KENNEWICK -- The Kennewick girls basketball team has struggled lately, and that continued into the second half Friday night.
A couple of bench players and a strong defensive effort helped turn the tide, though, as the Lions used a big run to clinch a CBBN 3A district tournament spot with a 46-22 home victory against Southridge.
McKayla Sanders hit two second-half 3-pointers and Ashley Kump had five fourth-quarter points off the bench for Kennewick.
"We needed a spark, and McKayla stepped in and played hard," Kennewick coach Tarah Staton said. "You have to be able to come in and be ready to contribute."
The bench play was especially key because Kennewick's leading scorer, Angelique Whistocken, was struggling from the field.
"McKayla's two 3s were awesome," Whistocken said. "She's not normally a scorer. And Ashley did a good job of taking over and driving the ball."
The victory ends Southridge's season, while Kennewick (8-10 overall, 6-7 CBBN 3A) is tied for fifth with West Valley with one game left. The Lions play tonight at Eastmont.
After Southridge's Emma Sanders hit a 3-pointer to pull the Suns within 22-18 with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left in the third quarter, the Lions went on an 11-0 run and closed the game on a 24-4 run.
"We started off really tentative. I don't know why," said Whistocken, who finished with eight points. "Then we started going out hard. We knew we had to win tonight because it would be tough to win at Eastmont."
The Lions not only played good defense in the second half, but they also controlled the glass against the young Suns.
Whistocken and Panisesi Taimani had nine rebounds each, and Kim Harrod added six.
"We had a lot of defensive stops ... they played really well," Staton said. "We're still alive. I hope the way we played in the second half will inspire them and hopefully take some of the pressure off."
For Southridge, the loss ends a season that started slow but finished on a high note. Though the Suns lost their first eight games and 10 of their first 11, they entered the final weekend of the regular season with a chance at the postseason.
The Suns (4-16, 4-10) have one senior on their roster and will return their leading scorer in Sanders. She led Southridge with 12 points Friday, while Kaitlyn Wormington had five rebounds.
Taimani had a game-high 14 points for Kennewick. Janey Valerio added seven points.
SOUTHRIDGE -- Kylie Fraga 0 0-0 0, Kassedy Taylor 1 1-2 3, Emma Sanders 5 1-2 12, Breanna Lyons 2 0-0 4, Nicole Edwards 0 0-0 0, Mercedes Haberling 0 1-2 1, Kaitlyn Wormington 1 0-0 2, Miranda Kreutz 0 0-0 0. 9 3-6 22.
KENNEWICK -- Janey Valerio 2 2-2 7, Angelique Whistocken 4 0-2 8, Samantha Lester 0 0-0 0, Kim Harrod 1 2-6 4, Panisesi Taimani 7 0-1 14, Whitney Hicks 0 0-0 0, Ashley Kump 1 3-4 5, McKayla Sanders 2 0-0 6, Taylor Osmundson 1 0-2 2. Totals 18 7-17 46.
Southridge 10 5 3 4 -- 22
Kennewick 14 6 7 19 -- 46
3-point goals -- Southridge 1 (Sanders), Kennewick 3 (Sanders 2, Valerio). Total fouls -- Southridge 17, Kennewick 13. Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- Southridge 32 (Wormington 5), Kennewick 44 (Whistocken, Taimani 9). Turnovers -- Southridge 24, Kennewick 22.
