YVCC women fall in Tip-Off title game
November 22, 2010 by YH-R Sports
YAKIMA, Wash. — Shiann Dreadfulwater scored 20 points to lead Walla Wall past Yakima Valley 61-56 in the championship game of the YVCC Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament Sunday in Sherar Gym.
YVCC trailed 36-29 following a pair of Walla Walla free throws by former Granger standout Janae Klarich. The Yaks would trim the margin to one point midway through the second half, but never tied or too the lead for the remainder of the game.
The Yaks (2-1) were led by Brittney Newcomb and Dequise Hammick, who had 12 points each.
Three Yaks named all-tourney
November 22, 2010 by YH-R Sports
GRESHAM, Ore. — On the heels of taking third place at the NWAACC volleyball tournament, the Yakima Valley Community College team had three players — Veronica Sanchez, Tori Fisher and Erin Mertens — earn second-team all-tournament honors.
Blue Mountain won the championship on Sunday, defeating Mt. Hood 25-21 in a winner-take-all, one-game match. Mt. Hood forced the final match by beating Blue Moutnain 3-2 earlier Sunday.
YVCC women wrestlers win tournament
November 22, 2010 by YH-R Sports
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Yakima Valley Community College women’s wrestling team won the Inland Northwest Wrestling Tournament on Sunday.
The Yaks had four weight-class champions, including Chel-C Bailey at 112 pounds, Stephanie Geltmacher (139), Chantelle Bailey (176) and Maura Tynanes (heavyweight).
Chel-C Bailey defeated CWU club team member Cady Chambers, formerly of YVCC.
Simon Fraser finished second, while Southwestern Oregon Community College, a first-year program, took third.
Two members of the men’s team place in the tournament. Gustavo Lopez took fourth, while Dillon Ford took fifth.
Ike group helps state sweep
November 22, 2010 by YH-R Sports
BEAVERTON, Ore. — Eisenhower’s Berenice Penaloza and Santos Vargas led a local group of three boys and three girls who helped Washington sweep Oregon in the annual Border Clash on Sunday.
Lewis & Clark’s Kenji Bierig and Northwest’s Maddie Meyers won the individual titles for Washington, covering the 4,400-meter course at Nike’s World Headquarters in 13:54 and 16:10, respectively.
Penaloza placed 18th in the girls race in 17:00 and was followed by Ike teammate Mayra Chavez (36th, 17:28) and Davis’ Sydney Allen (58th, 18:03). Vargas finished 24th in the boys race in 14:32, just ahead of Ike teammates Jaziel Rodriguez (41st, 14:46) and Timothy Cummings (48th, 14:51).
Davis grad Lenihan 40th in NYC
November 22, 2010 by YH-R Sports
NEW YORK — Stephanie Lenihan, a 2004 Davis High graduate, was the 40th woman to cross the finish line of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7.
Her time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 50 seconds was the 18th fastest among American women in the event.
Sudden end for Prosser football
November 21, 2010 by Scott Spruill
Knights run past Mustangs in state quarterfinal ||
KENNEWICK, Wash. — In a group of seniors sharing the heartache of a season’s end, Dominic Garza and T.J. Finn embraced at midfield Saturday evening as Lampson Field quietly emptied.
They’d come so far and reached so high, the hard reality was difficult to deal with. One moment you’ve won 10 games in a row, the next moment you’re done.
“Ever since eighth grade we’ve stuck together as a family on the field,” Garza said, glancing at his downcast Prosser teammates. “I’m going to miss playing with these guys so much. It’s hard to have it end.”
Prosser's Abel Ruvalcaba, left, Ryan Nehls, center, and Isaac Ancerson leave the field after their 28-48 loss to East Valley of Spokane in the Class 2A state quarterfinal at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick, Wash. Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010. (Andy Sawyer/Yakima Herald-Republic)
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But as Garza and the Mustangs know painfully well, this day went haywire from the start and the outcome seemed inevitable long before the final seconds ticked away.
Handcuffed by three turnovers and on its first 10 plays and stunned by the 28-0 first-quarter hole that resulted, Prosser rallied but never recovered in a 48-28 loss to East Valley of Spokane in the Class 2A state quarterfinals.
