YVCC women win title for fallen teammate

KENNEWICK -- Mission accomplished.

The Yakima Valley women's basketball team had one more thing to do: get in a huddle and yell "One! Two! Three! Hannah!"

And with that, the Yaks began to celebrate their 53-40 NWAACC championship victory over the Walla Walla Warriors on Tuesday night at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

The team's journey to the title took a sad turn Feb. 28, when teammate Hannah Cordova was killed in a car accident in Wapato.

Some players, at that point, didn't care about basketball. That included tournament MVP Dequise Hammick.

"With her death, it was really hard to take," said Hammick, who scored a game-high 21 points and had five assists and five steals. "I didn't want to play. But I felt we could do this."

With Cordova's family in attendance, and with their approval, the Yaks went on a tear through the tournament.

"Hannah always felt that the team was her family, so that's my family," said her father, Bob Cordova. "Her motto was 'It's best to never settle.' I believe she'd want them to play."

Which, of course, is what they did from the outset Tuesday.

Yakima Valley (23-7) never trailed in the game. And thanks to a swarming defense, the Yaks held a 28-17 halftime lead.

The Warriors shot a dismal 18 percent from the floor in those first 20 minutes.

"Obviously we didn't shoot well," said Walla Walla coach Bobbi Hazeltine, whose team finished 22-7. "But give Yakima credit. They took us out of what we wanted to do. They made us set our offense out farther than we wanted to, and our kids were scared to go to the hoop."

YVC coach Cody Butler, holding the title trophy, knew his defense would come through.

"This is our best defensive team," he said. "Throughout the tournament, we did the job. And tonight, they played like she did. Hannah was a defensive stopper for us."

The game never got any closer in the second half, as YVC kept the margin at double digits.

The Yaks were not surprised they won the title.

"We have an amazing coach in Cody," forward Aliyah Green said. "He's the best coach I ever had. But we kind of came into this tournament with a lot of confidence."

Brittney Newcomb, who finished with 11 points, agreed.

"But the tragedy brought us closer together as a team," Newcomb said.

A.J. Yarlott and Green were named to the all-tournament first team. Newcomb was named most inspirational.

Walla Walla's Leslie Stillar and Shiann Dreadfulwater, who led the Warriors with 11 points, were named to the first team.

Hazeltine was philosophocal about the loss.

"They were on a mission," she said. "And yet, I am not upset at all. I'm so proud of our team. I never, in a million years, thought we'd be here in the title game.

"It just seemed that Yakima was destined to win this tournament."

YAKIMA VALLEY (53)

Newcomb 1-3 0-0 11, Yarlott 0-2 0-0 3, Roe 0-2 0-0 0, Green 2-7 0-2 4, Nguyen 0-2 0-0 3, Hammick 7-14 1-3 21, Brewster 1-1 0-0 2, Zapien 3-8 0-5 9. Totals 14-39 1-10 53.

WALLA WALLA (40)

Dreadfulwater 6-9 0-0 12, Klarich 0-0 0-0 0, Wolff 0-2 3-4 6, Stillar 1-5 0-0 5, Duncan 2-7 1-1 5, Humphries 0-5 2-2 2, Edmunson 0-3 5-8 5, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Jensen 2-7 1-4 5. Totals 11-38 12-19 40.

Halftime-- YV 28-17. 3-point goals--YV 8-21 (Newcomb 3-6, Yarlott 1-1, Roe 0-4, Green 0-2, Nguyen 1-1, Hammick 2-6, Zapien 1-1), WW 2-17 (Klarich 0-1, Wolff 1-6, Stillar 1-6, Duncan 0-3, Edmunson 0-1). Rebounds--YV 46 (Yarlott 6), WW 50 (Jensen 11). Assists--YV 13 (Hammick 5), WW 7. Turnovers--YV 13, WW 19. Fouls--YV 15, WW 13.

COLUMBIA BASIN 72, SPOKANE 69

CBC finished its season with a victory for third place, but it had to survive a furious finish by Spokane.

When the Hawks' Trishi Williams sank a trey with 11:21 to play, CBC (26-3) held an 18-point lead at 55-37. But from that point on, Spokane went on a 32-17 tear.

Still, the Hawks hung on for the win to help alleviate some of the pain from Monday's semifinal loss to Walla Walla.

"We wanted this way too much not to go out with a win," said CBC sophomore Lauren Walker, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds.

After the final buzzer, the Hawks walked over to their rooting section and hugged the fans.

Williams finished with 13 points for CBC, while Jorie Freeman added 12. Karinne Tuttle paced Spokane with 19 points.

"I am so proud of this team," said Hawks coach Cheryl Holden. "This is one of my top three teams ever. They are an incredible group of young women."

COLUMBIA BASIN -- Williams 0-3 4-6 13, Strom 0-0 0-0 0, Jiminez 1-2 1-2 9, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Young 1-1 0-0 2, Freeman 5-10 2-6 12, Bland 1-5 2-2 4, Lauren Walker 10-12 2-5 22, Idler 3-7 4-6 10. Totals 21-40 15-27 72.

