Area’s best will hit the court 1 last time this weekend
Imagine Garrett Paxton lobbing in the rock to Riley Sorn for a two-handed flush to answer a 25-foot 3-pointer by Gonzaga-commit Brock Ravet. Or Oumou Toure and Talia von Oelhoffen trying to beat Marissa Cortes and Britnee Guerrero (players of the year in their respective conferences) on the give-and-go.
Scenes like that will be common fare Saturday when 60 of the top boys and girls high school basketball players from the Tri-Cities and Yakima regions get together for the SWX All-Star Classic at Kamiakin High School.
With teams divided between Yakima and Tri-City affiliations, the girls all-star game will tip off at 4 p.m., followed by the boys at 6 p.m. All the action will be televised on SWX.
The game is a revival of the Media Classic started in 1994 by the Tri-City Herald and Yakima Herald-Republic, which was last played in 2015.
Both rosters are star-studded, expected to feature: Richland’s Sorn (MCC Player of the Year and two-time Defensive POTY); A.C. Davis senior Alexzander Delgado (Big 9 POTY); Davis senior Collin Kelley (Big 9 Defensive POTY); Kamiakin’s Toure (two-time MCC Girls POTY); Chiawana’s Alyssa Agundis (MCC Girls Defensive POTY); Selah’s Elijah Pepper (CWAC POTY); Prosser’s Cortes (CWAC Girls POTY); River View’s Aaliyah Anderson (SCAC East Girls POTY); Naches Valley’s Kobe Kohls (SCAC West POTY); Zillah’s Samantha Bowman (SCAC West Girls POTY); Kittitas-Thorp’s Ravet (EWAC POTY); and Tri-Cities Prep’s von Oelhoffen and Mabton’s Guerrero (EWAC Girls Players of the Year).
The teams will also have a wealth of all-conference talent from the local leagues. Each 15-player squad will be coached by current or former Columbia Basin or Yakima Valley coaches.
Tickets for the doubleheader cost $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Proceeds from the event go to the Kamiakin dance team and the Tri-Cities YMCA.
2018 SWX All-Star Classic Rosters
TRI-CITY GIRLS
Coach: Zach Wilde (current CBC women’s head coach). Players (Number, name, school): 1, Macey Morales, Chiawana; 2, Alyssa Agundis, Chiawana; 4, Ali Martineau, Columbia-Burbank; 10, Bella Gutierrez, Pasco; 12, Nicole Gall, Richland; 20, Aaliyah Anderson, River View; 21, Maddy Juul, Hermiston; 22, Alexa Hazel, Kamiakin; 23, Clare Eubanks, Chiawana; 25, Heather Hawkins, Connell; 24, Oumou Toure, Kamiakin; 32, MeiLani McBee, Kennewick; 34, Kalan McGlothan, Pendleton; 44, Talia von Oelhoffen, Tri-Cities Prep; 45, Alicia Oatis, Kennewick.
YAKIMA GIRLS
Coach: Adam Strom (current YVC women’s head coach). Players: 1, Nayha Mills, Yakama Tribal; 2, Imani Brown, Davis; 3, Abbie Myers, Zillah; 4, Britnee Guerrero, Mabton; 7, Lexi Skyles, Sunnyside; 10, Drew Billups, Davis; 12, Marissa Cortes, Prosser; 20, Ashley Anderson, White Swan; 21, Callie Delp, Zillah; 22, Kylie Wilkey, Selah; 23, Samantha Bowman, Zillah; 24, Chehalis Aleck, Wapato; 34, Nicole Rasmussen, West Valley; 35, Ashlee Maldonado, Sunnyside; 41, Janealle Sutterlict, Wapato.
TRI-CITY BOYS
Coach: Aaric Wrenn (former CBC men’s assistant coach). Players: 0, Austin Penny, Chiawana; 1, Ryne Andreason, Hermiston; 2, Kobe Singleton, Tri-Cities Prep; 3, Taylor Hamada, Walla Walla; 4, Tyler Greene, Walla Walla; 5, Ryan Wagar, Richland; 10, Diego Gutierrez, Pasco; 11, Garrett Paxton, Kamiakin; 12, Matthew Kroner, Chiawana; 14, Connor Woodward, Hanford; 20, Corbin Christensen, Royal; 21, Champ Grayson, Kamiakin; 24, Silas Chase, Connell; 30, Stefan Geist, Tri-Cities Prep; 52, Riley Sorn, Richland.
YAKIMA BOYS
Coach: Jordan Dutton and Ray Navarro III (former YVC men’s assistant coaches). Players: 00, Collin Kelley, Davis; 1, Alexzander Delgado, Davis; 2, Trey Sanchez, Sunnyside; 3, Art Palacios, Sunnyside; 4, Zak Donato, Selah; 5, Isaiah Perez, Toppenish; 10, Kieran Kershaw, La Salle; 13, Kobe Kohls, Naches Valley; 14, Dallin Cluff, West Valley; 21, Antonio Salinas, Zillah; 23, Efrain Araujo, Eisenhower; 30, Gabe Esqueda, Grandview; 32, Brock Ravet, Kittitas; 40, Elijah Pepper, Selah; 51, Luke Wagenaar, Sunnyside Christian.
Dustin Brennan: 509-582-1413, @Tweet_By_Dustin
This story was originally published March 6, 2018 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Area’s best will hit the court 1 last time this weekend."