CBC basketball teams still have business to tend to

The Columbia Basin College women’s basketball team is returning to the postseason. The men are waiting to see if they’re in, too.

But things look a little different in this year’s NWAC tournament format.

Much like the current WIAA high school state regional format, 16 NWAC teams — the top four in each region — will compete in a regional round March 5. The losers will go home, and the winners will advance to the NWAC championships March 10-13 at Everett Community College.

The Nos. 1 and 2 seeds from each region will host regional games. The CBC women (17-11 overall, 9-4 NWAC East) are in the running for a 3 or 4 seed, meaning they could travel to the West No. 2 as the East’s 3 seed or to the North No. 1 as a 4 seed. The Hawks are a game ahead of Treasure Valley (17-10, 8-5).

Since falling to Treasure Valley on Jan. 27, CBC has won six of its past seven games. Former Grandview High School standout Marissa Caballero (14.3 points per game), ex-Pasco player Sierra Perez (11.8) and Cayla Jones (11.6) lead an offense that averages 79 points a game, third best in the NWAC.

“After we lost our game to Treasure Valley, we just were not clicking,” CBC coach Daron Santo said. “We were not playing very well and definitely were not playing together. We just had a good talk. Things have got to change, and they did. They made the adjustments.”

CBC will close out the regular season Saturday at Walla Walla (16-10, 5-8), which is out of contention after losing its past four games. Tabitha Wellsandt (Kamiakin) is averaging 11.2 points per game, and Kennedy Corrigan (Richland) has 10.8 ppg. Corrigan is dishing out 3.7 assists a game, while Wellsandt is grabbing about seven rebounds per contest.

“They’re a solid team,” Santo said. “Their record definitely doesn’t reflect how good of a team they are. I’ll be honest — I’m very surprised they’re not making the tournament, but at the same time, that’s how tough our region is. It’s that good. It’s been one of the best in the NWACs the past five, six years I’ve been here.”

On the men’s side, CBC (12-14, 6-7) will visit Walla Walla (11-17, 5-8) on Saturday to decide the fourth and final East seed. Big Bend (22-7, 12-1), Spokane (25-4, 11-2) and Yakima Valley (14-13, 8-5) are the top three in the NWAC East.

If CBC beats Walla Walla, the Hawks would get the No. 4 seed and play at West No. 1 seed Lower Columbia next week. But if Walla Walla wins the game and the season series against CBC, the Warriors go to regionals.

One key for CBC on Saturday will be trying to find an offensive rhythm.

“We’ve been on a big shooting slump,” Hawks coach Rolando Garcia said Thursday. “Against Spokane (a 102-65 loss), we got killed. We had 30 missed layups, and we probably had another 15 last night (against Blue Mountain).”

Still, there are bright spots for the young Hawks, who have lost three in a row.

CBC continues to get major production out of sophomore swingman Andrew Reddout, who is sixth in the NWAC in scoring (21.8 points per game). He’s also third in rebounding (9.7) and assists (5), and tied for eighth in steals (1.85).

Garcia has been giving more minutes to John Wuol (Kennewick), who started Wednesday. Dustin Petragallo (Kamiakin) has scored in double figures in four of the past five games, and Brad Scott (Southridge) is averaging 11.2 points per game. Cardell Jones (Prosser) is scoring 10.3 points a game.

One of Walla Walla’s biggest offensive weapons is former Richland standout Payton Radliff, who has averaged 17.1 points over 21 games.

“Walla Walla’s such a good team,” Garcia said. “They’re disciplined, and they’re gonna get their shots up. They’re gonna get a lot of 3s. If they’re making them, they can hang with any team out there. We’re just going to try to slow them down a little bit.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "CBC basketball teams still have business to tend to."