Undefeated seasons for 2 Tri-City teams. Can they advance to WA championships?

The Richland boys and Chiawana girls swept their respective regular seasons in high school basketball.

Earl Streufert’s Bombers boys went a perfect 18-0 in Mid-Columbia Conference play, and they were 21-0 overall.

Richland enters the Class 4A District 5 tournament — which begins Saturday at various sites against the Greater Spokane League schools — as the top seed out of the MCC.

Meanwhile, the Chiawana girls also finished 18-0 in the MCC, and they were 22-0 overall.

Gary Jonas’ Riverhawks will enter this week’s District 5 4A tourney as the MCC’s top seed.

In both tournaments, the top three placers will advance to the state tournament.

The Class 3A MCC squads also begin district play against the GSL, with three state berths available in both the boys and girls tournaments.

Kennewick’s boys and Hermiston’s girls earned the top MCC seeds.

Here are the final regular-season MCC standings, and the first round schedule for all four tournaments:

MCC boys basketball

Richland (4A) 18-0 MCC, 21-0 overall

Chiawana (4A) 15-3, 18-3

Kamiakin (4A) 14-4, 17-4

Kennewick (3A) 12-6, 14-7

Sageview (3A) 7-11, 10-11

Southridge (3A) 6-12, 8-12

Walla Walla (3A) 6-12, 8-13

Hermiston (3A) 5-13, 6-14

Hanford (4A) 4-14, 6-15

Pasco (4A) 3-15, 3-18

4A District tournament

Feb. 12

Play-in game: Ferris at Pasco (loser out), 6 p.m.

Feb. 14

Game 1: Hanford at Gonzaga Prep, 1:30 p.m.

Game 2: Mead at Chiawana, 2 p.m.

Game 3: Kamiakin at Lewis & Clark, 1 p.m.

Game 4: Ferris-Pasco winner at Richland, 7 p.m.

3A district tournament

Feb. 12

Play-in game: Walla Walla at North Central (loser out), 6 p.m.

Feb. 14

Game 1: Walla Walla-North Central winner at Mt. Spokane, TBA

Game 2: Ridgeline at Sageview, 6 p.m.

Game 3: Southridge at Central Valley, 6 p.m.

Game 4: University at Kennewick, 4 p.m.

MCC girls basketball

Chiawana (4A) 18-0 MCC, 22-0 overall

Richland (4A) 13-5, 16-5

Hermiston (3A) 13-5, 15-5

Southridge (3A) 13-5, 15-6

Kennewick (3A) 11-7, 12-9

Kamiakin (4A) 9-9, 11-10

Walla Walla (3A) 7-11, 8-13

Pasco (4A) 4-14, 5-16

Hanford (4A) 2-16, 3-18

Sageview (3A) 0-18, 0-19

4A district tournament

Feb. 12

Play-in game: Ferris at Hanford (loser out), 6 p.m.

Feb. 14

Game 1: Pasco at Gonzaga Prep, 12 p.m.

Game 2: Lewis & Clark at Richland, 5 p.m.

Game 3: Kamiakin at Mead, 3 p.m.

Game 4: Ferris-Hanford winner at Chiawana, 12 p.m.

3A district tournament

Feb. 12

Play-in game: Walla Walla at Mt. Spokane (loser out), 6 p.m.

Feb. 14

Game 1: Walla Walla-Mt. Spokane winner at Ridgeline, 6 p.m.

Game 2: Central Valley at Southridge, 2 p.m.

Game 3: Kennewick at University, 4 p.m.

Game 4: Shadle Park at Hermiston, 2 p.m.

Tri-City Americans

The Tri-City Americans have 18 games remaining on their 2025-26 Western Hockey League regular-season schedule.

At 25-21 with 54 points, Jody Hull’s Americans have had a rollercoaster ride this season.

The highs have been great, as the team has had winning streaks of 7, 5 and 3 games (twice). The lows have been low: a 4-game losing streak, and four different 3-game losing streaks.

Still, the team has been fun to watch on most nights.

There is a lot of talent here.

In fact, general manager Bob Tory decided not to change things up and not make a deal at the trade deadline a few weeks back — if you don’t count sending 20-year-old defenseman Austin Zemlak to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 27 for a couple of draft picks.

Zemlak started the hockey season at Arizona State University. But a lack of playing time helped him decide to come back to the WHL. There was just no room for him on the Ams roster.

The Ams have been led by forward Connor Dale (22 goals, 31 assists, 53 points), whom they picked up off of waivers from the Swift Current Broncos.

Dale also leads the team in plus-minus ratio, with a 14.

Forwards Savin Virk (22 goals, 29 assists, 51 points), Gavin Garland (26 assists, 38 points) and Cruz Pavao (15 goals) have provided more offense.

In net, Xavier Wendt has been outstanding, saving shots at a .921 percentage clip, and giving up just 2.73 goals a game.

His backup, Ryan Grout, is pretty good too. Grout surrenders 3.97 goals, and he has a save percentage of .876.

Last five Americans games:

Jan. 30: Brandon 7, Americans 1

Jan. 31: Americans 3, Wenatchee 2 (OT)

Feb. 1: Everett 6, Americans 3

Feb. 6: Penticton 5, Americans 3

Feb. 7: Penticton 4, Americans 0

Next five Americans games:

Feb. 13: at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.

Feb. 14: SEATTLE, 6:05 p.m.

Feb. 16: at Kelowna, 2:05 p.m.

Feb. 21: SPOKANE, 6:05 p.m.

Feb. 22: at Everett, 4:05 p.m.

Latest Western Conference standings, through Feb. 11:

1. Everett, 43-6, 89 points

2. Penticton, 33-11, 73

3. Prince George, 30-19, 62

4. Kelowna, 27-17, 61

5. Kamloops, 25-17, 60

6. Tri-City, 25-21, 54

7. Portland, 25-23, 54

8. Spokane, 25-25, 51

9. Victoria, 21-21, 50

10. Seattle, 19-23, 45

11. Wenatchee, 19-28, 43

12. Vancouver, 19-30, 41

If the regular season ended today, the Americans would open the WHL playoffs against Prince George. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

NOTES: Czech defenseman Jakub Vanecek will play next week (Feb. 18) for Team West in the 2026 WHL Prospects game in Langley, British Columbia. … Wendt, Vanecek and Pavao have been listed in the NHL Central Scouting mid-season rankings that recently came out. Players listed have decent shots of getting selected in the NHL Draft, which is set for June 26-27 in Buffalo. Wendt is listed at No. 15 among North American goalies, while Vanacek is No. 21 among North American skaters. Pavao hits at 209 in the North American skaters list. … Forward Cash Koch, who has been banged up the last week and not played, has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey at the University of New Hampshire. … Forward Jake Gudelj is also heading to college, committing to Princeton University. Gudelj will start at Princeton this coming fall.

-Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.