“I’ve never seen anything like that first quarter,” said Prosser coach Benji Sonnichsen, shaking his head in disbelief. “Some bad fortune and some mistakes and we’re down four touchdowns. We had some opportunities to crawl back in it but that’s a big hole.”
Deep and quick.
It wasn’t just that East Valley scored on its first four possessions, it was how the Knights could do no wrong with the gifts that were given them. Two fumbles and an interception were almost instantly converted into scores as EV scored four touchdowns in a span of six offensive plays.
With over four minutes still left in the opening period, the Mustangs were down 28-0.
“We came out with a purpose,” said EV coach Adam Fisher, the son of Washington prep Hall of Fame coach Ed Fisher. “We caused turnovers and we capitalized.”
In much the same way his South Kitsap teams dominated, Ed Fisher’s imprint was all over this game as his son’s offensive and defensive line coach. The Knights tipped or batted down six of Finn’s passes, and their offensive blocking scheme sprang Adam Talley loose for a career day.
Against a Prosser run defense that hadn’t allowed a 100-yard day to any running back in 11 games, Talley dashed and slashed his way to 246 yards and four touchdowns. The shifty sophomore scored on runs of 40, 27, 2 and 12 yards.
“He’s the best running back we’ve seen all season. We didn’t have an answer for him,” Sonnichsen said. “He’s fast, he’s got a spin move and in space he’s hard to run down.”
Talley’s emergence has sparked East Valley’s remarkable turnaround. After a 1-5 start, the Knights have won six straight and survived lengthy postseason trips to Ellensburg, Clarkston and Kennewick. In those three playoff wins Talley has racked up 590 yards and six scores.
“What can you do? They have a really good running back, and we made some big mistakes in the beginning,” Garza said. “We just kept trying to tell ourselves, the game’s not over.”
In a desperate attempt to climb back in it, Prosser found sudden hope and agonizing frustration in the second quarter.
Cesar Lopez’s blocked punt return for a touchdown late in the first quarter got Prosser on the board, and EV opened the door further with two turnovers and a three-and-out.
But the Mustangs were turned away on downs twice in EV’s red zone in the final four minutes of the half. The last shot was a gut-buster as Prosser was unable to convert a first-and-goal from the 5.
“We used a lot of different stuff trying to come back. Some worked, some didn’t,” Sonnichsen said.
Surviving two shots at having its lead cut in half, East Valley then took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 75 yards for Talley’s third score and a 35-7 lead.
In his final game as a two-year starter, Finn threw for 178 yards with touchdown passes to Garza and Isaac Anderson and he ran in the Mustangs’ last score.
Anderson, a junior, ran for 112 yards — 90 of it coming in the second quarter — and Garza collected six passes for 81 yards in his senior finale.
After missing the playoffs last year, Prosser went unbeaten in CWAC play and posted a 10-2 record.
“Last year we didn’t have a very good season, so the goal for the seniors was to take back the CWAC. We did that,” Garza said. “Then we wanted to play our best and go as far as we could. It’s hard that it’s over, but we never gave up.”
| East Valley (Spokane) 48, Prosser 28 |
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| EV — Joey Strehlou 1 run (Adam Talley kick) EV — Matt Hoadley 22 pass from Taylor Watkins (Talley kick) EV — Talley 40 run (Talley kick) EV — Talley 27 run (Talley kick) Pros — Cesar Lopez 21 return of blocked punt (Trino Flores kick) EV — Talley 2 run (Talley kick) EV — Talley 12 run (Talley kick) Pros — Isaac Anderson 3 pass from TJ Finn (Two-point conversion is good) Pros — Dominic Garza 43 pass from Finn (Flores kick) EV — Hoadley 19 pass from Watkins (Talley kick) Pros — Finn 1 run (run failed) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Prosser, Anderson 24-112, Finn 5-15, Joey Hurtado 3-23. EV, Talley 28-246, Myles Lowry 9-27, Shane Quinn 8-18, Strehlou 1-1, Watkins 1-(minus 12), Team 2-(minus 2). |
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11/21/10 Prosser-East Valley (Spokane) photo gallery
November 21, 2010 by Andy Sawyer
Photos from Saturday’s state prep football quarterfinal between Prosser and East Valley of Spokane at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick, Wash.
Click here for information on purchasing any of these photos.
