Prosser dominates to earn a WA tournament berth. Which teams could join them?
The Prosser boys basketball team is the latest Mid-Columbia squad to qualify for a state tournament.
The Mustangs defeated visiting Grandview 77-62 on Wednesday night, giving Prosser an automatic berth to the 2A boys state basketball tournament.
Prosser will find out Sunday who it will play when the state committees meet to determine the draw.
Grandview, meanwhile, will play host to the District 8 No. 2 team at 6 p.m. on Saturday in a crossover (winner to state, loser out) game.
The District 8 No. 1 team will host East Valley of Yakima — a 52-47 winner over Ellensburg on Wednesday — in the other Saturday night crossover game.
In Wednesday’s win, Prosser used a 17-3 run that started late in the first quarter and into the second to pull away for the win.
Kory McClure scored 10 points in that run.
The Mustangs had five players in double-figure scoring. Kevin Flores and Koby McClure each had 17 points, while Kory McClure added 15. Issak Hultberg and JJ Reyes each added 14.
Lino Armendariz led the Greyhounds with 21 points, while Cameron Draculan added 17.
▪ The CWAC girls district championship is set for 7 p.m. Thursday night, with Prosser visiting Ellensburg.
The winner earns an automatic bid to the 2A state tournament, while the loser will host the District 8 No. 2 team at 6 p.m. Saturday in a 2A crossover play-in game.
Also set for Thursday night is a third-place CWAC district game, Grandview at Othello, at 7 p.m.
Winner will visit the District 8 No. 1 team at 6 p.m. Saturday in another crossover contest for state.
▪ In the 1A SCAC district boys tournament, Toppenish and Zillah have already qualified for state.
Wahluke and Royal are still alive for the final state berth, but either team must win a loser-out game Thursday and another on Saturday.
In the girls tournament, College Place has qualified for state after beating Naches Valley 44-25, then Zillah 45-38. The Hawks will meet Wapato for the district championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Toppenish High School.
Royal is still battling for a state berth in the losers bracket.
▪ Columbia-Burbank and Tri-Cities Prep have earned 2B state tournament berths after going 2-0 in the EWAC district tournament so far.
The Coyotes have beaten Goldendale 71-30 and Dayton-Waitsburg 77-44, while Prep has taken down Mabton 61-37 and Cle Elum 46-44.
The two teams will meet at 8 p.m. Saturday at Granger High School for the district championship.
On the girls’ side, Mabton meets Warden in the championship game, set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Granger. Both teams have qualified for state.
On Thursday at Granger, Columbia-Burbank plays Cle Elum at 4:30 p.m. for a state berth, while Tri-Cities Prep plays White Swan at 8 p.m. for another state berth.
Boys swimming
There have been years where the Mid-Columbia has one or two swimmers who are among the state’s best.
But this year’s WIAA boys state high school swimming and diving championships has more than a few local guys who could do some damage at the King County Acquatic Center in Federal Way.
Start with Hanford senior Andy Gelston, who has the fastest 4A 100 backstroke time coming in at 50.89 seconds. Gelston also has the second fastest 500 freestyle time coming in at 4:44.70.
Right behind Gelston in that event is Richland senior Ethan Johnston, who ranks third in the 4A state field at 4:45.24.
If that’s not enough, Hanford has an outstanding 200 free relay squad, which ranks third in the state at 1:28.03.
Then there is Hanford junior Herky Wright, who is ranked fourth in the 100 free (47.56 seconds) and fifth in the 200 IM (1:56.04).
Two others could make a name for themselves in Richland sophomore Cody Cowin and Hanford senior Andrew Jones. Cowin is sixth in the 100 backstroke (52.27 seconds), while Jones is sixth in the 100 breaststroke (57.98).
Other Hanford state qualifiers are Anthony Gordon (1-meter diving), Luke Nielson (100 butterfly), Maddox Pool (200 free), Riley Pasicaran (200 free, 100 back). Jones is also in the 50 free, and the Falcons also have relay teams in the 200 medley and 400 free.
For Richland, Cowin will also be competing in the 50 free, while Johnston will also compete in the 200 free. The Bombers will also have its 200 free relay team entered.
Chiawana’s Matthew Logston will be competing in the 4A 1-meter diving.
All diving prelims and finals will be Thursday, while swimming prelims for 4A, 3A and 2A are held on Friday.
Finals for all classifications will be held on Saturday.
▪ Walla Walla is the lone area representative in the 3A state meet.
The top qualifier is Blue Devils freshman Eli Bona, who is ranked seventh out of 24 in the 500 freestyle. His time is 4:52.18. Bona has also qualified in the 200 free.
Other Wa-Hi state qualifiers include Zach Evans in 1-meter diving; Zach Juhnke in the 50 free and 100 free; Noah Stillman in the 200 free and 100 backstroke; and Jerry Yao in the 100 breaststroke.
The Blue Devils also have qualified in all three relay races: 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free.
▪ In the 2A boys meet, Prosser has two relay teams competing: in the 200 free and 400 free.
State cheer
Hanford and Chiawana won cheerleading titles at the state meet on Feb. 3-4 at Battle Ground High School.
Kim Mayer, Hanford’s head cheer coach, said the Falcons scored an 86.2 out of a possible 90 points to win the 4A Non-Tumbling Medium event.
“It’s our 13th state title,” said Mayer.
It’s also the seventh consecutive year Hanford has won a state title.
Team members are Delaney Anderson, Sydney Armstrong, Jorja Cailo, Olivia Chittenden, Megan Davis, Mia Dyer, Olivia Hermann, London Jones, Madison Manthei, Carolynn McCulloch, Kadence Sanford, Rayin Swentik, Angelyce Towndrow, Micah Welch, and Mia Woolery.
Meanwhile, Chiawana finished first in the 3A/4A Non-Tumbling Large category, scoring a 73.8 for the win.
Riverhawks head coach Whitney Billman said it was Chiawana’s first-ever state cheer title.
Team members are Rylee Alexander, Myriah Barajas, Roxie Bates, Hadley Bleazard, Sidnei Bond-Haggerty, Elle Huston, Dezeray Ledesma, Aliana Lopez, Andrea Luna, Madelyn Mercer, Abbie Mills, Olivia Mills, Paige Money, Gracie Moreno, Maya Navejar, Grace Orton, Isabella Quintanilla, Namaya Ramaos, Megan Roe, Haylee Sanderson, and Jayna Tyner.
Team manager is Shyanna Mayer, assistant coach is Sherry Mostoller, and volunteer assistant coach is Anna Swanson.
In 3A Game Day Medium, Walla Walla earned a third-place finish.