Prep basketball season opener gives 2 Tri-Cities teams victories

The Mid-Columbia Conference boys and girls basketball seasons opened Tuesday with two games each, and perhaps all four games could be considered surprises.

The biggest surprise may be the Richland boys beating Chiawana on the road 85-69.

The Bombers were a middle-of-the-pack team last season, while the Riverhawks were MCC champs and returned a veteran lineup.

But the Bombers came out in a hurry and were never really threatened. Freshman Josh Woodard, in his first varsity game, scored a team-high 23 points for Richland.

Teammates Kaden Bradshaw (22 points) and Will McClelland (21) also scored more than 20 points each.

Kobe Young, headed to Boise State University in the fall, led the Riverhawks with 27 points and 8 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Kamiakin’s boys routed visiting Walla Walla 78-46.

It’s no surprise that the Braves won, just by how much. They looked sharp from the start, making the extra pass on offense to find the wide-open shooter. And they did a good job on the defensive end, holding the Blue Devils to just one shot on most Wa-Hi possessions.

Junior Tyler Bilodeau, who has grown to 6-foot-8, led Kamiakin with 34 points. Trey Arland added 18 points for the Braves.

Senior Michael Cornia led the Blue Devils with 24 points.

On the girls side, Richland dominated Chiawana 46-20, and Kamiakin pounded Walla Walla 59-19.

Again, the surprise may not be who won, but the point differential. No other details were available.

More preps

▪ Richland’s baseball team blanked Walla Walla 12-0 last Saturday to win the MCC district baseball title.

That gave the Bombers the sweep, as they also won the regular-season title.

Here are the final baseball standings: 1. Richland 12-2 MCC, 14-2 overall; 2. Walla Walla 11-3, 12-4; 3. Kennewick 10-4, 11-5; 4. Kamiakin 9-5, 9-7; 5. Hanford 7-7, 8-8; 6. Chiawana 6-8, 8-8; 7. Southridge 5-9, 5-11; 8. Hermiston 3-11, 4-12; 9. Pasco 0-14, 0-14.

▪ Richland shut out Pasco 3-0 last Saturday to win the MCC district championship in boys soccer, giving the Bombers a perfect 13-0 season.

Richland was dominant all season, giving up just three goals on defense in those 13 contests.

Here are the final regular-season and overall standings for the spring season: 1. Richland 8-0 MCC, 13-0 overall; 2. Pasco 7-1, 10-3; 3. Chiawana 5-3, 8-5; 4. Hermiston 5-3, 6-5; 5. Kennewick 3-5, 7-6; 6. Kamiakin 3-5, 6-7; 7. Southridge 2-5, 3-9; 8. Walla Walla 1-6, 1-11; 9. Hanford 0–6, 1-8.

The MCC games are off for some teams, as Hanford had to cancel its final two contests due to a positive COVID test.

▪ Kamiakin’s softball team defeated Richland 9-3 in May 7’s district title game at Columbia Playfield.

The Braves beat Kennewick 4-1 in the semifinals, while No. 4-seeded Richland knocked off top seed Walla Walla 6-5 in 8 innings in the other semifinal, setting up the title game matchup.

Here are the final regular-season standings, with MCC records, followed by overall records: 1. Walla Walla 13-1 MCC, 13-3 overall; 2. Kamiakin 12-2, 14-2; 3. Kennewick 10-4, 11-5; 4. Richland 9-5, 10-6; 5. Chiawana 7-7, 8-8; 6. Hanford 5-9, 6-10; 7. Southridge 4-10, 6-10; 8. Hermiston 3-11, 3-13; 9. Pasco 0-14, 0-14.

▪ Richland senior Madi Carr, who runs cross country and the distance events in track for the Bombers, will be competing next school year for Eastern Washington University.

▪ Last week we talked about winter sports beginning this week, including basketball and wrestling.

But girls bowling got its season under way May 11 and May 13, with non-league matches.

All nine Mid-Columbia Conference schools will be competing in MCC play, with conference action starting May 18 and ending June 15.