CBC falls in basketball opener, but Chiawana grad DeWitt shines

The Columbia Basin College men’s basketball team had its home opener Tuesday, falling to North Idaho 86-73, as new CBC head coach Anthony Owens made his debut with the Hawks.

Tyler Kurtz, a Richland High grad, led the Hawks with 24 points and 5 steals.

Carson Cloaninger added 14 points, while Garrett Streufert — another Richland High grad who transferred from Walla Walla Community College after one season — added 9 points and 10 rebounds.

One of the standouts for North Idaho was Chiawana grad Cooper DeWitt, last year’s Mid-Columbia Conference MVP. DeWitt scored 22 points for the Cardinals, shooting 6-for-9 from the 3-point line.

CBC travels to Wenatchee Valley on Saturday.

▪ Kennewick High graduate Johan Correa was named the NWAC men’s track and field athlete of the week on March 26.

Correa, a freshman at Spokane Community College, ran the men’s 800 meters in 1:55.40, then ran the 1500 meters in 4:01.42, all against four-year school competition.

CCS distance track coach Sean McLachlan said it was Correa’s first competition since 2019, and that Correa also anchored the men’s 4x400 relay team with a leg of 50.5 seconds.

Correa has committed to running for WSU in the fall.

▪ Richland High grad Travis Buck isn’t done with Boise.

Buck had been the hitting coach at Boise State University the past few years, when the university dropped the baseball program just as the team began playing games in its first season in 2020.

Now fast forward to this winter.

The Boise Hawks were dropped as an affiliate by Major League Baseball this winter, and the team moved over to play in the independent Pioneer League, but still an MLB Partner League.

The Hawks hired Gary Van Tol — the former Boise State head coach — to be their manager. Van Tol, in turn, hired Buck to be his hitting coach as well as former BSU pitching coach Michiel van Kamper.

Buck, 37, played six seasons as an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Houston Astros.

He told Boise fans, in a tweet, how excited he was to be coming back this summer.

“Boise … You couldn’t get rid of us that easy! Can’t wait to get to work and YES, the band is back together again!”

▪ Maliyah Twitty, a junior infielder for Chiawana, was named the Mid-Columbia Conference Slow Pitch Softball Player of the Year recently by the conference coaches.

Brian Thomas, head coach at Chiawana, was named Coach of the Year.

The Riverhawks finished MCC with an 8-1 record, and was 9-4 overall.

Here is the first-team all-MCC unit: Infielder Maliyah Twitty, jr., Chiawana; infielder Hailey South, jr., Hermiston; infielder Sawyer Stenson, jr., Chiawana; infielder Kylie Kemp, jr., Walla Walla; infielder Keila Garcia, sophomore, Pasco; outfielder Estella Zaro, sophomore, Chiawana; outfielder Eliza Rodriguez, jr., Hermiston; outfielder Aceyona Gamino, sr., Pasco; outfielder Rylee Healis, jr., Pasco; pitcher Alexa Kestler, sr., Hermiston; utility Lily Vela, jr., Chiawana.

▪ Kennewick senior wide receiver Max Mayer announced he’s received an offer to play football at Whitworth University.

▪ Todd Milles, who writes for Scorebook Live WA, just wrote an interesting story on former Washington Interscholastic Activities Association executive director Mike Colbrese.

Now 71, Colbrese retired from his position of 26 years with the WIAA in 2019.

But he’s kept active by becoming a sports official, working six high school games this spring for the North Olympic Football Officials Association.

Colbrese also is an umpire in baseball and softball in the West Sound, and has plans to officiate basketball later this spring.

▪ Connell grad Alma Manzo was named the NWAC’s women’s track and field athlete of the week on March 26.

Manzo, a freshman competing for Spokane Community College, clocked a 26.48 seconds time in the women’s 200 meters, and leaped 11.16 meters (36 feet, 7 inches) in the triple jump at the Whitworth Essential meet.

“I’m very proud of how well she performed after a year-long hiatus of no competition, and can’t wait to see what else she can do this spring,” said CCS sprints/jumps coach Lindsey Kunkel.

▪ Walla Walla Valley Academy junior Sahara Browning, a junior, was named the Player of the Year by the EWAC East volleyball coaches.

After losing their opener to Granger, the Knights won all the rest of their contests to go 9-1.

Joining Browning on the first-team all-conference unit are the following: Jessica Mitchell, sr., WWVA; Makenna Brandner, sr., Tri-Cities Prep; Mariah Valencia, sr., Tri-Cities Prep; McKaila Balcom, sophomore, Tri-Cities Prep; Kai Rawlings, sr., River View; Macyn Scherger, sr., WWVA.

▪ Royal’s Caleb Christensen, Prosser’s Kaiden Rivera, and Chiawana’s JP Zamora are on the list of Scorebook Live WA’s top 30 high school quarterbacks list for spring.

▪ Wide receiver Tysin Hale, a senior for Columbia-Burbank, was named the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference East Division football player of the year by the conference’s coaches this week.

Creed Pariera, a senior linebacker for Burbank, was named the defensive player of the year.

Hale and Pariera helped lead the Coyotes to an unbeaten season in dominating fashion, going 5-0 and winning by an average score of 47-3.

Here is the first-team offense: QB, Dylan Freimodt, sr., Columbia-Burbank; RB, Abe Garcia, sr., Columbia-Burbank; RB, Braulio Mendoza, sr, River View; WR, Tysin Hale, sr., Columbia-Burbank; WR, Creed Pariera, sr., Columbia-Burbank; WR, Shawn Evans, sr., Dayton-Waitsburg; OL, Brandon Mercado, jr., Tri-Cities Prep; OL, Zane Hickman, jr., River View; OL, Alex Gomez, sr., Columbia-Burbank; OL, Theo Anderson, jr., Dayton-Waitsburg; OL, Shaiel Zamora, sophomore, River View; K, Drew Axel, jr., Tri-Cities Prep.

Here is the first-team defense: DL, Kaden Harrison, sr., Tri-Cities Prep; DL, Ethan Thoren, sr., Columbia-Burbank; DL, Alex Gomez, sr., Columbia-Burbank; DL, Zane Hickman, sr., River View; LB, Creed Pariera, sr., Columbia-Burbank; LB, Kellen Hobson, sr., Tri-Cities Prep; LB, Michael Lenke, sophomore, Columbia-Burbank; LB, Anthony Vasquez, sr., River View; DB, Tysin Hale, sr., Columbia-Burbank; DB, Austin Hiett, sr., Tri-Cities Prep; DB, Dounelson Mullen, sr., Columbia-Burbank; P, Braulio Mendoza, sr., River View.

▪ The WIAA named two area athletes among its WIAA Athletes of the Week for Week 6: Sahara Browning of Walla Walla Valley Academy for volleyball; and McKenna Martinez of Richland for girls soccer.