 3-7 0-0 6, Mikaela Rivard 6-8 2-3 14, Grassl 0-2 0-0 0, Hughes 6-11 1-5 13. Totals 35-92 12-20 87.
Halftime-- TC 47 Yak 43. 3-point goals--Yak 6-20 Klarich 1-4, Williams 0-2, French 3-5, Gordon 0-1, Jimenez 2-6, Curtis 0-1, Jones 0-1), TC 5-25 (Loera 0-2, Worley 1-1, Walter 1-5, Tank 0-2, Miller 0-2, Whitsett 0-3, Hodgins 2-6 Molsbarger 1-1, Rivard 0-1, Grassl 0-2). Rebounds--Yak 72 (Yarlott 10, Winckler 5, Williams 5, Klarich 5, Jones 4, Sillery 4, Bush 4), TC 52 (Hughes 9, Poteet 6, Idler 5, Rivard 4, Noyes 4, Miller 4 ). Assists--Yak 9, TC 22 (Walter 5, Tank 4). Turnovers--Yak 22, TC 11. Fouls--Yak 14, TC 24.