YVCC Hall of Fame: ‘Coyote’ still one cool cat
November 21, 2010 by Roger Underwood
YAKIMA, Wash. — The intellect of birds, individually and collectively, has long been derided. Humans don’t call each other bird brains for nothing, after all.
But if the fowl who inhabit El Mirage, Ariz. have even the slightest bit of smarts, they’ll flock to Dave Benedict’s backyard, find the first available perch and listen closely.
“I talk to the birds now,” Benedict says. “I’m lonely down there because my wife’s still up in Tacoma teaching. Last year, though, right love?”
Karen Benedict, sitting nearby, smiles and explains that she’s working to pay for her daughter’s wedding.
Both Benedicts were in town Saturday night, and a banquet room at the Howard Johnson hotel was fast filling with those attending Yakima Valley Community College’s Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony.
Benedict was an inductee. So was his basketball coach, Elwood Crosier, along with teacher, coach and administrator Jerry Ward and the 1989-90 women’s basketball team.
Many who had come to honor, reconnect and reminisce were treated to the same remarkable experience the birds of El Mirage have, if only they’d listen. Because Dave Benedict was not only one of the best basketball players the Valley has produced, he remains one of its most vibrant and fascinating personalities.
Forget that he often professes to what he calls “senior moments.” At age 69 Benedict looks perhaps 25 years younger, and sports a world-class greying mustache beneath a white Gatorade cap.
When he speaks of the good old days — make them great old days when Benedict was involved — his eyes sparkle and project the intensity that was much of his athletic legend.
“I don’t remember any specific games, or things like that,” he says, “I really don’t. But I do remember having such a wonderful coach here. Coach Crosier was a genius, an absolute genius.
“Every year, he’d build his offense around the players he brought in instead of trying to adapt them to a specific system. And he treated each player differently because each of us was in fact different. He was using the knowledge he had as a psychology instructor. How smart is that?”
There’s no doubt that Crosier was ahead of his time, both in 1966 when the Benedict-led Yakima Valley Indians won the NWAACC title and in 1990 when Crosier’s women’s team won the championship.
But so was Benedict.
In addition to being a remarkable athlete, a fierce competitor and, of course, a winner, Benedict was eminently entertaining.
Fans in Sherar Gym were wowed by Benedict — long, black locks flowing — gliding up and down the court and driving foes to distraction in one of Crosier’s pressing defenses.
After moving on to Central Washington, where he became an NAIA All-American for Dean Nicholson, Benedict would soar above the rim to one-hand a rebound and then, after others headed downcourt, he’d roll the ball as if he were bowling to point guard Dave Allen.
Or Benedict would swoop to the glass for a layup and then, instead of turning around at the baseline, he’d tip-toe seven or eight rows up in the stands before reversing his field.
It was a 1960s Nicholson Pavilion version of the Lambeau Leap. And the response was ear-splitting.
“When I was playing, I really wasn’t aware that I was doing that,” Benedict says. “You have to understand that I had played a great many basketball games before I ever got to YVC or Central.”
He had spent 16 years — from 1943-59 — at a farm labor camp on the present site of Ahtanum Youth Park.
In addition to honing his athletic skills there, Benedict acquired the nickname by which many still call him — The Coyote.
“That place,” he says, “was the greatest childhood environment you could ever have. There were hundreds of kids to play ball with — basketball, baseball, football, whatever. There were fields, courts, places we could play anytime we wanted.”
And oh, did Benedict play.
Once he’d finished, Benedict became a teacher and sent 30 years in the Peninsula School District and seven in Bremerton.
All three of his wife’s daughters took Benedict’s health class, and one served as his teacher’s aide.
These days he plays golf, awaits spring training (El Mirage is just a short drive from Peoria, where the Mariners train, and Surprise, spring home to the Rangers and Royals), and enjoys long motor home trips with Karen.
And sometimes, when he’s alone or just plain feels like it, Benedict sits in his backyard and talks to the birds.
Lucky them.
• Roger Underwood’s Under the Radar blog is at sportsyakima.com He can be reached at 509-577-7694 or runderwood@yakimaherald.com
Volleyball: YVCC takes third at NWAACCs
November 21, 2010 by YH-R Sports
GRESHAM, Ore. — They did Al proud, not to mention themselves.
