West Valley’s Zone Dooms Ellensburg

YAKIMA, Wash. — For a time, it appeared that the energy and playmaking with which Ellensburg had logged a notable first-round upset in the Class 2A state tournament would sustain the Bulldogs for another night.

But then two notable things happened.

West Valley changed from a man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, after which talented 6-foot junior Shanique Nilles returned from a first-half knee injury.

And the combination proved too much for 10th-ranked Ellensburg, which dropped a 35-28 decision Thursday night to the unbeaten and second-ranked Eagles of Spokane in the SunDome.

The quarterfinal defeat denied the Bulldogs (19-7) a fourth shot at CWAC rival Prosser in the semifinals, and left them in a 2 p.m. loser-out game today against Elma. West Valley (24-0) will oppose the Mustangs tonight at 9.

“We were a step slow all night,” said Ellensburg coach Craig Faire after his team made only four field goals after the first quarter and nine for the game. “We stood around and didn’t get any post offense going all night. We didn’t come to play.”

Nilles, felled by an under-the-basket collision with 1:49 left in the first quarter, was helped to the bench and spent the remainder of the half with an ice bag on her right knee.

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She didn’t start the second, but returned to action with 6:24 left in the third quarter wearing a brace. And while her mobility appeared limited, Nilles scored eight of her game-high 15 points to key West Valley’s triumph.

“It still really hurts,” she said afterward, while being carried piggyback by an assistant coach. “But the team is too important, so I had to play.”

Nilles described her injury as “a large contusion, but it will be fine.”

On a night when neither team found an offensive flow — Ellensburg also played a bothersome 2-3 zone — the Bulldogs struggled mightily after leads of 10-2 and 12-7 at the first-quarter break.

They had made enough 3-pointers to help neutralize Archbishop Murphy’s size advantage, but on this occasion were just 3 for 24 from long distance. Ellensburg also was outrebounded 44-37, with Nilles, 6-0 Hannah Love and active 5-8 Leah Peterson patrolling the back line of WV’s zone.

Nilles helped West Valley move from a 16-16 halftime tie to a 23-20 lead starting the fourth quarter. She scored three straight points to give the Eagles a 30-25 cushion with 2:04 to play, but the Bulldogs’ Shannon Bland hit 3-ball with 1:30 remaining made it 30-28.

Ellensburg would not score again, however, as WV sealed the game from the foul line.

Dearia Gordon, whose 27 points and 12 rebounds had carried the Bulldogs the evening prior, shared team scoring honors with Andrea Bland, totaling eight to go with 13 rebounds before fouling out.

Teammate Kim Kelly had seven points, but Ellensburg finished with 17 percent shooting (8 for 47), including 12 percent (3 for 25) during the second half.

West Valley, which shot 24 percent (9 for 38) got seven points and 13 boards from Love.

Stars Will Be Out in Semis

Final four teams are all ranked in the top six ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — There will be no shortage of star power in tonight’s semifinals of the Class 2A girls state tournament.

The SunDome’s final four will feature the No. 1-ranked team in River Ridge and the field’s only unbeaten team in second-ranked West Valley. It will also include fifth-ranked Burlington-Edison plus some Yakima Valley flavor in the form of seventh-ranked Prosser.

The first semifinal, set for 5:30 p.m., will pit the top-ranked Hawks (24-1) opposite Burlington-Edison (22-3).

Prosser (21-3) and West Valley (24-0), who met in last year’s trophy game for third and sixth place, will meet at 9.

While River Ridge of Lacey built a 33-24 halftime lead and rolled past Pullman 59-47 on Thursday, Burlington-Edison scored only eight first-half points against Eatonville and trailed the Cruisers 18-8 at halftime.

But B-E, after shooting only 14 percent (3 for 21) over the first two quarters, righted itself offensively and rode game-high totals of 19 points and 11 rebounds from 6-foot-1 senior Brenna Anderson to a 41-37 victory.

Ryleigh Swagerty’s 3-pointer with 6:11 to play put Burlington-Edison ahead 27-26 and triggered a 10-1 run.

For River Ridge, Samira McDonald, Kelsey Russell and Jennifer Cole combined for 43 points and the Hawks forced 26 turnovers to offset a 14-for-27 to 8-10 free throw disparity.

The evening’s late quarterfinal saw West Valley subdue cold-shooting Ellensburg 35-28.

Shanique Nilles, the junior-laden Eagles’ top scorer, missed part of the game with a knee contusion but returned to total a game-high 15 points.

Prosser, in the state semifinals for the third straight year, will look to avenge a 63-49 loss to West Valley in last year’s trophy round.

“We’re ready to take it a step further,” said Prosser guard Helen Petersen. “We made it this far last year and then had some tough losses. This time we’ve been getting better in every single game and our confidence is really high.”

