Richland, Kamiakin tied for 1st in MCC boys basketball. Pasco girls clinch title
Friday night’s thriller was at Kamiakin, in which visiting Richland’s boys pulled away at the end to beat the Braves, handing them their first Mid-Columbia Conference loss of the season.
Earl Streufert’s Bombers shot 45 percent from the floor on Friday — which was way better than the 17 percent his team shot in the first battle, which was a 70-49 Kamiakin win on Jan. 11.
“We had a great week of practice this time,” said Streufert. “We actually started getting ready for this one the week before this past week. We played a little different defense this time.”
It included trying to put the clamps on Kamiakin star Tyler Bilodeau whenever he got the ball.
But the 6-foot-8 senior forward, bound for Oregon State in the fall, still finished with a game-high 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished off to the wide-open shooter when he was double-teamed for five assists.
The Bombers still forced 18 turnovers that translated into 24 points.
Richland senior Twazae Gladney led Richland with 20 points.
“I felt we just weren’t prepared (that first meeting),” said Gladney. “In practice, we make everyone on the team shoot. Any time it could be a hot night (for anyone).”
Richland led 25-24 at the half, then poured it on in the third quarter, outscoring Kamiakin 22-6 in the period for a 47-30 lead entering the fourth quarter. Jordan Valencia scored 8 points in the quarter, while Josh Woodard added 7 more.
But Streufert offered a word of caution to his squad between quarters.
“I told them ‘You understand that run was fun, right? Now you need to catch your breath and do it again,’” Streufert said.
But instead, it was the Braves who put a run on the Bombers in the final quarter.
Kamiakin senior Trey Arland — whose 19 points in the game helped him exceed the 1,000-point mark for his career — scored 5 points in a 12-0 Braves run to open the final quarter and get them back in the game.
Richland’s Valencia broke the run with a layup off a nice pass from teammate Jase Vopalensky for a 49-42 Bombers lead.
And while Kamiakin got as close as 1 point in the final minutes, Richland held the Braves off for the victory.
“We didn’t do a good job of finding the open guy tonight,” said Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely. “We did not share the ball well, and we attacked the basket too quickly. Playing catchup in the fourth quarter, that’s just too big of a hill to climb. It was a lot to overcome in that quarter.”
For Kamiakin, Meneely didn’t seem optimistic that he’d be getting Jacob Bilodeau — Tyler’s twin brother — back any time soon.
“He has a stress fracture in his foot,” said Meneely, who earned his 250th career victory on Jan. 29. “And like other teams, we’ve been battling with COVID issues. Monday was the first time in weeks we had our top eight guys in practice.”
More MCC
If both Richland and Kamiakin win their final regular-season games on Tuesday — the Bombers host Southridge, while the Braves host Kennewick — it would give both squads 15-1 MCC records and a share of the conference title.
However, according to both Streufert and Meneely, there would be no playoff for that top seed for the District 8 tournament.
Instead, the tiebreaker would be who is ranked higher in the WIAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). That would be Kamiakin, which is currently in sixth; Richland is ranked 10th.
Either way, both teams will get to host at least one district tournament game.
▪ At halftime, Kamiakin honored Randy Dolven — the school’s long-time coach and athletic director who passed away in 2020 — by naming the gymnasium after him. It was an emotional affair, with Dolven’s family in attendance, and when the Kamiakin crowd starting chanting Dolven’s first name, the entire Richland crowd joined in.
In fact, Richland’s top assistant coach, Bruce Robertson — a friend of the Dolven family — wore a red Kamiakin polo during the game, instead of the usual Bomber green and gold.
▪ Meneely, by the way, earned his 250th career victory on Jan. 29 with a 78-51 win over Hanford. … In the 4A boys tournament, Richland and Kamiakin will have the first two MCC seeds (we just don’t know yet in which order). Chiawana has locked up the third seed, while Hanford has the fourth seed. … In the 3A district tournament, Kennewick has locked up the top MCC seed, while Walla Walla is No. 2. Hermiston has a half-game lead over Southridge for the third and final berth.
4A-3A MCC boys basketball standings
Kamiakin 14-1 MCC, 17-2 overall
Richland 14-1, 16-3
Chiawana 10-5, 13-6
Kennewick 10-5, 12-7
Walla Walla 8-7, 9-10
Hanford 5-10, 6-13
Hermiston 4-12, 4-18
Southridge 3-12, 4-14
Pasco 0-15, 0-19
Tuesday, Feb. 1 — Chiawana 74, Walla Walla 71; Kennewick 74, Hermiston 40; Richland 92, Hanford 39; Southridge 64, Pasco 59.
