Kennewick girls eliminated from 3A state basketball tournament; Prosser boys win in OT
The Kennewick girls basketball team dug itself too deep of a hole early on Wednesday night, and despite a serious rally, the Lions fell 48-40 to Snohomish at the WIAA Class 3A girls tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
That loss ended the Lions’ season with an 18-8 record.
“We just got too far behind,” said Kennewick coach Daron Santo. “Then we ran out of time.”
Snohomish led 31-11 at halftime, thanks to some deadeye outside shooting from the Panthers’ Addyson Gallatin.
It also didn’t help that the Lions shot just 15 percent in the first 16 minutes, going 5 for 33 from the floor, as well as 0 for 13 from the 3-point line.
“We were getting pretty good looks too,” said Santo. “(The Panthers) were hitting 3’s.”
But Kennewick came out in the second half and turned things around, playing smothering defense, while the Lions shooters started to find their accuracy.
Down 37-15 at one point in the third quarter, Kennewick went on a 15-0 run to finish the quarter trailing 37-30.
Santo said he told his team at intermission that they didn’t have anything to lose.
“We didn’t make too many adjustments. We stayed on the shooter (Gallatin) who was killing us,” said Santo.
Kennewick stayed right on Snohomish, and Lions junior Ashlyn Dress sank a long 3-point field goal with 1:03 to play to cut the Panthers’ lead to 43-40.
But that was as close as Kennewick could get. The Lions were forced to foul, and Snohomish sank five of six free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.
The Lions forced the Panthers into 15 turnovers, and outscored their opponent 18-4 in points off of turnovers.
Dylyn Dress led Kennewick with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocked shots; Ashlyn Dress added 9 points. Haylee Johnson — who was outstanding on defense covering Panthers’ star post player Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles to 6 points — finished with 8 points.
PROSSER 65, PULLMAN 60 (OT): Koby McClure’s clutch layup as time expired in regulation forced an overtime, and then his Prosser Mustangs outscored Pullman 12-7 in the overtime to win a Round of 12 game at the WIAA 2A boys state tournament.
The victory in the Yakima Valley SunDome means the Mustangs will take on their neighborhood rivals, the Grandview Greyhounds, in a 9 p.m. quarterfinal on Thursday.
The Greyhounds led for much of the game.
But two things kept Prosser within striking distance: Pullman’s dismal free throw shooting (18 for 36 for 50 percent); and a smothering press defense that forced 22 turnovers. Prosser outscored Pullman 20-5 in points off of turnovers.
The key stretch came in the final minute of regulation.
Pullman held a 52-45 lead. But the Mustangs answered with a trey by Koby McClure, a defensive steal and a quick 3-point field goal from older brother Kory McClure.
That cut Pullman’s lead to 52-51. With 7.3 seconds left and no Prosser timeouts remaining, the Greyhounds sank a free throw, but missed the second.
That’s when Koby McClure raced down court and sank the driving layup as time expired.
Back-to-back baskets to open OT by Koby McClure and Killian Phillips gave Prosser the lead for good.
Koby McClure led the Mustangs with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kory McClure added 18 points and 6 rebounds.
RIVERSIDE 55, ROYAL 40: In Yakima, Royal led 19-18 at halftime — after shutting out Riverside in the second quarter — but it wasn’t enough as the Knights were eliminated from the WIAA 1A boys state tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Rams outscored the Knights 25-13 in the third quarter and never looked back, outrebounding Royal 45-29.
Grant Wardenaar led Royal (20-8) with 12 points.
WAHKIAKUM 76, TRI-CITIES PREP 57: In Spokane, Wahkiakum outscored Tri-Cities Prep 23-12 in the third quarter to pull away and win a WIAA 2B boys game.
The Mules shot 15 for 28 in the second half to pull away.
Prep was led by Blake McClure’s 21 points and 4 assists, while Layne McClure and Collin Sweesy added 11 points each.
Bryson Wilde added 7 points and 10 rebounds for the Jaguars, who finish the season with an 18-5 record.
WARDEN 64, DAVENPORT 49: Lauryn Madsen’s complete game of 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots led Warden over Davenport in the WIAA 2B girls state tournament in the Spokane Veterans Arena.
Freshman Makenna Klitzke added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for the Cougars, who advance to the quarterfinals against Eastern Washington Athletic Conference rival Mabton on Thursday.
Warden dominated in rebounding 32-18, and outscored Davenport 18-6 in second-chance points.
SUNNYSIDE CHRISTIAN 39, CURLEW 33: Taylor Andringa had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead Sunnyside Christian to a WIAA 1B girls state tournament victory in Spokane.
Teammate Devan Harrington added 10 points, as the Knights advance to the quarterfinals against Mount Vernon Christian.
Friday’s state tournament games for Mid-Columbia teams (all quarterfinals):
· Class 4A boys, Kentwood vs. Richland, 9 p.m., Tacoma Dome;
· Class 4A girls, Davis vs. Kamiakin, 12:15 p.m., Tacoma Dome;
· Class 2A boys, Prosser vs. Grandview, 9 p.m., Yakima Valley SunDome;
· Class 2A girls, W.F. West-Chehalis vs. Prosser, 9 a.m., Yakima Valley SunDome;
· Class 2B boys, Adna vs. Columbia-Burbank, 5:30 p.m., Spokane Veterans Arena;
· Class 2B girls, Warden vs. Mabton, 10:30 a.m., Spokane Veterans Arena;
· Class 1B boys, Cusick vs. DeSales, 9 a.m., Spokane Veterans Arena;
· Class 1B girls, Sunnyside Christian vs. Mount Vernon Christian, 9 p.m., Spokane Veterans Arena.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.
