4 Mid-Columbia basketball teams earned state tournament trophies

Four local teams finished their state tournament runs this past weekend by earning trophies.

The Columbia-Burbank girls nabbed a fourth-place trophy at the WIAA 2B girls tournament in Spokane, beating Eastern Washington Athletic Conference rival Tri-Cities Prep 51-40.

That also gave the Prep girls a sixth-place trophy, one year after winning the state 2B title.

Meanwhile, the Kamiakin boys lost 71-62 to Wilson of Tacoma to place sixth in the state 3A tournament in Tacoma.

And in Yakima at the SunDome, the River View boys lost 43-40 to Cashmere on Saturday to take the sixth-place trophy in the state 1A tournament.

Here’s a quick look at the tournaments:

Kamiakin boys

Kamiakin, which beat Seattle Prep 72-63 on Friday to advance to the trophy round, lost to Wilson of Tacoma 71-62 on Saturday in the fourth-place game.

That gave the Braves the sixth-place trophy.

Meaning Mitchell led Wilson with 21 points, going 11-for-13 from the free throw line.

Messiah Jones led the Braves with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyson Rose finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

“Any time that you get to play on Saturday in March, on the last day of the season, it’s great,” said Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely.

The Braves had one rough weekend in early January, when they lost at Chiawana and Walla Walla.

But they bounced back and looked strong the rest of the season.

“All teams get hit with some adversity over the course of the year,” said Meneely. “We had some kids that came out of it.”

Meneely’s 21-5 Braves lose just two seniors to graduation in Rose and Jeremiah Kennell.

“Those two kids’ leadership was certainly so instrumental to the team,” said Meneely. “They did a great job of making sure this team stayed together.”

As with the rest of the returning players, it sets the bar high for Kamiakin next season.

“It’s a good problem to have (setting the bar high),” Meneely said with a chuckle. “Unfortunately in sports and life, there are no guarantees. We’re excited about the future. But it’s gonna take a lot of hard work to get back there.”

River View boys

River View lost 43-40 to Cashmere in the fourth-place game, netting the Panthers the sixth-place trophy.

Sam Phillips led Cashmere with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Seniors Tyler Bussell and William Bailey had strong games for River View.

Bussell scored a team-high 16 points and and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Panthers, while Bailey finished with 12 points and 5 boards.

The Panthers finished the season with a 23-4 record.

“It was not a bad season,” said Panthers head coach Josh Stacy. “We kind of set some expectations all year. Every goal we had we met. We wanted to make it to the state tournament. We wanted to win our league championship.”

Unfortunately, in the Thursday quarterfinals, the Panthers ran into a buzzsaw in No. 14 seed King’s – who beat River View 76-41 and would go on to win the state tournament.

“King’s was tough,” said Stacy. “They shot 55 percent in the game. They play in a tough league against 3A and 4A teams.”

Still, the Panthers made it to Saturday and grabbed a trophy.

“I thanked the guys for their effort and hard work the last four years,” said Stacy. “This is a huge thing for this community out here in Finley.”

Burbank places 4th, Prep grabs 6th

Of all the places to play against each other, these two EWAC rivals went at each other at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Jennifer Jacobo scored 21 points, and senior Jadyn Johnson added 15 points and 16 rebounds, lead Columbia-Burbank over Tri-Cities Prep 51-40.

That earned the victorious Coyotes the fourth-place trophy, while the Jaguars notched the sixth-place hardware.

McKenna Martinez paced the Jaguars with 18 points and 8 rebounds.

It was the third time this season the two teams played each other, with the Coyotes winning two of the three contests.

“For both of us, it was our fourth game in four days,” said Burbank coach Jay Aune. “And we were playing at 8 o’clock in the morning too. But it was the ugliest, and the prettiest game I ever saw.”

Prep coach Joe Mackey was impressed.

“I think both teams played with energy on Saturday,” he said. “We knew the early game was coming. We’ve had practices this year at 5:30 a.m.”

For Burbank, which finished with a 24-5 record, it was a team that exceeded Aune’s expectations.

“This group of kids worked hard all summer,” said Aune. “I was so glad to see them do so well.”

Mackey felt the same way about his Jaguars, who finished with a 21-8 record.

“I told the kids how proud I was of them this year, about how they stepped up when no one really thought they would,” said Mackey.

All state championship scores

4A boys – Mt. Si 58, Central Valley 47

4A girls – Central Valley 59, Woodinville 55

3A boys – Garfield 69, O’Dea 44

3A girls – Garfield 55, Lake Washington 41

2A boys – North Kitsap 56, Clarkston 53

2A girls – Lynden 60, West Valley-Spokane 38

1A boys – King’s 70, Lynden Christian 67

1A girls – Lynden Christian 58, Cashmere 55

2B boys – Brewster 58, Life Christian 57

2B girls – Liberty-Spangle 52, La Connor 45

1B boys – Odessa 62, Yakama National Tribal 36

1B girls – Inchelium 46, Oakesdale 34.