Chiawana grad lands Pac-12 ‘Freshman of Week’ as Oregon State rookie
If there were any people who had doubted Talia von Oelhoffen could make the jump from high school to Pac-12 Conference, there certainly can’t be anyone left.
Von Oelhoffen shined for Oregon State University this past weekend, helping the Beavers beat USC and UCLA on the road in what were considered do-or-die type of contests for her team.
On Friday, OSU beat USC 72-52, as von Oelhoffen — coming off the bench — scored a team-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the floor (3 for 4 from the 3-point line). She also grabbed five rebounds and dished off three assists.
On Sunday, the Beavers held off the No. 8-ranked Bruins 71-64 in Pauley Pavillion.
Von Oelhoffen scored 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting (2 for 3 from the 3-point line), and she grabbed six rebounds.
Her clutch 3 with 5:42 left in the game snapped a 57-57 tie and gave the Beavers the lead for good.
Sunday’s game was ultra important for Oregon State. The Beavers entered the day with a 5-6 Pac-12 record, and were 7-6 overall. The only regular-season game remaining is Feb. 28 at Oregon.
In between, OSU has had 11 contests either canceled or postponed.
Sunday’s game against UCLA was considered a key contest that could get the Beavers into the NCAA Tournament, with the tournament committee watching. For her efforts, von Oelhoffen was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week.
It should also help the Beavers’ cause that they’ve played better since von Oelhoffen joined them a month ago.
Since she has arrived, Oregon State has gone 5-2. And for much of the game Sunday, she was running the point guard spot against the Bruins.
It was in January that she completed her requirements to graduate from Chiawana High School, with the idea of enrolling at Oregon State early.
She did that, and attended her first practice Jan. 20. Four days later, she was playing against Washington State University.
Keep in mind if she had stayed in high school, she’d get to play basketball for the Riverhawks starting in May in a shortened season.
But by going to OSU early, she gets a half a year of schooling that doesn’t count against her four years of eligibility. She’ll still be a freshman next fall.
Prep football
Prosser, Liberty Christian and Touchet got an early start this past weekend with their first football games of the spring season.
On Friday night, Prosser routed visiting Selah 45-7 in a 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference matchup.
Mustangs quarterback Kaiden Rivera had a big game, going 26 for 40 for 325 yards and three touchdown passes. Rivera also rushed five times for 36 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown scamper that gave the Mustangs the lead for good at 12-7.
Teammate Brock Weinmann had a monster game, catching 10 passes for 104 yards, including two 15-yard TD catches. But Weinmann also had a 35-yard pick-six interception return.
Teammate Reilly Williams also had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Haden Hocks caught 4 passes for 92 yards – including a 58-yard TD pass.
▪ Sophomore Keegan Bishop passed for 448 yards and six touchdowns to lead host Liberty Christian to a 64-0 Southeast 1B win over Touchet on Saturday afternoon.
Aiden Lesser and Conner Newell were the main recipients of Bishop’s stats.
Lesser caught nine passes for 240 yards and four touchdowns, while Newell caught three passes for 140 yards and two scores.
David Bogan compiled 117 total yards of offense — two catches for 65 yards, and 52 yards rushing with a touchdown.
Cross country
The Mid-Columbia Conference originally had its first meet scheduled for Walla Walla on Saturday.
But the heavy snow that still was on the ground at the time forced the races to be canceled.
Instead, eight of the nine schools — without Walla Walla — ran in what was considered a fun run at Hanford High School.
There really were no official results available (thus the fun run), but Kamiakin boys coach Matt Rexus said it was great to get out.
“There were a lot of smiles from kids, coaches and parents,” Rexus said. “And without masks during racing was amazing to see.”
Rexus, who was timing his athletes, said that Isaac Teeples — the 2019 Class 3A state champion — covering the 2.98-mile flat course in 14 minutes and 6 seconds.
Teammate Grayson Wilcott was right behind at 14:20 for second place.
The MCC will head to Richland’s Leslie Groves Park next Saturday.
▪ Lukkes Haltberg of Prosser crossed the finish line in 13:30 to finish second in a 2A CWAC boys meet at Selah Middle School on Saturday. Selah won the meet with 25 points, while East Valley was second at 51, and Prosser third at 56.
Selah’s Cooper Quigley placed first at 13:06. Prosser’s Ethan Denny finished eighth at 14:31.
▪ Selah’s girls scored a perfect 15 points (the top five placers were all Vikings) as it beat Prosser 15-46. Kieryann Matson finished first for Selah at 18:17.
Three Mustangs placed among the top nine: Avery Thiemann was sixth (19:51), Aida Roya was eighth (20:08) and Elizabeth Humberstad was ninth (20:08).
▪ In another CWAC meet Saturday, Kaden Mattson led Ellensburg to a 19-42 win over Grandview by finishing first in a time of 14:11. Grandview’s Jorge Morales placed second at 14:14.
The Greyhounds’ Christian Rodriguez finished eighth and teammate Lorenzo Castilleja was ninth. Both runners finished in 16:01.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon University finally got to start its season this past weekend, going 4-0 in Cascade College Conference play.
One of the Mountaineers’ outside hitter is junior Breanna Shaffer, who is a Kennewick High graduate. Shaffer was a factor in all four of EOU’s matches this weekend.
On Friday, Eastern swept Multnomah University, winning each match 3-0 (the CCC is doing volleyball twinbills to get enough matches in).
In the first match, Shaffer had 6 kills and 5 blocks. She added 8 kills in the nightcap.
The next day, Eastern swept Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) by identical 3-1 scores.
In the first match, Shaffer had 15 kills, then added 14 kills and 4 blocks in the second match.
Ashley Ripplinger, a sophomore from Prosser, had three blocks for OIT in the first match.