The Mustangs extended their win streak to 13 with a 62-56 quarterfinal victory over third-ranked Elma.

Wildcats Hope Third Time is Charm

YAKIMA, Wash. — Records, rankings and recent history notwithstanding, Greg Sparling likes Central Washington’s chances in tonight’s NCAA Division II West Region tournament against host Western Washington.

The Wildcats, 16-10 and the region’s No. 8 seed, will take on the top-seeded Vikings, 25-5, at 7:30 in Sam Carver Gym.

Almost two weeks ago when the teams met on the same court before Fox Sports Northwest cameras, Central fell behind by 14 second-half points before bowing 90-86. Western’s bench accounted for 47 points.

On Jan. 23 in Ellensburg, Central was manhandled 84-70 with WWU guard Andrew Ready erupting for 23 points.

“We can’t let their bench score like that on us,” Sparling said Wednesday night en route to Bellingham. “And I’ve looked at their last 10 box scores, and Ready has made about three 3-pointers over that whole period.”

He made four in five attempts in Nicholson Pavilion, but that wasn’t the primary source of Sparling’s ire. Western had been the aggressor, and the coach made clear to his players afterward that such an approach was not acceptable.

Since then CWU has improved its game, though some of the momentum was lost when Humberto Perez broke his hand on Feb. 20 in a home win over Northwest Nazarene.

But beating a team three straight times can be tough, and Sparling feels Central has that and other underdog-related factors in its corner.

“Our guys had the opportunity to play at Western on TV, and a lot of these guys hadn’t been in that environment before,” he said. “And Western has the monkey on their back of losing in the first round of the tournament at home last year.”

Still, Sparling said the Wildcats must be more discreet regarding shot selection, and will need to rebound better (they were beaten 44-31 on the glass in Bellingham), among other things, in order to win.

“I don’t think anybody’s giving us a chance,” he said, “and a win would be absolutely huge for the university and the program. Our guys are the most focused I’ve seen them right now, so we’re going to go over there, take a big swing at ‘em and see what we can do.”

To The Dogs

Ellensburg knocks off No 4. ATM ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — Looks can be deceiving. And so, at times, can records and rankings.

Ellensburg’s Deaira Gordon, for example, professed to being nervous during the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ Class 2A state tournament opener Wednesday night with Archbishop Murphy in the SunDome.

But you’d never have known it by her play, or by Ellensburg’s 58-40 upset of the fourth-ranked Wildcats.

 

Gordon, a multi-talented 6-foot senior, scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the 10th-ranked Bulldogs (19-6) into a 9 p.m. quarterfinal today against unbeaten, second-ranked West Valley. The Eagles of Spokane (23-0) were 48-34 winners over Black Hills.

ATM (21-3), among the tourney favorites as one would expect of a team with a 22-game winning streak, will meet Black Hills in a 2 p.m. loser-out game. The Wildcats were tourney runners-up last year.

“This definitely was one of our best games,” said Gordon, who had just received a sportsmanship award after hitting 8 of 16 field goal attempts, dealing two assists and blocking four shots. “We played well as a team, moved the ball and went to the person with the hot hand.”

Which was usually, but not always, Gordon.

While Gordon tied Clarkston’s Kellie McCann-Smith for first-day scoring honors, Andrea Bland had 13 points, and three assists. Kim Kelly added seven points and Shannon Bland six.

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And while reserve guard Ellie Layman scored just two points, the 5-4 senior hustled 10 rebounds as Ellensburg compiled a 42-37 advantage in that category against the taller Wildcats.

“We knew we’d have to block out,” Gordon said. “We knew we couldn’t give them more than one shot, and that we’d have to work at it because they were bigger than we are.”

Murphy started quickly with a 6-0 lead, but the Bulldogs responded with a 10-0 run capped by back-to-back Gordon 3-pointers.

Continuing to attack the Wildcats’ man-to-man defense, Ellensburg cashed in at the foul line to the tune of 20 of 29 compared with ATM’s 3 of 7.

Gordon was 8 of 9 from the stripe and also connected on 3 of 7 3-pointers as E-Burg finished 6 for 17 in the latter department.

Up 24-15 at halftime, the Bulldogs continued their assault and capped the third quarter with an 8-2 run that ballooned the lead to 40-23.

By the 6:15 mark of the fourth period it was 46-25, and with 1:29 to play and Ellensburg in command 56-37, coach Craig Faire emptied his bench.

“Wow,” Gordon said when told of her team’s 21-point cushion. “I didn’t realize that. I was a little nervous until about halfway through the fourth quarter, and then I started thinking we could do this.”

And Ellensburg did, not unlike its performance a year ago on opening day when the Bulldogs upended another pre-tourney favorite, Black Hills.

“I’m sure West Valley’s good,” Gordon said of her team’s next foe, “but I think probably every team here is good.”

Including, obviously, Ellensburg.

