All-State volleyball teams full of Mid-Columbia talent
The Washington State Volleyball Coaches Association released their all-state teams this week, and as could be expected, there are a number of area athletes on the teams.
Richland, which finished second at Class 4A state last month to West Valley of Yakima, was well represented in 4A, as was Chiawana.
While West Valley’s Shea Rubright was named 4A player of the year, Richland’s Bob Raidl shared the Coach of the Year honors with West Valley’s Katie Hinckley.
Walla Walla setter Noelani Helm and Richland libero Alaina Lacey were named first-team all-state.
The following players are second-team all-state 4A: outside hitters Lindsay Rosenthal and Sage Brustad, both of Richland; Walla Walla middle blocker Hannah Hair, and Chiawana setter McKenna Kaelber.
The Chiawana trio of outside hitter Kylie Thorne, middle blocker Yaneli Garcia and libero Marissa Logozzo are all honorable mention.
In Class 3A, Mt. Spokane’s Malina Ama was named player of the year, while Dave Whitehead – also of Mt. Spokane – is coach of the year.
Kamiakin middle blocker Katelin Grant was the only local player with honors, earning honorable mention.
In Class 2A, Ridgefield’s Delaney Nicoll and her coach, Sabrina Dobbs, earned Player and Coach of the Year honors, respectively.
The Prosser pair of middle blocker Ashley Ripplinger and setter Kayla Lind were honorable mention selections.
In Class 1A, Charles Wright Academy had the player of the year, Abbie Jackson, and coach of the year, Mindy McGrath.
Kiona-Benton setter Nya Calzadillas was a second-team all-state selection, while Connell middle blocker Alyssa Radke was honorable mention.
In Class 2B, LaConner’s Matty Lagerway was player of the year, while her coach, Suzanne Marble, was coach of the year.
Tri-Cities Prep’s Emily Dickson, a middle blocker, is a second-team all-state selection.
A number of local athletes were honorable mention picks: Walla Walla Valley Academy’s Sahara Browning at outside hitter and Gabrielle Browning at middle blocker; Lind-Ritzville-Sprague middle blocker Eliza Galbreath, setter Lacey Miller; Dayton-Waitsburg libero Tatum Lowery; and Tri-Cities Prep middle blocker Talia von Oelhoffen.
Finally, the 1B state player of the year is Oakesdale’s Logan Reed, while Oakesdale’s Brandy Brown is coach of the year.
Sunnyside Christian outside hitter Krista den Hoed is a second-team all-stater.
Prep basketball notes
I like the way sophomore Kobe Young has been playing for the Chiawana boys basketball team. Watched him shoot lights out from the 3-point line against Hanford last Friday as the Riverhawks dominated 70-47 win. But Young isn’t afraid to mix it up inside for the rebound too. Good player. Young scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. Matthew Kroner added 15 points and 9 boards. Dan Izquierdo led Hanford with 14 points. …
Chiawana’s girls beat Hanford 65-40 earlier Friday. Clare Eubanks, bound for Northwest Nazarene next year, led the Hawks with 21 points, 9 rebounds, while Kylie Thorne added 13 and 10. Iliana Moran paced the Falcons with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. …
Kennewick’s boys beat Pasco 60-55 on Tuesday, with Tyler Pearson scoring 13 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, and Ayoni Benavidez adding 10 points. Diego Gutierrez had 17 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists to lead Pasco. …
Kennewick’s girls turned 18 Pasco turnovers into 23 points en route to an 80-68 win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday. MeiLani McBee had a monster game for the Lions, with 29 points and 9 rebounds. Aislin Fiander added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists. Aniyah Heavens led Pasco with 19 points and 5 rebounds. …
Hermiston’s boys are off to a great 2-0 MCC, 4-0 overall start, with Ryne Andreason averaging 21.0 points a game, and Cesar Ortiz at 14.5 …. Richland’s boys went 1-2 last week in the Orem, Utah, tournament, but the Bombers (2-0 MCC, 3-2 overall) should still be considered the MCC favorite. They have four guys – Cole Northrup at 19.8 points, Dhaunye Guice at 14.2, Garrett Streufert at 12.8, and Cody Sanderson at 11.8 – averaging in double-figure scoring. … Walla Walla’s boys are off to a 1-0/2-0 start, with Javon Handcox averaging 18.0 points. …
Kamiakin’s girls are 1-0 in MCC, 4-0 overall. Oumou Toure leads the Braves at 19.8 points a game, followed by Alexa Hazel (13.3) and Regan Clark (11.8). … Richland, Kennewick and Chiawana are right behind, though. Richland (2-0 MCC/3-0 overall) has balanced scoring, with Gracie Pierce (12.3 points), Jayda Clark (10.7) and Nicole Gall (10.0) all in double figures. Gall, by the way, will join Chiawana’s Eubanks next year at Northwest Nazarene. … Kennewick (2-0, 3-1) has three double-figure scorers in Madeline Gebers (17.5), McBee (16.3) and Aislin Fiander (10.3). … Only Eubanks is in double digits for Chiawana (2-0, 2-1) at 13.7. …
Coaches and scorekeepers: please feel free to email me your boxes and story ideas to either mrsported@aol.com, or sports@tricityherald.com.
Notes
Royal quarterback Sawyer Jenks has been offered a scholarship to play at Southwest Minnesota State University. … Prosser’s Kord Tuttle and Tyler Durbin have both been offered scholarships at Eastern Oregon University. …
The WIAA’s first RPI rankings for boys and girls basketball will come out at 10 a.m. Friday, and they’ll be updated all season. …
Walla Walla offensive lineman Patrick Utschinski was the only Mid-Columbian listed on the Tacoma News Tribune’s All-State Football Team this week. The TNT listed just one lineup on both sides of the ball. Utschinski has committed to play next year at Washington State University. The state’s sports writers are voting on the Associated Press All-State team this week, and it should be released next week. …
The Spokesman Review reported that the Spokane School District board voted 3-2 to go along with the November advisory vote and build a new 5,000-seat football stadium where Joe Albi Stadium currently sits. There was hope from another group of people that the board would consider the new facility would be built in downtown Spokane.
NWAC East men’s basketball (Through Dec. 12, non-league only)
North Idaho 9-1
Big Bend 7-1
Wenatchee Valley 7-1
Spokane 7-2
Walla Walla 5-2
Blue Mountain 2-6
Columbia Basin 2-7
Yakima Valley 1-5
Treasure Valley 0-6
NWAC East women’s basketball (Through Dec. 12, non-league only)
North Idaho 5-1
Spokane 5-1
Yakima Valley 5-1
Columbia Basin 6-2
Wenatchee Valley 6-2
Big Bend 4-2
Walla Walla 5-3
Treasure Valley 5-4
Blue Mountain 2-6
MCC boys wrestling standings (Through Dec. 11)
Chiawana 3-0
Pasco 2-0
Southridge 2-0
Hanford 2-1
Kamiakin 1-3
Kennewick 0-1
Richland 0-1
Hermiston 0-2
Walla Walla 0-2