Top 3A, 4A girls district basketball berths still up for grabs

It’s the final weekend of the girls Mid-Columbia Conference basketball season, and a couple of games could throw a monkey wrench into the works.

In the 4As, Walla Walla is the No. 3 seed and will host Pasco at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the district playoffs. This much is for sure.

The rest? Well, let’s have a chat about that.

Chiawana, which has run the table so far in the MCC, has two games remaining. The Riverhawks host Kennewick on Friday night and play at Richland on Saturday. The Bombers host Hanford on Friday night.

Two Chiawana losses and two Richland wins would have both teams sitting at 12-2 in the standings, and they would have split their league games, thus bringing about a playoff game Monday for 1-2 seeding.

Should the Riverhawks — who have won their past two games by fewer than 10 points — beat the Lions, all other scenarios get thrown out the window. Chiawana would claim the MCC title, get a bye until the district championship game Feb. 13 and receive an automatic berth to regionals.

“You just have to take it one day at a time,” Richland coach Cindy McCoy said. “But you really want to have that No. 1 seed going into regionals.”

Richland and Chiawana could face each other a few times over the next couple of weeks, but McCoy said there is one variable that a lot of people might overlook — Walla Walla.

Should the Blue Devils get past Pasco in the first round, the Bombers and the Riverhawks could stand in their way for a repeat trip to state, where they placed fourth last year.

“Walla Walla is a dangerous team,” McCoy said. “They have proven they can play.”

The 3A ranks have a similar twist.

Kennewick is the No. 3 seed and will host Hanford at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday.

That leaves Kamiakin and Southridge battling for the top seed to districts.

Kamiakin, which is at Walla Walla on Friday night, is 7-6. Southridge (6-7) is at Pasco, while Kennewick (5-8) is at Chiawana.

Should the Braves lose to the Blue Devils and the Suns beat the Bulldogs, both teams would be 7-7, forcing a 1-2 seeding game Monday.

Should Kamiakin win Friday night, it gets the 3A No. 1 seed and a spot in the Feb. 13 district title game.

“That is the goal: to beat Walla Walla and simplify that,” Kamiakin coach Lane Schumacher said. “We have taken our lumps here and there, but we’ve won some games to put ourselves in position to be the No. 1 seed. You hope you are playing your best basketball at the end of the season, and I think we are.”

The Braves have shown their youth this season, but they also have played some good basketball. They have scored as many as 80 points in a game, but they’ve been held to a season low of 39.

“Kamiakin is an enigma to me. I think that is their youth,” Southridge coach Mike Conner said. “We have to win, and we need Walla Walla to help us. We beat Pasco the first time around, but Pasco beat Walla Walla earlier. There are no givens in this league.”

2A CWAC: With the top six teams advancing to the district tournament, Prosser (5-12), Grandview (5-12) and Othello (2-15) are left out of the playoff picture with one game remaining.

The regular season wraps up Friday night with Grandview at Selah (15-2) and Othello at Prosser.

1A SCAC EAST: The Columbia-Burbank Coyotes wrapped up the regular-season title with a 10-0 record. Wahluke is at the opposite end of the standings at 1-9. The top four teams advance to districts.

Friday night is the end of the regular season, with Connell (6-3) at River View (5-4) and Royal (1-8) at Kiona-Benton (5-4).

If the Eagles, Panthers and Bears should all finish 6-4, district positioning would be determined by a number draw. Ki-Be would get the No. 2 seed, followed by River View and Connell.

The district tournament, which pits the SCAC East against the West, begins Thursday with the higher seeds hosting.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Top 3A, 4A girls district basketball berths still up for grabs."