Kennewick High grad earns MVP honor and spot on 2021 summer Olympic team

It’s been quite a few months for Kennewick High School graduate Leilani Mitchell.

Mitchell finished her Women’s National Basketball League season in Australia in early March by leading her team, the Southside Flyers, into the WNBL Grand Finals against her former team, the Canberra Capitals.

Canberra ended up winning the title 2 games to none, but it was the lone disappointment for Mitchell this basketball season.

The 2003 KHS grad was named the Flyers’ MVP at the team banquet March 11.

And why not?

As the Flyers’ point guard, she helped lead Southside to a WNBL-best 17-4 regular-season record. Mitchell averaged 15.7 points a game, and 5.2 assists per contest.

She shot a sizzling 45 percent from the floor, and 42 percent from the 3-point line. For her efforts, Mitchell was also named to the WNBL’s first-team all-star unit.

Meanwhile, during the WNBL season, Mitchell would take breaks to compete for the Australian Women’s National Team, better known worldwide as the Opals.

Mitchell’s late mother was Australian, and Mitchell holds dual citizenship in the United States and Australia. As the team’s point guard, the 34-year-old Mitchell helped the Opals in February qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Of course, the coronavirus has now postponed the games until 2021, but Mitchell and her teammates are locked in for those games. And the Opals should be a favorite to battle for the gold medal.

The International Basketball Federation, better known as FIBA, ranks Australia as the No. 2 women’s team in the world — right behind the top-ranked USA.

Washington Mystics contract

Finally, Mitchell signed a two-year, $250,000 contract Feb. 13 to play for the defending WNBA-champion Washington Mystics.

“Leilani will be a terrific addition and perfect fit to our team,” said Mystics head coach Mike Thibault in a team news release.

Thibault, by the way, may be remembered by longtime Tri-Citians as the head coach of the Omaha Racers of the Continental Basketball Association, a team that battled the Tri-City Chinook during the 1991-95 seasons in the CBA.

“We loved having (Leilani) when she was here before (in 2016), and everyone in the organization is thrilled to have her back,” Thibault continued. “Her leadership, ball handling, passing and 3-point shooting will fit seamlessly with our style of play. On top of that, she is one of the best teammates you could ask for.”

Mitchell holds the rare distinction of being a two-time WNBA Most Improved Player award winner, once in 2010 and last season in 2019. The 2019 award came while she played with the Phoenix Mercury.

Mitchell had told the Herald last fall that while she didn’t have a guaranteed deal with the Mercury, she was expecting to sign with them this coming season. But Washington came at her with a better deal, and the contract is guaranteed.

Unfortunately, the WNBA has postponed its season openers scheduled for May 15, and currently it does not have a solid date for the season to begin.

Other sports news

• Hermiston senior Garrett Walchli will be headed to Logan, Utah, this summer to play football at Utah State University. Walchli makes the second Mid-Columbia resident to play in the program currently. Chiawana’s AJ Vongphachang is a sophomore on the roster for 2020.
• Austin Almaguer (Kamiakin) had a 2-4 record at 133 pounds in his freshman season for the Campbell University men’s wrestling team.
• Jashaun Simon (Southridge) started 11 times this season in the outfield for NAIA school Indiana Tech. Simon, a senior, hit .269 (7 for 26) and had 5 RBIs for the 11-5 Warriors.
• Senior Stephanie Merwin (Richland) was hitting .206 (13 for 63) with a home run and 6 RBIs for the Seattle University softball team this spring when the season was stopped. The Redhawks had a 9-15 record.
• The Corban University softball team was 15-5 when the season was stopped last month. Two former players from Columbia Basin College were doing well for the Warriors. Pitcher Kaylee Brown (who prepped at DeSales) was 5-0 with a 2.67 earned run average. Brown had pitched 36 innings and struck out 4 batters. Meanwhile, ex-CBCer Ivey Uppinghouse was batting .314 (16 for 51), with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
• Former Tri-City American defenseman Brandon Carlo has 4 goals and 15 assists (for 19 points) for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. Carlo had played in 67 games for the Bruins this season.
• Ex-Tri-City American Carey Price has a 27-25-6 record as the top goalie for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens this season.Price has a .909 save percentage in net, giving up an average of 2.79 goals a game. He also has posted four shutouts this season.
• Arizona freshman Therese Warren (Southridge) played 13 rounds this season for the Wildcats women’s golf team.Warren had an average score of 73.62 strokes per round, which ranks her fourth on the team’s roster.
• Former CBC pitcher Bobby Voortmeyer had four starts for the 5-14 Utah Valley University baseball team this spring. Voortmeyer was 0-3 for the Wolverines, striking out 10 batters in 17 innings pitched.
• Connor Woodward (Hanford) completed his first season of college basketball with the Green River Community College men. Woodward, who join the team in late December after transferring from WSU, started 11 games and played in 14 contests for the 15-14 Gators.He averaged 10.4 points a game
• True freshman Macey Morales (Chiawana) started 11 times this season for the 14-11 Whitworth University women’s basketball team.Morales, who played in 24 games, averaged 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.9 steals a contest.
• Sophomore Cortez Ruiz (Chiawana), who competes for BYU, was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s All-Academic team for men’s indoor track.
• Jansen Edmiston (Hermiston) averaged 10.1 points and 3.1 rebounds this season for the Lewis-Clark State College women’s basketball team that went 21-10 and was bound for the NAIA National Tournament when coronavirus ended the season. Edmiston was named an honorable mention selection for the Frontier Conference team, and also was an all-academic pick.

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 3:36 PM.