Thursday, Feb 3 — Ferris 54, Walla Walla 46.
Friday, Feb. 4 — Chiawana 94, Hermiston 62; Hanford 65, Southridge 58; Kennewick 89, Pasco 33; Richland 67, Kamiakin 62.
Saturday, Feb. 5 — Chiawana 84, Pasco 38; Kamiakin 98, Southridge 51; Kennewick 64, Hanford 52; Walla Walla 84, Hermiston 52.
Tuesday, Feb. 8 ( all tip-off times are 7:30 p.m.) — Chiawana at Hanford; Kennewick at Kamiakin; Southridge at Richland; Walla Walla at Pasco.
MCC girls basketball
I took in the Chiawana at Pasco girls game Saturday afternoon, wanting to get one last look at both teams before the postseason begins.
What I saw impressed me. The Bulldogs, who clinched the MCC title on Friday night with a win over Kennewick, beat the visiting Riverhawks 69-62.
This is what I like about Pasco, which is still the top-ranked 4A girls team in the state, according to the WIAA’s RPI rankings: senior leadership and experience.
In Saturday’s game, senior stars Mya Groce and Taija Mackey had to leave the game with foul trouble in the first half.
But another senior, Taleya Maiden, stepped up in their place. Maiden — who finished the game with 27 points and 8 rebounds — scored 8 of Pasco’s final 10 points in the quarter.
Normally when Groce and Mackey are in the game, Maiden works a lot of high post against the opponent when a zone defense is being used. Maiden is really good of getting that pass, turning around, and singling a nice 10- to 12-foot jump shot.
This time, without her two star teammates out there, Maiden did a great job driving to the basketball and either scoring or drawing a foul. Or she took the 3-point shot, sinking two of three attempts.
Maiden doesn’t get as much attention as Groce and Mackey, but she’s been pretty steady in her four years as a Bulldog.
Teammate Mireyah Lopez added 16 points on three of four shooting from the 3-point line.
The diversity of weapons will help Pasco make a deep run in the postseason.
This is what I like about Chiawana: Freshman Malia Ruud and senior A’niyah Heavens are a lethal 1-2 punch.
Ruud finished the game with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. She’s great in passing out of the post, has nice moves in the paint, and can be deadly from the 3-point line.
Heavens has incredible speed and ball handling skills, can find the open shooter, and can also get a 3-point shot off with little space and great accuracy.
Now, throw in freshman Kaia Foster, who has been getter better each game (she had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals in the game), and Mike Brown’s Riverhawks are starting to hit their stride at the right time.
▪ Consider Tuesday’s Chiawana at Hanford game (tipoff at 5:45 p.m.) a playoff game. The Riverhawks need the win to clinch second place and the No. 2 seed for the 4A district tournament. Hanford needs the win to stay alive for the No. 4 4A seed.
Right now, Hanford and Kamiakin are tied for the fourth seed. One of them isn’t making the postseason.
Meanwhile, Hermiston (8-8) has clinched the MCC’s top 3A seed to district, while Kennewick has the No. 2 spot. The problem comes with Southridge and Walla Walla. Both are tied for the final 3A berth.
4A-3A MCC girls basketball
Pasco 15-0 MCC, 18-0 overall
Chiawana 11-4, 14-5
Richland 10-5, 13-6
Hanford 8-7, 12-7
Kamiakin 8-7, 12-7
Hermiston 8-8, 12-9
Kennewick 6-9, 8-10
Southridge 1-14, 4-14
Walla Walla 1-14, 2-17
Tuesday, Feb. 1 — Chiawana 55, Walla Walla 34; Hermiston 75, Kennewick 70; Pasco 73, Southridge 43; Richland 58, Hanford 57.
Friday, Feb. 4 — Chiawana 68, Hermiston 59; Hanford 75, Southridge 38; Kamiakin 60, Richland 39; Pasco 55, Kennewick 37.
Saturday, Feb. 5 — Hanford 63, Kennewick 45; Hermiston 53, Walla Walla 45; Kamiakin 59, Southridge 26; Pasco 69, Chiawana 62.
Tuesday, Feb. 8 ( all tip-off times are 5:45 p.m.) — Chiawana at Hanford; Kennewick at Kamiakin; Southridge at Richland; Walla Walla at Pasco.