MCC district: Chiawana, Kamiakin girls; Richland, Kennewick boys win titles
The Kennewick Lions went 3-for-3 in the Mid-Columbia Conference Class 3A boys district basketball tournament.
The Lions, who beat Hanford and Southridge in loser-out games, came into Saturday’s district title game at Kamiakin and left with a 55-52 win over the Braves.
“The lead changed nine times, and it changed about five times in the last 3-4 minutes of the game,” Kamiakin coach Brian Meneely said. “It was a great high school game. It was back and forth.”
Kennewick (13-10) will take the MCC’s No. 1 seed into the 3A subregional tournament. The Lions will host Shadle Park (15-6), the Greater Spokane League’s No. 1 seed, on Friday, with the winner moving on to the state regional round Feb. 26-27.
MCC No. 2 Kamiakin (15-6) will host Rogers (5-18) in a loser-out game Friday. The winner will play the Kennewick-Shadle Park loser Feb. 20 for the No. 2 seed to state regionals.
Trailing Kennewick by one with 15 seconds to play, Kamiakin had two good looks, but neither shot went down.
Sam Szendre hit two free throws to give Kennewick a three-point lead with 8 seconds remaining. Kamiakin’s Garrett Paxton attempted a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it was in and out.
“It was close, man — I thought it went in,” Meneely said.
KENNEWICK: Nico Benavidez 21, Bugal 8, Nieves 3, Plew 12, Szendre 11, Olmos, Hernandez, Mejia. Totals: 21-46 7-9 55.
KAMIAKIN: Bailey, Paxton 12, Grayson, Brimmer 26, Nelson 14, Hill, Bream, Rabe, Larson. Totals: 23-49 1-5 52.
Kennewick | 7 | 16 | 17 | 15 | — | 55 |
Kamiakin | 13 | 11 | 14 | 14 | — | 52 |
Highlights — Bugal 7 rebs; Nelson 13 rebs.
RICHLAND 74, WALLA WALLA 56: Steven Beo scored 37 points, Landon Radliff added eight points, six rebounds, seven assists and five steals, and the Bombers completed their MCC district run with a win over the Blue Devils in the title game.
Cole Northrop added 11 points and Gabe Smith 10 for Richland (18-3), which will host Central Valley at 6 p.m. Friday in the MCC/GSL sub-regional.
“We played them once this year; we lost by 12,” Richland coach Earl Streufert said. “We’ll have to play better than we did the last time.”
Noah Porter scored 14 points for Wa-Hi (14-8), which hosts a loser-out game Tuesday against Lewis & Clark.
WALLA WALLA: Noah Porter 14, Tyler Green 11, Cortinas, Lesmeister 8, Funk 2, Ju. Olivares 6, Wicklund 3, Jo. Olivares, Babbitt 6, Harvey 6, Adkins.. Totals: 20-50 9-11 56.
RICHLAND: Steve Beo 37, Cole Northrop 11, Gabe Smith 10, Stevens 3, Wagar 3, Radliff 8, Kurtz 2, Streufert, Sanderson, Wills, Galliher, Sorn. Totals: 30-51 6-11 64.
Walla Walla | 9 | 27 | 11 | 9 | — | 56 |
Richland | 23 | 17 | 21 | 13 | — | 74 |
Highlights — Landon Radliff 6 rebs, 7 asts, 5 stls.
Girls basketball
CHIAWANA 57, RICHLAND 54: The top-seeded Riverhawks held off the No. 2 Bombers at Chiawana to claim the Class 4A district title.
Braydey Hodgins went 14-of-16 from the free-throw line and finished with 25 points for Chiawana (20-2), which will take the MCC’s No. 1 seed into the 4A subregional tournament. The Riverhawks begin tournament play at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Lewis & Clark (17-5).
Richland (17-5) will host University (13-10) in a subregional loser-out game Tuesday. The winner will visit GSL No. 1 and top-ranked Central Valley (22-0) on Friday.
Mickala Trappett led the Bombers with 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Gia Sorn scored 15 points.
RICHLAND: Webb 6, Mickala Trappett 20, Haugen, von Oelhoffen 6, Stevens 2, Wellsandt 5, Sorn 15. Totals: 20-50 11-17 54.
CHIAWANA: Logozzo 2, E.Guzman 8, Haertling 3, Cartwright, Cordray, Braydey Hodgins 25, A.Guzman 10, Eubanks 2, Pink 7. Totals: 16-48 17-20 57.
Richland | 14 | 12 | 13 | 15 | — | 54 |
Chiawana | 16 | 8 | 16 | 17 | — | 57 |
Highlights — Trappett 15 rebs, 3 stls; Hodgins 9 rebs, 4 stls, 5 assts, 14-16 FTs.
KAMIAKIN 46, SOUTHRIDGE 32: The host Braves outscored the Suns 26-13 in the first and third quarters to win the Class 3A district championship game.
Kiley Larsen had 15 points, and Alexa Hazel scored 11 for Kamiakin (12-10).
As the MCC’s No. 1 3A subregional seed, Kamiakin will host Mt. Spokane, the GSL No. 1, on Friday. The winner will advance to the state regional round Feb. 26-27.
Southridge (11-11) will host North Central in a loser-out game Friday. The winner will face the Kamiakin-Mt. Spokane loser Feb. 20 for the No. 2 seed to state regionals.
Shyler Sullivan had 12 points for the Suns.
SOUTHRIDGE: Harris 2, Thomas 2, Solensky, Smith 8, Shyler Sullivan 12, Pope, Saunders, McKenzie 6, Sanders 2, Grade.
KAMIAKIN: S.Brown 4, Kiley Larsen 15, Holle 1, Clark, Hazel 11, Toure 8, Williams 7.
Southridge | 5 | 9 | 8 | 10 | — | 32 |
Kamiakin | 12 | 8 | 14 | 12 | — | 46 |
MCC/GSL sub-regionals
TUESDAY
4A boys | Lewis & Clark at Walla Walla, 6 p.m. (loser out)
4A girls | University at Richland, 6 p.m. (loser out)
FRIDAY
4A boys | Central Valley at Richland, 6 p.m.; LC/Wa-Hi at Gonzaga Prep, 6 p.m.
3A boys | Shadle Park at Kennewick, 6 p.m.; Rogers at Kamiakin, 6 p.m. (loser out)
4A girls | Lewis & Clark at Chiawana, 6 p.m.; U-HI/Richland at Central Valley, 6 p.m.
3A girls | Mt. Spokane at Kamiakin, 6 p.m.; North Central at Southridge, 6 p.m. (loser out)
This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 9:07 PM with the headline "MCC district: Chiawana, Kamiakin girls; Richland, Kennewick boys win titles."