Split decision for Yakima Valley men, women

YAKIMA, Wash. — As players aligned for an inbounds play under Columbia Basin’s basket, with an errant Hawks’ shot having eluded Yakima Valley’s grasp, Ray Funk stood near his bench and said, “A rebound would be nice.”

And sure enough, the YVCC coach got his wish.

The Yaks grabbed the last two boards of Sunday’s overtime tussle in Sherar Gym, and with them came a 75-74 victory that strengthened their position in the NWAACC Tournament race.

Also, with a sizable afternoon crowd on hand, it might well have lessened the sting of a 65-60 Yakima Valley women’s loss that represented a 25-point reversal of a game played on Jan. 21 in Pasco.

YVCC’s men, at 7-3 in the East Region and 14-8 overall moved into a tie for third place in the East Region with Walla Walla. The top four finishers qualify for the tournament.

The women (7-3, 17-5), meanwhile, slipped into a second-place tie, also with Walla Walla, and are two games behind the frontrunning and NWAACC top-ranked Hawks (9-1, 21-2).

Four regular-season contests remain for each team, including Feb. 25 home makeups with Walla Walla.

“Yes, we did finally get some rebounds,” a relieved Funk said. “Amir’s (YVCC’s Royal) was huge.”

With Yakima Valley trailing 74-73 and 23.7 seconds left in the extra session, Dabrail Henton hauled down a missed free throw by CBC’s Daniel Igbinoba.

The Yaks hustled the ball into the frontcourt and, against the Hawks’ bothersome 1-3-1 zone defense, got the ball inside to Jason Bagby who went hard to the basket in heavy traffic. He missed, but Royal was right behind him for a putback with 7.2 ticks to go.

After a timeout, Columbia Basin’s Justin Smith got off a hurried jumper that beat the buzzer but missed its mark.

“Among the things we told the guys at halftime,” Funk said, “was at this time of year it doesn’t matter if we win by one or whatever, as long as we win. We also talked about getting on the glass.”

Royal had a monster double-double of 27 points and 13 boards. Henton had 17 points and connected on one of three YVCC 3-pointers in overtime as did Cameron Jensen, who finished with 13 points.

Smith and Stephen Walter, both reserves, scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Hawks (3-7, 7-14).

The game saw 11 ties and 13 lead changes, with neither team scoring over the final 3:21 of regulation. Yakima Valley, in fact, went dry for 5:55 after two Royal free throws had given the hosts a 63-56 lead.

“Just another typical Sunday afternoon in the NWAACC,” Funk smiled.

Yakima Valley’s fourth-ranked women also experienced substantial scoring droughts — most notably going 8:16 of the first half without a field goal. And while the Yaks overcame a 20-9 deficit and led briefly in the second half, they were unable to complete a season sweep of CBC after an 81-61 road win last month.

“In the first game, our offense just didn’t show up,” Hawks coach Cheryl Holden said. “We just stood around and weren’t active or aggressive, and we weren’t really ready for Yakima’s (defensive) pressure. Also, Brittney Newcomb didn’t go off for 21 points in the first half today like she did at our place. She was absolutely on fire down there.”

Newcomb, YVCC’s leading scorer at 15.8 points a game, went scoreless in the first half and finished with seven points.

But while Simone Jordan augmented a stellar double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds with five assists and three steals, and Sam Zapien hustled inside for 15 points, six boards and three steals, none of the Yaks developed a truly hot hand.

“It’s been a recurring problem,” YVCC coach Cody Butler said. “We keep going too fast and don’t take the time to execute and get good shots when we start to struggle.”

After a turnover-riddled first half saw CBC take a 25-23 lead while shooting only 38 percent from the field, the Hawks connected on 56 percent of their attempts (14 for 25) over the final 20 minutes.

Yakima Valley led 31-29 with 17:41 to play on a Zapien 3-pointer, but CBC staged a 20-9 run for a 49-40 cushion with 10:21 left.

Especially efficient was Tiffany Idler, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Burbank, who rolled up a game-high 23 points on 8-for-9 field goal shooting while also making 7 of 10 from the foul line.

Mabton graduate Ana Jimenez and Jennifer Noon added 11 points apiece and Lacey Young had 10. Ellensburg’s Andrea Bland, projected to be a key component for Columbia Basin, has been lost for the season with a knee injury.

YAKIMA VALLEY MEN 75, COLUMBIA BASIN MEN 74 (OT)

COLUMBIA BASIN — Barbaza 2-5 0-0 6, HeavyRunner 1-8 2-3 4, De La Garza 2-6 1-4 7, Piippo 3-11 0-1 6, Igbinoba 3-9 2-3 8, Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Stephen Walter 3-12 6-7 14, Justin Smith 6-19 1-1 15, Schrank 2-4 0-0 7, Douglas 1-5 2-2 4, Haynes 1-4 1-4 3. Totals 25-85 15-25 74.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Diggs 0-4 1-2 1, Amir Royal 8-19 10-15 27, Molina 1-3 0-0 2, Dabrail Henton 4-15 6-8 17, Cameron Jensen 5-13 1-1 13, Battle 2-8 0-0 6, Martinez 0-1 0-2 0, Bagby 2-5 1-2 6, Romero 0-1 0-0 0, Flowers 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-70 19-30 75.

Halftime — YVCC 37-34. 3-point goals — CBC 9-24 (Jones 0-1, Barbaza 2-4, Walter 2-4, HeavyRunner 0-1, Smith 2-8, De La Garza 2-3, Schrank 1-2, Piippo 0-1); YVCC 10-29 (Diggs 0-2, Battle 2-3, Royal 1-5, Bagby 1-1, Henton 3-9, Jensen 2-8, Flowers 1-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — CBC 62 (Igbinoba 11); YVCC 59 (Royal 13). Assists — CBC 11 (HeavyRunner 3); YVCC 10 (Jensen 3). Turnovers — CBC 15, YVCC 20. Total fouls — CBC 24, YVCC 18.

COLUMBIA BASIN WOMEN 65, YAKIMA VALLEY 60

COLUMBIA BASIN — Tiffany Idler 8-9 7-10 23, Jennifer Noon 3-11 5-6 11, Lacey Young 4-8 2-3 10, Ana Jimenez 5-13 0-0 11, Samuels 1-4 0-0 2, Molsbarger 0-0 2-4 2, Reynolds 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 24-51 16-23 65.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Newcomb 2-6 1-2 7, Jaimi Cox 4-8 3-5 11, Lekson 0-1 0-0 0, Simone Jordan 5-18 5-8 16, Sam Zapien 6-13 2-3 15, Brewster 0-2 0-0 0, Swetzof 0-3 0-0 0, Kaylah Gonzales 4-7 1-2 11, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, A. Gonzales 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 12-21 60.

Halftime — CBC 25-23. 3-point goals — CBC 1-12 (Noon 0-4, Jimenez 1-6, Samuels 0-2); YVCC 6-20 (Newcomb 2-5, Cox 0-2, Swetzof 0-3, K. Gonzales 2-4, Jordan 1-5, Zapien 1-1). Fouled out — Newcomb. Rebounds — CBC 36 (Molsbarger 5, Young 5); YVCC 36 (Jordan 10). Assists — CBC 7 (Molsbarger 4); YVCC 11 (Jordan 5). Turnovers — CBC 19, YVCC 13. Total fouls — CBC 18, YVCC 20.