Former Tri-City American is key player in Stanley Cup playoffs

Has anything been more fun in these Stanley Cup playoffs than seeing former Tri-City American Carey Price playing so well?

Price, the 33-year-old goalie for the No. 4 seeded Montreal Canadiens in the North Division playoffs against top seed Toronto Maple Leafs, has become a wall the last week.

With Montreal down 3 games to 1, Price shut down Toronto three straight games as the Canadiens completed the upset 4-3.

Now, Montreal is up on the Winnipeg Jets 3 games to none, including a 1-0 shutout victory on Friday night where Price stopped 30 shots for the shutout.

On Sunday night, Montreal won Game 3 by a 5-1 score, as Price stopped 26 of 27 shots.

▪ Former Tri-City American defenseman Spencer Humphries, now 29, has signed a one-year plus option contract extension with Lillehammer in Norway.

Humphries, who played all or parts of three seasons for the Ams from 2008-11 before being traded to the Calgary Hitmen, played in 24 games this past season for Lillehammer. He scored two goals and six assists.

Basketball

With two weeks remaining in the Mid-Columbia Conference basketball season, there are tight battles in the standings for both the boys and girls.

On the boys side, Kamiakin — led by MCC leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau (23.1 points a game) — still sits atop the standings at 9-1. The Braves lost for the first time last week, falling 74-65 to Walla Walla on the road.

The Blue Devils are right behind at 8-2, paced by senior Michael Cornia’s 18.0 points a game.

Tied for third at 7-3 are Chiawana and Richland. Kobe Young, a senior who is committed to playing at Boise State University, is the top scorer for the Riverhawks at 21.6 points.

Earl Steufert’s Bombers had had a balanced scoring attack this season, dominated by underclassmen.

Junior Daniel Dickinson (18.2 points) has led Kennewick into fifth place in the standings at 5-4, while junior Hudson Shupe (18.4) has Hanford in sixth at 5-5.

Pasco sits in seventh at 1-8, while Hermiston and Southridge are tied for eighth at 1-9.

Big boys games remaining in the final few weeks: Walla Walla at Chiawana, 7 p.m., June 9; and Kamiakin at Richland, 7 p.m., June 15.

Pasco has earned its way to the top of the MCC girls standings with a 9-1 record, thanks to the work of standout trio Mya Groce, Taija Mackey and Taleya Maiden.

Meanwhile, Kamiakin and Richland share second place with 9-2 records.

Braves coach Lane Schumacher — who earned his 150th career coaching victory last week for Kamiakin — depends on Nikole Thomas and Regan Clark to lead his team.

Meanwhile, Hayley Middleton’s Bombers are led by the No. 2 and 3 scorers in the conference, with Kylee Fox at 20.4 points, and Boise State-bound senior Jayda Clark at 19.3 points.

Currently sitting in fourth is Hermiston at 5-6, while Hanford — led by Iliana Moran (15.1 points) — is fifth at 4-6.

Chiawana — with top scorer Delaney Pink (20.7) — and Southridge are tied for sixth at 4-7.

Madeline Gebers averages 16.9 points for Kennewick, which is eighth in the standings at 3-7. And Walla Walla is ninth at 1-10.

Top girls games remaining in the final two weeks include Richland at Pasco, 7 p.m., June 8; and Richland at Kamiakin, 7 p.m., June 15.

▪ Blue Mountain Community College’s Cesar Ortiz (Hermiston) leads the men’s basketball team this season in scoring at 13.8 points a game. Ortiz, a freshman, also averages 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists for the Timberwolves.

Baseball

Georgia Gwinnett ended up winning the NAIA World Series last Thursday night in Lewiston, beating Central Methodist 8-4 in the title game.

Making the All-Tournament Team at third base was Southridge High graduate Kyle Harvey, who hit .364 (8 for 22) in five games during the tournament.

Harvey, a senior, transferred from Yakima Valley Community College a few years ago.

The Grizzlies went 5-0 in the tournament, averaging 10 runs a game, and finished the season with a 51-10 record.

▪ Lewis-Clark State College’s baseball team placed third in the NAIA World Series.

The Warriors went 3-2, and was eliminated Wednesday by Central Methodist 8-5.

The team eliminated Concordia of Nebraska 10-0 two weekends ago.

Leading the way in that game was pitcher Trent Sellers (Kennewick), who picked up the victory, pitching 8 innings, scattering five hits, and striking out seven batters.

Sellers was named to the all-tournament team.

Sellers was 8-1 this season with a 3.10 earned run average. He struck out 77 batters in 61 innings.

Teammate Dillon Plew (Kennewick) played third base for LCSC, and hit .317, with 9 home runs and 59 RBIs.

Plew was named all-conference and earned a Gold Glove award, as voted by Cascade Collegiate Conference coaches.

Pitcher Matt Driver, a senior who transferred to LCSC from Yakima Valley Community College, was 0-0, with a 5.40 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 8.1 innings this season.

LCSC finished the season with a 44-6 record.

▪ Senior pitcher Roy Robles (Hermiston) was 2-2 in six starts this spring for Missouri Western (10-29). Robles had a 5.64 earned run average, and struck out 38 batters in 30.1 innings pitched.

Volleyball

Freshman Kylie Thorne (Chiawana) had 13 kills and 12 digs, but it wasn’t enough as Central Washington University’s volleyball team lost 3-0 to Western Washington on May 1.

Thorne had 37 kills this season for CWU (1-6 this spring). Teammate Leanna Shymanski (Kamiakin) had 15 kills.

Track and field

Walla Walla High School grad Mitch Jacobson is headed to the NCAA Track and Field Championships on June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.

Jacobson cleared 7 feet, 1 inch in the high jump at the Pac-12 Conference Championships in May, then did it again May 26-29 at the NCAA Regionals meet at Texas A&M.