These Pasco girls led the stunning overtime victory over Kennewick
The Pasco girls basketball team pulled off a big win this week, taking down visiting Kennewick 65-61 in overtime.
The Bulldogs outscored the Lions 11-7 in the OT period.
The two teams combined for an incredible 148 field goal attempts.
A’niyah Heavens paced Pasco — now 7-5 in Mid-Columbia Conference play, 10-5 overall — with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
But it was teammate Taija Mackey who really shined, scoring 15 points and grabbing 20 rebounds. Mackey also blocked four shots.
Kennewick, which used just six players, was led by Madeline Gebers’ 19 points and nine 14 rebounds.
The Lions fall one game back in the loss column behind MCC leader Chiawana. Kennewick is 10-2 in MCC play, 13-2 overall.
Other Tuesday games
KENNEWICK BOYS 72, PASCO 36: Ayoni Benavidez led the visiting Lions (10-2 MCC, 14-2 overall) with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the victory.
Teammate Blaine Chavez added 17 points, while Nick Gutierrez led Pasco (2-10, 3-13) with 9 points.
CHIAWANA BOYS 84, HERMISTON 60: Cooper DeWitt led four Chiawana players in double-figure scoring with 16 points to lead the visiting Riverhawks to the MCC win.
Chase Elliott led the Bulldogs with 20 points.
HANFORD BOYS 79, EISENHOWER 64: Tyson Caulfield’s 18 points helped lead the Falcons to a non-league win over the Cadets.
CHIAWANA GIRLS 58, HERMISTON 31: Talia von Oelhoffen scored 26 points, and Alyssa Agundis added 10 more, as visiting Chiawana beat Hermiston in MCC play. Mia Hernandez led the host Bulldogs with 16 points.
EISENHOWER GIRLS 60, HANFORD 59: Iliana Moran scored a game-high 31 points, but it wasn’t enough as Hanford lost the non-league contest.
RPI rankings
Here are the latest RPI rankings that the WIAA has for boys and girls basketball:
4A boys: Union is still the No. 1-ranked team in the state, But Chiawana is 6th and Walla Walla is 7th.
4A girls: Woodinville is the No. 1 team, with Chiawana sitting in 6th.
3A boys: Eastside Catholic holds the top spot, with Kamiakin sitting at 3rd.
3A girls: Bethel is No. 1, while Kennewick is ranked 6th.
2A boys: CWAC leader Toppenish sits atop the rankings.
2A girls: Lynden is the No. 1 team in state.
1A boys: Seattle Academy is the top team in state, but River View is close behind at No. 3.
1A girls: Cashmere holds No. 1 in 1A, but Warden is 3rd, and Connell is 7th.
2B boys: Liberty of Spangle is No. 1.
2B girls: Liberty of Spangle is also No. 1 in girls, giving the school the top spots for both boys and girls basketball.
1B boys: Odessa, which had the top 8-man football team in the fall, is No. 1 in boys basketball too.
1B girls: Pomeroy holds the top ranking for girls, but Sunnyside Christian is ranked 8th.
Girls bowling
Congratulations to the Kennewick High girls bowling team, which went a perfect 16-0 in MCC regular-season play, winning the league title.
The Lions had three of the top five bowlers in the league.
Sophomore Paige Harns averaged a 189.53 score — which was second-best in the MCC.
Junior teammate Skye Wheatley was third at 176.03, while senior teammate Aydri Turnbull was fifth at 171.93.
Southridge senior Nicole Omlor was the top MCC bowler this season, averaging 194.55 pins a game. She had a season-best 270 in one contest.
Pasco senior Brandy Castaneda was ranked fourth in MCC scoring, with a 173.07 average.
Hanford was the top 4A girls team in the regular season, with a 13-3 record.
The 3A and 4A district tournaments are this week, with the top 3A team and the top two 4A teams advancing to the state tournament, set for Feb. 6-8 at Narrows Plaza Bowl in University Place.
Boys swimming
Walla Walla won the regular-season MCC title, and the Blue Devils will host the MCC championships this coming Saturday at Whitman College.
The district meet is scheduled for Feb. 7-8 in Kelso, and the state championships are Feb. 21-22 in Federal Way.
All-academic Big Sky Conference
Thirteen Mid-Columbia athletes competing at various Big Sky Conference schools made the Fall Big Sky Academic team.
To qualify, an athlete must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or better and play in at least half of their team’s competitive events.
For Eastern Washington University football, named to the list were long-snapper Cody Clements (Richland), majoring in English; and defensive back Darreon Moore (Kamiakin), majoring in Management. Both are sophomores
Junior Catelyn Linke (Pasco) made the list for the EWU volleyball team. She majors in Biology.
The following members of EWU’s women’s soccer team also made the list:
Junior McKaley Goffard (Southridge), majoring in Exercise Science;
Junior Taylor Matheny (Hanford), majoring in Public Health;
Freshman Maddie Morgan (Kamiakin), undeclared major;
Sophomore Kendall Pope (Southridge), majoring in Exercise Science;
And junior Kelsee Winston (Hanford), majoring in Criminal Justice.
Idaho volleyball sophomore Alaina Lacey (Richland), majoring in International Studies, also qualified.
So did Northern Colorado women’s soccer player Britney Donais (Kamiakin), majoring in Business Administration.
Weber State womens’ soccer had two qualifiers in freshman River Holle (Kamiakin), majoring in Health Science; and junior Haley Thomas (Southridge), majoring in Exercise and Sport.
Finally, Portland State University offensive lineman Korbin Sorensen, a senior Economics major, also made the list.
Interestingly enough, Sorensen is transferring to Oregon State University as a graduate student to play his final year of football eligibility for the Beavers.
Notes
• Western Oregon University grabbed both of Hermiston High School’s big offensive linemen.
Chase Bradshaw and Dustyn Coughlin both tweeted out Tuesday that they have committed to WOU.
• Their teammate, receiver Garret Walchli, says that Idaho State has offered him preferred walk-on status.
• Chiawana senior Kobe Singleton tweeted that Georgia Tech has offered him a chance to play football there.
• Kiona-Benton grad Alex Navarro was named a Cascade Collegiate Conference athlete of the week on Jan. 20. Navarro, a senior competing for Eastern Oregon University’s track team, ran a 4:22.12 time in the men’s 1-mile run at an indoor meet.
That gives Navarro the 10th fastest time so far among all NAIA runners in the nation.
• That recent visit that Chiawana defensive lineman Bridger Feldmann took to Central Washington University? He liked it there, and decided to commit to the Wildcats football program.