With head coach Al Rogers hospitalized after undergoing hip replacement surgery, Yakima Valley’s volleyball team embellished its status as the story of the NWAACC Tournament on Saturday, beating two top-five teams before falling to host Mt. Hood to claim the third-place trophy.
The Yaks (22-13), unranked and the No. 4 seed from the Eastern Region, beat third-ranked Tacoma 19-25, 26-24, 15-10 in the best-of-three loser’s bracket competition, after which they whipped second-ranked Spokane 27-17, 25-18.
Yakima Valley then fell to the host Saints 25-20, 25-16, but nonetheless engaged in some well-deserved celebration.
After all, if finishing third out of the NWAACC’s 35 schools isn’t something to shout about, what is?
“We came in unranked and as the fourth seed from our region,” an excited assistant coach Nikki Morozzo said. “To single-handedly take out Tacoma, the third-ranked team in the NWAACC, beating them twice, that’s really hard to do. That was way awesome.
“And it’s not like any of these teams lost. We beat them.”
YVCC had opened tournament play Thursday with an upset win over Tacoma. This time, the Titans won the opening game and had a 24-23 lead in the second before Yakima Valley scored the next three points.
Tori Fisher, a tournament standout, had nine kills while defender Veronica Sanchez produced 15 digs.
The Yaks then handled Spokane with Fisher totaling 14 kills and six digs, Samantha Zapien putting down six kills and Sanchez coming up with 24 digs.
Against fourth-ranked Mt. Hood, Raini Weaver had five kills, Fisher totaled four kills and 10 digs, Sanchez had 11 digs and Erin Mertens dealt 15 assists.
The Saints and top-ranked Blue Mountain will meet at 3 p.m. today in championship competition. If Mount Hood wins the best-of-five match against the Timberwolves, who are unbeaten in tournament play, the teams will then play one game to 30 points for the title.
Yakima Valley, with 11 freshmen on its roster, will then no doubt continue its revelry and drive home.
“I would never have expected this,” Morozzo said. “We did this without Al, and he’s a big component of what we do. He’s our rock. The girls called him before and after each match, and I’m guessing right now he’s in high heaven.”
As are the Yaks.
YVCC highlights vs. Mt. Hood: Raini Weaver 5 kills; Tori Fisher 4 kills, 10 digs; Sam Zapien 3 kills; Traci Schweyen 3 kills; Erin Mertens 15 assists; Veronica Sanchez 11 digs.
YVCC highlights vs. Tacoma: Fisher 9 kills; Mertens 23 assists, 9 digs; Zapien 7 kills; Sanchez 15 digs.
YVCC highlights vs. Spokane: Fisher 14 kills, 6 digs; Mertens 25 assists, 7 digs; Taylor Herrick 13 digs; Zapien 6 kills; Sanchez 24 digs.
Soccer: RC boys take 4th at state
November 21, 2010 by YH-R Sports
SUMNER, Wash. — A disappointing finish, to be sure, but not a disappointing season for the Riverside Christian boys soccer team.
For the second straight day, the Crusaders were stung by a late goal, on Saturday it came with two minutes left in regulation to give La Conner a 1-0 victory in the Class 2B-1B state consolation match at Sunset Chev Stadium.
“If you have to lose, that’s the place to lose,” RC coach Mike Emmans said after his team claimed the fourth-place trophy. “I’m real proud of them. They made a run at the end (of the season) and brought home some hardware.”
The Crusaders (10-6) were oh so close to a higher finish, falling 1-0 in double overtime to Shoreline Christian in Friday’s semifinals, and then by the same score Saturday.
La Conner (18-3) finally broke through when the ball was crossed from about 18 yards out. David Carr got to the loose ball and booted it into the net.
“I thought our defense was tight,” Emmans said. “They (La Conner) were a tough team. We knew we had to work pretty hard, but that’s just part of playing at state.
“I think we were tired. It’s mentally tough to turn around after losing (Friday) like we did. But they did OK today.”
Riverside Christian had a couple of good scoring chances early against La Conner, but just couldn’t get the ball past La Conner goalie Taylor Say, who finished with four saves.
“I think they were maybe a little frustrated,” he said of his offense.
Goalie Michael Stein made four saves for Riverside Christian.
Providence Christian of Lynnwood won the state championship, defeating Shoreline Christian 2-1.
