Richland’s Beo, Chiawana’s Hodgins named MCC hoops players of year
Senior guards Steven Beo of Richland and Braydey Hodgins of Chiawana were named the Mid-Columbia Conference’s boys and girls basketball players of the year.
Beo, who plans to play at BYU next season, averaged 26 points per game during the regular season on the way to receiving back-to-back conference MVP honors.
Walla Walla junior guard Mitch Lesmeister was named the defensive player of the year. Richland’s Earl Streufert, whose Bombers went undefeated in MCC play, was named boys coach of the year for the fourth consecutive season.
Beo’s teammate Landon Radliff also appeared on the first team with Kamiakin’s Hayden Nelson, Southridge’s Gabe Vorheis and Chiawana’s Cayden Cazier.
Hodgins was chosen as MVP and the MCC Defensive Player of the Year. Her coach, Steve Davis, was named the conference’s girls coach of the year for the third time in four seasons. The Riverhawks rolled to a 14-0 MCC season and a subregional berth by virtue of earning the No. 1 district seed.
Hodgins, who has signed to play college basketball at Boise State, averaged 25 points per game — 10 points more than the No. 2 scorer in the MCC. She also set the school single-game record of 46 points.
Kamiakin’s Oumou Toure was the first freshman girls basketball player to make the all-MCC first team. Seniors Kate Hogan (Walla Walla), Gia Sorn (Richland) and Jayln Norwood (Kennewick) also received first-team honors along with Hodgins and Toure.
BOYS
Player of the Year: Steven Beo, sr., G, Richland. Defensive Player of the Year: Mitch Lesmeister, jr., G, Walla Walla. Coach of the Year: Earl Streufert, Richland. Conference Champion: Richland.
First team: Beo; Landon Radliff, sr., G, Richland; Hayden Nelson, sr., F, Kamiakin; Gabe Vorheis, sr., G, Southridge; Cayden Cazier, sr., G, Chiawana. Second team: Isaiah Brimmer, jr., F, Kamiakin; Andrew Harvey, sr., P, Walla Walla; Nico Benavidez, sr., G, Kennewick; Garrett Paxton, so., G, Kamiakin; Noah Porter, sr., G, Walla Walla. Honorable mention: Andrey Voloshin, sr., G, Chiawana; Jacob Sivonen, sr., F, Hanford; Dillon Plew, sr., G, Kennewick; Lesmeister; Ben Seaman, jr., G, Hanford.
GIRLS
Player of the Year: Braydey Hodgins, sr., G, Chiawana. Defensive Player of the Year: Hodgins. Coach of the Year: Steve Davis, Chiawana. Conference Champion: Chiawana.
First team: Hodgins; Oumou Toure, fr., G, Kamiakin; Kate Hogan, sr., F, Walla Walla; Gia Sorn, sr., C, Richland; Jayln Norwood, sr., F, Kennewick. Second team: Bella Gutierrez, so., G/P, Pasco; Mickala Trappett, sr., F, Richland; Alexa Hazel, fr., G, Kamiakin; Kamri von Oelhoffen, jr., G, Richland; Jalayne Martinez, sr., G/P, Pasco. Honorable mention: Shyler Sullivan, sr., G, Southridge; Adelina Guzman, sr., G, Chiawana; Ellie Smith, jr., P, Southridge; Olivia Doepker, fr., G, Walla Walla; Jaid Harris, sr., G, Southridge; Aspen Fiander, sr., G, Kennewick.
This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Richland’s Beo, Chiawana’s Hodgins named MCC hoops players of year."