Kamiakin girls can clinch league title, Chiawana hopes to play spoiler
A girls basketball champion could be crowned this weekend in the Mid-Columbia Conference.
The Kamiakin Braves are looking to push their MCC record to 12-0 (17-1) overall and claim the league title for the second straight year, a feat they can accomplish against the Chiawana Riverhawks at 5:45 p.m. Friday in Pasco.
But it won’t be easy.
When the teams met in Kennewick on Dec. 21, the Riverhawks (12-3, 8-1) took the game down to the wire before eventually falling 64-58. Other than nonconference losses to powerhouses Lewiston (Idaho) and Moses Lake — which Kamiakin also fell to — that defeat at the hands of the Braves was Chiawana’s only blemish of the season, and the team might be playing its best ball right now.
While 5-foot-10 senior guard Kennedy Cartwright — the MCC’s No. 4 scorer at 14.8 points per game — has been dynamic all season, junior post Clare Eubanks has come on strong as of late, most recently chipping in 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks against Pasco on Saturday. Pair that with the production of Macey Morales (12.3 points, 2 assists and 2.3 steals per game; 40.7 percent 3-point shooting) and freshman Delaney Pink (8.8 points per game, 45.3 field-goal percentage, 40 percent from 3-point), and Chiawana has one of the deepest rosters around.
“They have home court, so they’re gonna have high energy, and we’re gonna have to come out and match that,” Kamiakin guard Alexa Hazel said. “And then just play our game, don’t get in your head. Big games like this, you’ve just gotta stay consistent, do your thing.”
It’s no surprise Kamiakin has placed at state the past two years and is on the verge of another league title. Reigning MCC and Herald All-Area Player of the Year, and AP All-State honorable mention pick Oumou Toure, a junior, is on the warpath again, blowing the league away by averaging 26.9 points per game, while 2017 co-MCC Defensive Player of the Year Hazel, also a junior, is third in scoring at 16.9 a night.
Kamiakin’s star tandem features the only players in the MCC with 1,000 career points, a milestone Hazel reached Tuesday when she scored 20 points against Hanford. Toure passed the 1,500-point mark in the same game, and now is just 76 points shy of the 33-year-old school record held by Tondi Reddon (now von Oelhoffen).
“It’s great to see those little benchmarks be hit, it’s just really humbling to see all your hard work paying off,” Hazel said. “And playing for something bigger than yourself, it’s really cool for everyone that’s supported you, everyone you’ve played with.
“And Oumou’s closing on a record too ... that’s so cool, 100 percent deserved. It’s really fun, we’ve been playing together for 8 years now (at Kamiakin and Sagebrush Hoops select travel team), and it’s a blast to play together.”
The league could have a third member of the 1,000-point club after this weekend as Pasco’s Bella Gutierrez sits at 972 career points. The Bulldogs host Southridge on Friday and are at Kennewick on Saturday.
Kamiakin has already clinched the top MCC 3A seed for the district playoffs, and a win would seal the overall league title with two regular season games still to play.
RPI GLANCE
Kamiakin leads the charge of local girls squads in the RPI rankings, though it tumbled a few spots to No. 5 in 3A entering the weekend. Chiawana was at No. 11 in 4A, Prosser (14-2) was No. 12 in 2A, Columbia (Burbank) (15-1) was 14th in 1A and Tri-Cities Prep (10-4) came in at 12th in 2B.
WEEKEND GLANCE
Here are the basketball games on tap this weekend in the Mid-Columbia. All are doubleheaders with the girls tipoff times listed (most boys games start 1 hour, 45 minutes after the girls):
Friday: Southridge at Pasco, 5:45 p.m.; Walla Walla at Hanford, 5:45 p.m.; Kamiakin at Chiawana, 5:45 p.m.; Richland at Kennewick, 5:45 p.m.; Prosser at Selah, 5:45 p.m.; East Valley at Grandview, 5:45 p.m.; Othello at Toppenish, 5:45 p.m.; Connell at Columbia-Burbank, 6 p.m.; Kiona-Benton at Warden, 6 p.m.; Wahluke at Royal, 6 p.m.; River View at College Place, 6 p.m.
Saturday: Pasco at Kennewick, 5:45 p.m.; Richland at Walla Walla, 5:45 p.m.; Chiawana at Southridge, 5:45 p.m.; Wapato at Prosser, 5:45 p.m.; Grandview at Quincy, 5:45 p.m.; Ephrata at Othello, 5:45 p.m.; Columbia-Burbank at Kiona-Benton, 6 p.m.; Warden at River View, 6 p.m.; College Place at Wahluke, 6 p.m.; Royal at Connell, 6 p.m.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Kamiakin girls can clinch league title, Chiawana hopes to play spoiler."