Basketball: Kamiakin boys crash the boards in win over Chiawana

Garrett Paxton scored 20 points, Jim Mohlman 16 and Champ Grayson 13 as the Kamiakin High School boys basketball team put on a dominant, four-quarter performance to top the host Chiawana Riverhawks 70-42 on Friday in an MCC showdown.

For Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely, the Braves’ 36-33 advantage on the boards, against a Riverhawks team featuring a 6-10 junior forward in Matthew Kroner, was even more valuable than the balanced scoring line.

“We’re gonna face some teams, come playoff time as we look up north to the GSL, that are bigger than us,” Meneely said. “So we’ve gotta get used to playing against that, we have to understand what that means and we have to understand how to play against that kind of size. So that’s a really good experience for us tonight. And to play on the road is a good experience for us.”

He added that Kamiakin’s work on the defensive boards, holding Chiawana to just one shot per possession, was a big reason the team had success on the defensive side of the ball — the Riverhawks shot just 34 percent from the field.

Mohlman pulled down 10 rebounds for Kamiakin (14-4, 11-1), with seven coming on the offensive end. Grayson added three steals and Paxton made 7 of 10 shots from the field.

“We had really good balance,” Meneely said. “And obviously it’s nice when Robert Pischel (five points on 2-for-2 shooting) comes down the floor and makes a 3-pointer early. Because the more guys you have playing well, the harder you are to defend.”

Kroner had a near double-double for Chiawana (7-10, 6-5), finishing with 10 points and nine boards.

UP NEXT

In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Braves travel west along 240 to face the undefeated Richland Bombers on Tuedsay at Art Dawald Gymnasium.

While Kamiakin would certainly love to shock the Mid-Columbia (and the state) with a win to avenge a 68-32 drubbing at the beginning of the month and clear a path to a split of the league title, Meneely said the most important part of the tilt will be to continue to improve with the district playoffs, and several tough GSL teams, looming.

“We just wanna go out and play with confidence, keep playing fast,” Meneely said. “Our guys are always excited to go play good teams, so it’ll be fun.”

Chiawana is at Southridge on Saturday, then hosts Hanford on Tuesday and is in East Kennewick on Friday to face the Lions in the teams’ regular season finale.

RICHLAND 104, KENNEWICK 72: Riley Sorn was unstoppable on both ends of the floor, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks as the host Bombers (17-0, 11-0) hit the century mark in an MCC win over the Lions.

Cody Sanderson led the four other Bombers in double digits with 19 points. Garrett Streufert dished nine assists and managed to score 16 points on just seven field goal attempts.

Led by Isaiah Mendoza’s 18 points and five steals for the game, Kennewick (7-10, 3-8) hung around in the first half, trailing by just 10 points at halftime. The Lions were aided by a nice 9-for-19 3-point shooting performance, which included making 5 of 10 in the first half.

WALLA WALLA 45, HANFORD 41: Parker Likes scored 14 points and the visiting Blue Devils got just enough defensive stops to hold off the Falcons for the MCC win.

Trailing 25-14 at halftime, Hanford (7-11, 3-9) got a boost from Connor Woodward, who scored 16 points, to help make things interesting.

Javon Handcox came off the bench and had five steals and three assists for Wa-Hi (11-6, 7-4).

SOUTHRIDGE 55, PASCO 43: Dante Ragsdale scored 18 points and Tristan Smith had 16 as the Suns (6-10, 3-8) went on the road to pick up an MCC victory.

Kashon Tate hit from range three times to lead Pasco with 14 points.

SELAH 74, PROSSER 33: Noah Pepper had 18 points and 13 boards, and Gonzaga-commit Elijah Pepper had 15 points and six assists as the host Vikings trounced the Mustangs in a CWAC contest.

Struggling with the press all night, the Mustangs struggled to get much going on offense. Teegan Cox led the team with seven points.

COLUMBIA (BURBANK) 55, CONNELL 43: Reece Humphreys scored 25 points and hit 10 of 13 free throws to lead the host Coyotes past the Eagles in an SCAC East game.

Nolan Chase had 14 points for Connell.

KIONA-BENTON 78, WARDEN 49: Xavier Roman and Abe Rheinschmidt each had 15 points as the Bears cruised to an SCAC East road win over the Cougars.

Ki-Be (11-6 overall, 7-4 SCAC) went on a 25-11 run in the third quarter to take a 56-29 lead and put the game away.

Sophomore Dreyton Martinez led Warden with 16 points.

TRI-CITIES PREP 63, DAYTON 21: Stefan Geist drained 4 of 7 3-pointers for 16 points, and Kobe Singleton had 14 points, six boards and four assists in the Jaguars road EWAC victory.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

KENNEWICK 63, RICHLAND 56: Alicia Oatis led all scorers with 22 points, and the host Lions pulled away in the fourth quarter to complete the season sweep of the Bombers in MCC play.

Kennewick led by three points heading into the final period before putting the game on ice.

Jayda Clark had 13 points, making all four of her free-throw attempts, to lead Richland.

WALLA WALLA 50, HANFORD 30: Lauren Hoe scored 12 points to lead the visiting Blue Devils past the Falcons in MCC play.

Haley Coleman and Ashtyn Nelson each had six for Hanford

GRANDVIEW 55, EAST VALLEY (YAKIMA) 54: Michelle Ruiz and Grace Meza each had 16 points and three steals as the host Greyhounds (7-10, 6-9) clung on to a first-half lead to upset the Red Devils (12-5, 11-4) in a CWAC matchup.

COLUMBIA (BURBANK) 66, CONNELL 45: Ali Martineau scored 18 points and Lauren O’Brien 16, and the duo combined to make 12 of 15 free throws in the host Coyotes’ SCAC East win over the Eagles.

Mattie Mauseth led Connell with 15 points, including a game-high four 3-pointers.

RIVER VIEW 59, COLLEGE PLACE 27: Morgan Munson scored 20 points and Aaliyah Anderson 15 in the visiting Panthers SCAC East win.

Led by eight first-quarter points from Madeline Weaver, College Place got off to a hot start, leading 16-14 after the opening period, but it faltered from there. Weaver finished with 10 to lead the Hawks.

KITTITAS/THORP 41, LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 23: The host Patriots struggled on the offensive end as no player scored more than five points in an EWAC loss to the Coyotes.

Piper Williams scored 13 points for Kittitas.

Gymnastics

The Kamiakin Braves won the 3A Regional Gymnastics Qualifier on Friday night at Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.

The Braves rolled up 173.575 points, far and above second-place Mt. Spokane (166.900). Southridge was third with 165.925.

Abby Winstead won the all-around title, as well as the vault and the beam for the Braves, while Piper Polanik won the floor exercise with a score of 9.45, just edging Makayla Hui of Southridge (9.4).

With Sophia Mancinelli’s win on the bars, the Braves swept all four disciplines.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Basketball: Kamiakin boys crash the boards in win over Chiawana."