Pasco girls advance to WA quarterfinals. Other teams face make-or-break games Wednesday

Ask anyone involved with the Pasco High School girls basketball team if losing a few weeks ago to cross-rival Richland in the District 8 tournament was a good thing, they’ll tell you yes.

“There was a lot of pressure (trying to stay unbeaten),” said senior post player Taija Mackey. “Who was gonna be the team to knock ‘em off.”

Pasco coach Aaron Barcot agreed, saying that loss to Richland took was a good thing.

“It took a lot of pressure off of these 17, 18-year-old athletes,” Barcot said. “When things got chippy and tight today, I don’t know how important it was to keep our composure because they weren’t worrying about losing.”

Mackey was the star, scoring 27 points and grabbing 19 rebounds in leading the No. 3-seeded Bulldogs past No. 6 Emerald Ridge 65-54 at Richland High School on Saturday.

“She was the difference maker today,” said Barcot. “I love her to death. She’s a great kid, and a better human being than she is a basketball player.”

With the victory, Pasco becomes the only Mid-Columbia team in any of the state tournaments to open in the quarterfinals this week.

The Bulldogs will take on the winner of Wednesday’s loser-out game between No. 4 Lake Stevens and No. 13 Rogers of Puyallup.

Pasco’s quarterfinal game is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Thursday in the Tacoma Dome.

Mya Groce added 13 points and 6 assists for the Bulldogs , now 22-1.

Pasco is the only team from the Mid-Columbia seeded into the quarterfinals. The remaining 13 teams must play loser-out contests Wednesday to continue on.

(2) SUMNER 72, (7) RICHLAND 52

Sumner used a 28-9 second quarter to put the Bombers away in a regional game Saturday at Auburn High School.

The Spartans led 42-20 at the half.

However, junior standout Kylee Fox did exceed the career 1,000-point mark during the contest.

And Richland, the District 8 champion, is still alive in the tournament. As a top-8 seeded team, the Bombers still have a chance to win the state tournament.

Richland will play 15-seeded Sunnyside at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, in a loser-out game in the Tacoma Dome.

(15) SUNNYSIDE 52, (10) CHIAWANA 51

Benemi Sanchez grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a driving putback with 6 seconds remaining to give the Sunnyside Grizzlies the upset win over Chiawana on Friday night at Richland High School.

Sunnyside now continues its magical postseason run, heading to the main tournament in the Tacoma Dome, where the Grizzlies will play Richland at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in a loser-out game.

Sanchez actually scored Sunnyside’s last 9 points in a game that saw 11 lead changes and four ties.

“We’ve got another game,” said Sunnyside coach Rick Puente. “That’s all we could ask for.”

Puente said his team talked in the middle of the year about what they wanted to do this season, and even though it was a rollercoaster season, the Grizzlies find themselves in Tacoma.

Jansyn Carrizales led the Grizzlies, now 13-11, with 15 points.

And Sanchez added 12 points, with her last two being the biggest of the game.

Freshman Malia Ruud led the Riverhawks (17-7) with 22 points and 9 rebounds.

3A boys

(15) KENNEWICK 61, (10) LAKE WASHINGTON 54

For the third time in school history, the Kennewick boys basketball team is headed to the state tournament.

The Lions (17-8) defeated Lake Washington at Bellevue College on Friday night, earning a spot into the main portion of the WIAA 3A boys tournament. That part of the tournament begins Wednesday in the Tacoma Dome.

The Lions, who are seeded 15th out of the 20 teams that started in this event, knocked off the 12th-seeded Kangaroos by using a 28-8 third quarter.

“Our defense settled in,” said Lions coach Bradyn Leyde. “(We) struggled with rotations in the first quarter. We forced some turnovers that turned into transition buckets. … Really it was a team defensive effort.”

Kennewick held the Kangaroos scoreless for the first 5:56 of the third quarter.

“Ayden Knapik seemed to pull down every rebound,” said Leyde. “Jonah Gebers got going a little after a slow start.”

Now Kennewick must play No. 2 seed Auburn at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Tacoma Dome, in a loser-out contest.

Kennewick had a team in 1944 advance to the main portion of the tournament, and again in 1989.

4A boys

(5) TAHOMA 54, (4) KAMIAKIN 51

Adam Davis and Joey Hassmann each scored 15 points — with Hassmann sinking five long treys — to give visiting Tahoma a win over Kamiakin on Saturday at Richland High School.

The loss for the Braves means they’ll play in a loser-out game against No. 12 Central Valley at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Tacoma Dome.

Tyler Bilodeau led Kamiakin with 21 points and 9 rebounds, while Nate Gray Jr., added 10 points.

Tahoma outscored Kamiakin 32-25 in the second half.

Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely said his team just made too many mistakes.

“We had the opportunities to make plays,” he said. “But we missed layups. We didn’t get loose balls, and we had too many turnovers.”

3A girls

(14) HERMISTON 53, (11) EVERETT 51

Freshman Izzy Simmons’ driving floater banked in just before the final horn sounded, giving the visiting Bulldogs a regional victory at Everett Community College on Saturday.

