Tough sledding in Spokane continues, Kennewick boys fall to Mt. Spokane

At the start of the day, four MCC basketball teams could have played their way into regional berths, but it was the GSL squads who came to play Saturday on their home turf at the Spokane Arena.

The Mt. Spokane boys finished off the Spokane sweep of the loser-out District 8 games with a 78-65 win over the Kennewick Lions, punching their ticket to regionals.

JT Smith knocked down six 3-pointers (five in the first half) to lead the Wildcats (17-6) with a cool 30 points, and freshman Tyson Degenhart added 19.

Kennewick (11-13) led by a point after the first quarter, but let Smith get loose a couple times in the second to trail 41-30 at intermission. The Lions went on a few second-half runs but never trailed by fewer than nine points after halftime.

Kennewick Seniors Isaiah Mendoza and Jenner Norwood closed out their high school careers well, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively, and sophomore Ayoni Benavidez had 14.

Isaiah Thornton played in his second straight game after missing nearly his entire senior season with because of illness. He added seven points off the bench for the Lions.

In earlier action at the Spokane Arena: The University girls beat Chiawana, the Lewis and Clark boys beat Walla Walla, and the Mt. Spokane girls beat Kennewick.

This story was originally published February 16, 2018 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Tough sledding in Spokane continues, Kennewick boys fall to Mt. Spokane."