Basketball: After one of their stars goes down, Pasco boys survive and advance

Emilio Davila scored 18 points and handed out six assists to lead the visiting Pasco High School boys basketball team to a dramatic, 58-55 win over the Hanford Falcons on Monday in a District 8 4A play-in game.

The victory was a repeat of the Bulldogs’ lone regular-season MCC victory, when they beat the Falcons 53-43 on Jan. 12 in Pasco. Pasco (3-18) advances to double-elimination play in the district playoffs, traveling to play undefeated GSL champ Gonzaga Prep (20-0, ranked No. 1 in RPI) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Spokane.

Junior Connor Woodward was dynamic for the Falcons (7-14) in their final game of the season, scoring 29 points with four 3-pointers and 13 made free throws to nearly lead the team to a fourth-quarter comeback — they trailed by five entering the final period. Hanford lost its final 11 games of the campaign winning seven of its first 10.

Diego Gutierrez added a dozen points with four assists and seven rebounds for Pasco, and Nicholas Gutierrez had 10 points and seven gives. The Bulldogs were without senior leader Kashon Tate for much of the night, as he scored four points before sustaining an injury late in the first quarter.

SOUTHRIDGE 68, SHADLE PARK 56: Tristan Smith tied the game-high of 19 points and Anthony Jackson had 17 as the host Suns pulled away in the fourth quarter to knock the Highlanders out of the District 8 3A playoffs in opening-round action.

Southridge (7-13) played at Rogers (8-12) on Tuesday in the double-elimination part of the bracket. Kamiakin (15-5) hosts the winner of that game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Adrian Conway led Shadle Park (6-14) with 19 points in the loss and Jake Groves chipped in 18.

PROSSER 72, EAST VALLEY (YAKIMA) 63: Andre Vanguardia led five Mustangs in double digits with 18 points to lift the team over the visiting Red Devils in a loser-out, opening-round game of the CWAC District playoffs.

Sixth-seeded Prosser (12-9) advances to play at No. 3 Wapato (14-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in another loser-out game. The winner will advance out of the district tournament — either to regionals or a crossover — it it wins one more game before it loses two.

Also adding valuable scoring contributions for Prosser in the win over East Valley were Haden Hicks (13 points), Chase Courtney (12), Will Weinmann (11) and Calvin Maljaars (10).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

PASCO 62, HANFORD 39: The host Bulldogs eliminated the Falcons (3-17) in a District 8 4A play-in game. No other stats were reported.

Pasco (8-13), which snapped a three-game losing skid, plays undefeated GSL champ Central Valley (20-0) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Spokane in the opening round of districts.

SOUTHRIDGE 57, ROGERS 42: The Suns eliminated the visiting Pirates (1-20) in a District 8 3A play-in game. No other stats were reported.

Southridge (5-16) hit the road last night to play the North Central Indians (11-10) in double-elimination play. Co-MCC champ Kamiakin hosts the winner of that game at 5 p.m. Friday in the district semifinal.

Wrestling

The Connell Eagles won the SCAC East district wrestling title last Saturday in Royal City, crowning four champions and besting regular-season co-champions Royal and Warden.

The top four from each weight class advances to the regional tournament Saturday at Castle Rock High School. The top four from regionals advance to state.

The Eagles crowned four champions — Johnny Magana (106 pounds), Branden Chavez (160), Jekobe Tuttle (170) and Seer Dienes (285), who has committed to play football for Montana State.

Placing second for Connell were Gaspar Barragan (113), Jay Ramos (170) and Dylan Radke (195), while Maeson Holst (120), Jaxsen Tuttle (152), Owen Hokanson (182), Conner Neil (195), Octavio Andrade (220) and Zane Andrewjeski (285) were third.

Rounding out the regional qualifiers are Rafa Barragan (120), Tate Hull (132) and Frank Enriquez (182), who all were fourth.

This story was originally published February 6, 2018 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Basketball: After one of their stars goes down, Pasco boys survive and advance."