Simmons scored a game-high 16 points, while Katelyn Heideman had 13 points, and Bailey Young added 12.

Hermiston now plays No. 6 seed Kelso at 3:45 p.m., Wednesday, in a loser-out game in the Tacoma Dome.

2A boys

(14) PROSSER 60, (11) MARK MORRIS 58

Koby McClure scored 15 points and Kory McClure added 12 more as Prosser continued its winning ways in the postseason, beating Mark Morris in a loser-out game at W.F. West High School in Chehalis on Saturday.

The Mustangs will now play No. 6 seed White River in a loser-out game, set for 3:45 p.m. Wednesday in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

(12) GRANDVIEW 68, (13) ENUMCLAW 46

The Greyhounds rolled to a 35-18 first-half lead and never looked back in the loser-out regional game Saturday.

Julian Garza led Grandview with 17 points, while teammate Levi Dorset added 14. Both players sank three 3-point field goals.

The Greyhounds advance to the SunDome to play a loser-out game against No. 5 Tumwater. Tip-off is at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.

2A girls

(11) PROSSER 75, (14) ENUMCLAW 55

Prosser senior Halle Wright scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a state regional victory over Enumclaw on Friday night.

Malia Cortes and Layla Dixon each added 15 points, as the Mustangs improve to 18-6.

Wright, bound for Idaho State next year — when she’ll play basketball — also added 5 steals and 3 blocked shots.

Prosser will play No. 6 Port Angeles at 9 a.m. Wednesday in a loser-out game in the SunDome.

1A boys

(9) BLAINE 50, (16) WAHLUKE 48

The Warriors, down 39-22 with just 1:16 left in the third quarter, rallied hard in the fourth quarter, but fell just short in a loser-out regional game at Mount Vernon High School on Saturday.

2B boys

(10) COLUMBIA-BURBANK 80, (15) ILWACO 64

Burbank coach Todd Schumacher was livid last Sunday when he saw his Coyotes — ranked no worse than fourth much of the season in the RPI, and carrying a 22-1 record — given a 10 seed.

But he and his team got over it and got back to business, as Burbank ran away in the fourth quarter to beat the Fishermen in a loser-out game.

“We’ve got work to do,” said Schumacher. “I think everybody just wanted to get through it. I really liked the way we played defense and shared the ball. When you can score 80 points against a team like that, you’re doing well.”

Two freshmen led the way. Quincy Scott scored 28 points, while Tristan Frimodt added 22 points and 8 rebounds.

With the game still tight entering the fourth quarter, and the Coyotes leading 60-54 against a much taller Ilwaco team, Burbank exploded in the fourth quarter.

The Coyotes went on an 18-3 run to put the game away.

Scott had 10 points in the run.

“We take more pride in our defense,” said Scott. “We know we can score. So we focus on defense.”

Burbank takes on 7-seed Adna at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, in a loser-out game at the Spokane Arena.

(9) LAKE ROOSEVELT 80, (16) RIVER VIEW 42

The Panthers’ magic late-season run came to an end on Saturday at Eastmont High School, as Lake Roosevelt won the loser-out regional game.

River View finished 6-18 on the season. The Panthers started the season out 0-13, but went 6-4 in its next 10 games, winning key district contests to qualify for state.

(11) TOUTLE LAKE 65, (14) MABTON 51

Victor Chavez scored 18 points, and Andy McCallum added 13, but it wasn’t enough as Mabton lost a loser-out regional game at Mark Morris High School in Longview on Saturday.

2B girls

(7) LIBERTY-SPANGLE 63, (2) WARDEN 60

The Cougars fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with the loss, and they are now 22-1.

Fortunately, Warden still has a chance to win the 2B girls state title.

The Cougars — who got 24 points from Lauryn Madden, and another 20 from Kianna Rios — now play 10-seed Wahkiakum in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday in the Spokane Arena.

(12) MABTON 63, (13) SAINT GEORGE’S 52

Alana Zavala scored 19 points to lead the Vikings in a win over the Spokane-area school.

Mabton led 24-12 after the first quarter and never looked back. Now the Vikings will play a loser-out game against 5-seed Raymond at 12:15 p.m. in the Spokane Arena on Wednesday.

(11) RAINIER 50, (14) COLUMBIA-BURBANK 41

Rainier outscored the Coyotes 30-22 in the second half to hang on for the winner-to-state, loser-out game in Chehalis.

Azlyn Pareira led the Coyotes with 11 points, while Audri Kinsey added 10 points.

1B boys

(1)ALMIRA COULEE HARTLINE 39, (8) DESALES 36

Jack Lesko scored 13 points, but it wasn’t enough for DeSales in a close game on Saturday at Eastmont High School.

The Irish now play No. 9-seeded Wellpinit at 2 p.m., Wednesday, in a loser-out game at the Spokane Arena.

(4) WILLAPA VALLEY 65, (5) SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN 59

Willapa Valley outscored SSC 32-24 in the middle two quarters to take the victory at W.F. West High in Chehalis on Saturday.

For SSC, it means it plays No. 12 Crosspoint Academy in a loser-out game at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in the Spokane Arena.