Basketball: Richland boys get tough game from Kamiakin, still clinch MCC title

In a rematch between the top boys basketball teams in the Mid-Columbia Conference, the Richland High School Bombers showed once again that they’re the top dogs, but the Kamiakin Braves definitely came to play.

Riley Sorn had 21 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the host Bombers to a 69-48 win over the Braves on Tuesday, clinching the Mid-Columbia Conference championship and extending their perfect start to the season to 19 games.

The game provided a lot more intrigue than the first installment of the season series, when Richland (19-0, 13-0) jumped out to a 26-1 lead to eventually cruise to a 68-32 victory. The Bombers led for much of the way again this time, but they had to outscore the Braves 34-19 in the second half to get the 21-point margin of victory.

Champ Grayson scored 12 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Braves (14-5, 11-2), and Payton Flynn had a game-high five assists. Cole Northrop scored 13 points, with three steals, for Richland, while Ryan Wagar added 12 points and Cody Sanderson 11.

KENNEWICK 69, SOUTHRIDGE 61: Jenner Norwood had the MCC’s top scoring performance of the season, setting a new career benchmark with 40 points as the Lions topped the host Suns in a key game between MCC 3A rivals.

With the win, the Lions (9-10, 5-8) clinched the league’s No. 2 seed for the district playoffs, picking up their third victory in the past four games.

Tristan Smith led Southridge (6-12, 3-10) with 23 points and Dante Ragsdale added 18.

CHIAWANA 68, HANFORD 54: Austin Penny made 4 of 7 3-pointers to lead four Riverhawks in double-digits with 16 points as Chiawana topped Hanford at home in an MCC game.

Simon Lopez scored 15 points with three triples for Chiawana, Taylor Kroll had 13 points and four steals, and Matthew Kroner scored 11 points with six rebounds.

Chiawana led by just two points heading into the fourth quarter, but finished the game on a 25-13 run.

Connor Woodward and Jared Robinson each had 13 points for Hanford.

WALLA WALLA 75, PASCO 33: Javon Handcox and Tyler Greene each scored 15 points, and the visiting Blue Devils cruised past the Bulldogs in an MCC contest.

Josh Bergevin added 14 points for Wa-Hi.

Kashon Tate led Pasco with 10 points.

At halftime of their season finale against Southridge on Friday, the Blue Devils will honor the “Golden Era of Wa-Hi Sports,” where all members of the 1951 and ‘52 undefeated football, ‘52 state champion boys basketball, or the ‘53 state champion track and field teams are invited to be honored.

CONNELL 62, KIONA-BENTON 60 (OT): Silas Chase scored 19 points with three 3-pointers, and Austin Smith hit the game-winning put-back shot with 3 seconds remaining to cap his 15 points as the host Eagles won a thriller over the Bears in an SCAC East showdown.

Abe Rheinschmidt scored 13 points and hit 5 of 7 free throws to lead Ki-Be.

PROSSER 57, ELLENSBURG 52: Teegan Cox scored 25 points and Chase Courtney had 15 points and 10 boards as the host Mustangs got a good CWAC win.

RIVER VIEW 47, COLUMBIA (BURBANK) 29: Senior Darrin Roberts scored 16 points as the visiting Panthers topped the rival Coyotes in SCAC East play.

Justin Koopman led Burbank with 11 points.

LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 63, MABTON 48: Riley Sullivan scored 17 points and Nico Shupe had 14 in the host Patriots EWAC win over the Viks.

Mabton’s Diego Garza scored 26 points and reached 1,000 for his career midway through the fourth quarter.

TRI-CITIES PREP 65, WWVA 38: Stefan Geist had 23 points, six steals and four assists in the visiting Jaguars EWAC win.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

WALLA WALLA 56, PASCO 44: Olivia Doepker made 5 of 9 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 17 points and lift the visiting Blue Devils past the Bulldogs in MCC play.

Pasco senior Bella Gutierrez scored eight points to surpass 1,000 for her career, finishing the night with 1,004. She also had four steals.

Mercedes Pesina led the Bulldogs with 15 points and five rebounds.

KAMIAKIN 69, RICHLAND 40: Oumou Toure buried a game-high three 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 28 points as the Braves went on the road to get an MCC victory.

Alexa Hazel added 12 points for Kamiakin and Regan Clark had 11.

Richland was able to hang around for awhile, trailing by just three points at halftime, but the Braves went on to a 26-7 third-quarter run to pull away.

Gracie Pierce led the Bombers with 10 points.

CHIAWANA 55, HANFORD 15: Kenedy Cartwright scored 11 points and Alyssa Agundis had three steals to lead the host Riverhawks to an MCC win.

Chiawana held Hanford to just two points in each of the first and fourth quarters.

PROSSER 53, ELLENSBURG 30: Marissa Cortes and Brandi Groeneveld each scored 11 points, and Madison Golden added 10 as the host Mustangs beat the Bulldogs in a CWAC game. Cortes also had four steals and three assists.

COLUMBIA (BURBANK) 52, RIVER VIEW 49: Ali Martineau scored 21 points and Jadyn Johnson had 14 as the host Coyotes (18-1, 13-0) clinched their fifth consecutive SCAC East title by holding off the rival Panthers.

Burbank won’t have to worry about defending its championship for a sixth time as earlier this week it got WIAA approval to reclassify as a 2B school next season and compete in the EWAC.

River View’s Aaliyah Anderson led all scorers with 23 points as she made 7 of 9 free-throw attempts. The Panthers (12-7, 9-4) trailed 41-30 at the start of the fourth quarter before chipping their way back.

CONNELL 53, KIONA-BENTON 21: Mattie Mauseth scored 15 points and Heather Hawkins added 14 as the host Eagles topped the Bears in an SCAC East contest. Ki-Be’s stats were not reported.

MABTON 60, LIBERTY CHRISTIAN 48: Emma Reed scored 26 points in the Patriots road EWAC loss to the Vikings.

TRI-CITIES PREP 60, WWVA 39: Talia von Oelhoffen sunk five 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 35 points, and the visiting Jaguars took down the Knights in an EWAC matchup.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Basketball: Richland boys get tough game from Kamiakin, still clinch MCC title."