Kennewick basketball standout signs with college. Emerald Downs opens next month

Ayoni Benavidez was a joy to watch playing basketball last winter, especially as a senior.

The Kennewick High School standout just got better in each of his seasons with the Lions.

As a junior, he could score from anywhere on the court. And even though he might get out of control with the ball, sometimes throwing it away, a fan could excuse that because he’d find a way to get those points back.

By the time he was a senior, though, Benavidez seemed to have much better control on the floor. He found numerous ways to set his teammates up for easy shots with his incredible passing. His turnovers dwindled.

But he just continued to find more ways to score, whether it was a long 3-pointer, or — more likely — a slashing drive to the basket through three defenders.

His Kennewick teammates continually looked to Benavidez to lead them and carry the load. And he did, as the Lions finished with a 15-8 record.

Benavidez led the Mid-Columbia Conference in scoring this past season at 26.5 points a game, finished with 1,207 career points, and was named to the Associated Press’ Class 3A All-State Boys Basketball team last month.

On Friday, Benavidez announced he had signed with Whatcom Community College to play this coming winter for the Orcas.

It’s a great pickup for the western Washington junior college program.

Horse racing (west side) is coming

On Friday, the Washington Horse Racing Commission announced that Emerald Downs race track in Auburn will open for business June 22.

The WHRC approved of a 44-date schedule for the 2020 season. At first, the race dates will fall on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Originally, the meet was supposed to open April 18. But the COVID-19 outbreak delayed the start.

When the track opens in June, it will be with no fans present. For Emerald Downs, it has off-track wagering available at various sites around the state.

This also should be happening in Gov. Jay Inslee’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy program’s Phase 3 stage of re-opening Washington: no large gathering for sporting events.

But when Phase 4 eventually is reached, race fans will be allowed back through the gates.

There are approximately 600 race horses that have been training at Emerald Downs since Feb. 1.

This will be interesting to watch, since Nancy Sorick — president of the Tri-Cities Horse Racing Association — is debating about running the three weekend meet at Sun Downs Race Track in Kennewick potentially in the fall.

The Sun Downs meet was originally scheduled for the last two weekends in April and the first weekend in May — all Saturdays and Sundays.

But Sorick said at the time of the shutdown announcement, there could be a chance in the fall to run the meet. The Benton County Commissioners would have to agree to such a situation.

Sorick won’t even entertain the idea, though, until late July.

Stay tuned.

Other notes from the weekend

• Alaina Scott (Chiawana) has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball for Columbia Basin College. Scott, a 2019 Riverhawks graduate, actually was part of the Walla Walla CC program last fall. But she has elected to play closer to home.

• William Jess (Pasco) has signed to play for College of the Redlands this fall. Jess was an offensive lineman for the Bulldogs team and will do the same at Redlands.

• Jessica Cheney (Walla Walla CC) spent the past two women’s basketball seasons excelling for the Warriors in the NWAC. Last week, Cheney (who prepped at White Swan High School), signed a letter of intent to attend Multnomah University in Oregon.

• Last week, Tysen Stanley had the interim tag taken off of his head girls basketball coach’s position at River View High School in Finley. Stanley stepped in to run the Panthers’ program at the last minute when he was needed.

River View finished a respectable 9-13 under his leadership, and he was named the South Central Athletic Conference’s East Coach of the Year in post season honors. Stanley is also an RVHS alum.

• Meanwhile, another RVHS alum, Kris Welch, was named the Panthers’ head football coach last week. He takes over for Bryce Kennell.

Welch played football for River View, then played collegiately at Eastern Oregon University before getting into teaching and coaching.

He has been a football assistant coach at Umatilla High School in Oregon. He was also the school’s track coach.

• CBC men’s basketball program added another Tri-City player last week, when the Hawks signed Tyson Kurtz.

• Southridge grad Mason Martin was named the Greatest Greensboro Grasshopper of all time last week in the minor-league team’s online poll.

Martin played just 82 games last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ affiliate Class-A team, but he hit 23 home runs and drove in 83 runs.

He beat out current New York Yankee Giancarlo Stanton, who played in Greensboro in 2008. In that full season that Stanton played, he hit 39 home runs and had 97 RBIs.

Fans chose Martin 59 percent of the time in the poll, while Stanton got 41 percent.

• Last week, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced that no fans likely will be allowed to attend sporting events until October.

British Columbia officials also made similar announcements.

In light of that, West Coast League officials are anticipating that the Bend Elks, Corvallis Knights, Kelowna Falcons and Victoria HarbourCats will join the Bellingham Bells in canceling their 2020 seasons.

The WCL — the college summer baseball league — said the remaining teams in Washington, including the Walla Walla Sweets, are intending to play this season.

When that is, the league doesn’t know. The June 5 season openers have been canceled.