SPOKANE -- Buttrey 1-2 0-0 5, Karinne Tuttle 2-4 3-4 19, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Tullis 0-6 0-0 0, Bourn 4-11 2-4 13, Brisbois 4-10 1-2 9, Abbot 2-4 2-2 6, Randall 3-5 5-8 17. Totals 16-42 13-20 69.

Halftime-- CBC 36, CCS 25. 3-point goals--CBC 5-8 (Williams 3-3, Jiminez 2-2, Bland 0-3), CCS 8-17 (Buttrey 1-4, Tuttle 4-4, Bourn 1-2, Brisbois 0-1, Randall 2-6). Rebounds--CBC 41 (Williams 8), CCS 35 (Bourn 7). Assists--CBC 16 (Williams 6), CCS 12. Turnovers--CBC 22, CCS 13. Fouls--CBC 20, CCS 24.

Lane 55, Clackamas 35

Kristen Huff piled up 26 points and 19 rebounds and Ashley Smith added 18 points to lead the Titans to fourth place.

Shayla Ball had 10 points and 10 boards for Clackamas, which set a dubious tournament record with just seven points in the second half. Sam McCloud also scored 10 points for the Cougars.

CLACKAMAS -- Fuller 0-0 0-0 0, Kanalz 1-2 0-0 2, Sam McCloud 4-13 0-0 10, Porter 0-1 0-0 0, Bizon 1-8 0-0 3, Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0, Kapua 1-6 0-0 3, Holterhoff 1-10 1-2 4, Shayla Ball 4-11 1-2 10, Martine 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 13-56 2-4 35.

LANE -- A. Smith 6-14 5-7 18, May 0-4 0-0 0, Anderson 2-6 0-0 4, S. Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Brunetti 0-0 0-0 0, Levings 2-6 0-0 6, Ficek 0-7 1-2 1, Kristen Huff 13-27 0-3 26. Totals 23-67 6-12 55.

Halftime-- LCC 34-28. 3-point goals--CCC 7-34 (McCloud 2-10, Bizon 1-7, Kapua 1-4, Holterhoff 1-5, Ball 1-4, Martine 1-4), LCC 3-13 (Smith 1-3, May 0-2, Smith 0-1, Levings 2-3, Ficek 0-3, Huff 0-1). Rebounds--CCC 43 (Ball 10), LCC 52 (Huff 19). Assists--CCC 8, LCC 13 (Levings 5). Turnovers--CCC 26, LCC 18. Fouls--CCC 15, LCC 12.

Bellevue 71, Umpqua 50

Olivia Lewis scored 19 points and Kelly Sutherland had 18 points and 12 boards to lead Bellevue to fifth place.

Pua Kailiawa's 16 points and eight rebounds topped Umpqua.

UMPQUA -- Walker 4-8 0-0 8, McDuffie 1-5 0-0 2, Neufeld 0-0 0-0 0, Thornton 2-4 0-1 4, Norman 0-0 0-0 0, Steel 1-2 0-0 2, Pua Kailiawa 5-14 3-6 16, Cook 2-2 0-0 4, Christensen 3-9 1-1 7, Swim 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 21-49 5-10 50.

BELLEVUE -- Shannon 1-3 0-0 2, Michael 1-1 0-0 2, Sparks 3-7 0-0 6, DenHartog 1-5 2-2 4, Francis 3-3 0-1 6, Sutherland 5-9 5-5 18, Milovic 7-11 0-0 14, Olivia Lewis 3-5 1-4 19. Totals 24-44 8-12 71.

Halftime-- Bell 33-27. 3-point goals--Ump 1-11 (Walker 0-2, McDuffie 0-3, Neufeld 0-1, Steel 0-3, Kailiawa 1-1, Swim 0-1), Bell 5-21 (Shannon 0-2, Sparks 0-4, Sutherland 1-3, Milovic 0-6, Lewis 4-6). Rebounds--Ump 40 (Kailiawa 8, Christensen 8), Bell 45 (Sutherland 12). Assists--Ump 11 (McDuffie 5), Bell 14 (Sparks 5). Turnovers--Ump 22, Bell 20. Fouls--Ump 15, Bell 15.

All-Tournament Team

First Team

Dequise Hammick, Yakima Valley (MVP); AJ Yarlott, Yakima Valley; Aliyah Green, Yakima Valley; Shiann Dreadfulwater, Walla Walla; Leslie Stillar, Walla Walla; Jorie Freeman, Columbia Basin

Second Team

Trishi Williams, Columbia Basin; Brooke Randall, Spokane; Korrie Bourn, Spokane; Ashley Smith, Lane; Shayla Ball, Clackamas

Most Inspirational

Brittney Newcomb, Yakima Valley

This story was originally published March 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "YVCC women win title for fallen teammate ."