Savannah Fletcher, a 6-2 senior, and Sam Pettinger led Murphy with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Wildcats managed only 28 percent shooting (16 for 57) from the field.

Warriors edge Yaks for title

Marchbanks scores 32 in losing cause ||

KENNEWICK, Wash. — It had everything you’d want in a championship game.

There were six lead changes. There were truly spectacular performances, and the game wasn’t decided until the final buzzer.

Yes, Tuesday’s NWAACC women’s title game had it all — except, unfortunately for Yakima Valley, a title itself.

Though the Yaks led Walla Walla by two with 1:14 to play, they succumbed to five last-minute free throws and fell to the Warriors, 75-72, in the Toyota Center.

And how ironic was it that Anna Marchbanks, who had nearly willed YVCC to victory with 32 points and 14 rebounds, was forced to take a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner that missed?

“She’s so good,” said Walla Walla coach Bobbi Hazeltine, who was celebrating her second championship in 11 years with the Warriors and a triumphant end to a 28-1 season.

The loss, which came at YVCC on Jan. 20, was followed by 18 consecutive wins.

“She’s an outstanding player,” Hazeltine continued, regarding Marchbanks. “But we have some girls who played pretty well, too.”

Especially Kati Isham (pronounced EYE-sham).

Already a two-time Eastern Region most valuable player, the 5-foot-8 sophomore transfer from the Air Force Academy scored 15 of her 20 points in the second half and afterward was named the tournament’s MVP.

And her nothing-but-net, score-tying 3-point shot with 2:18 to play was described by both Hazeltine and Yakima Valley coach Cody Butler as the game’s biggest.

“Huge, probably the turning point of the game,” said a clearly disappointed Butler. “We tried to deny her the ball as much as we could, but she made some tough shots. So did their team. They just made big plays and big shots.”

As did the Yaks, who were down 55-45 with 11:07 to play.

But with the relentless, 5-11 Marchbanks and cat-quick point guard Rosetta Adzasu scoring 17 of YVCC’s final 22 points, Yakima Valley (24-6, with three losses coming to Walla Walla) gave itself a chance to win the school’s first women’s title since 1991.

Adzasu’s 3-pointer, on an assist from Lacie French, put the Yaks ahead 66-65 with 5:24 to play. And after French converted inside off a pass from Kate Urquhart and Marchbanks struck from the lane with the help of an Adzasu dish, YVCC led 70-67.

But Isham’s 3-ball, from left of the key, followed.

“She earned that,” Hazeltine said. “She made a really hard cut off a screen to get open, and then knocked the shot down.”

Marchbanks was called for a charge on the ensuing possession, and Isham, fouled at 0:59.7, made one of two free throws to put Walla Walla ahead 71-70.

After an Adzasu miss, the Warriors’ Jamie Berghammer was fouled while rebounding and, in the double bonus, made both at 0:34. Jocelyn Jones’ errant 3-pointer then went out of bounds off Marchbanks, and Walla Walla’s Layne Tucker was fouled with 10.9 seconds left. She made both.

“What we wanted to do on the last play was get a three for Nicole (DeRosier) or Lacie (who had hit two in the first half),” Butler said. “We were supposed to skip the ball to Nicole but didn’t, and I’m not sure why.”

Isham, bound for Boise State, also had a team-high eight rebounds and two assists despite the unremitting defense of Adzasu, who totaled seven assists and two steals.

Nancy Johnson also had 20 points for the Warriors, with 14 coming in a first half that saw WW lead 33-29.

Of Walla Walla’s 21-for-27 totals from the foul line compared with the Yaks’ 8 for 12, Hazeltine said, “Yakima plays very aggressively, and that’s how they win. But also when you play that way, you sacrifice fouls for steals, and they foul. We knew they would, and we knew we’d have to make free throws.”

Said Butler, “We had a great season. We won another Eastern Region championship (shared with the Warriors), we made it to the NWAACC title game and most of our sophomores are going on to play at four-year schools. So we can be proud of that.”

Marchbanks and Adzasu, who transferred from Central Arizona, have both received multiple NCAA Division I offers, Butler said, but neither has decided which to accept.

Through four tournament games, Marchbanks averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds.

WALLA WALLA — Tucker 2-5 3-4 8, Kati Isham 7-15 5-6 20, Nancy Johnson 8-11 4-4 20, Hutcheson 1-4 1-3 3, Berghammer 2-4 5-6 9, Dreadfulwater 3-6 0-0 6, Wolff 1-1 0-0 2, S. Isham 0-1 1-2 1, VanderEsch 1-2 0-0 2, Silverthorn 1-4 2-2 4. Totals 26-53 21-27 75.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Anna Marchbanks 14-21 4-6 32, Rosetta Adzasu 10-23 1-2 22, DeRosier 2-7 0-0 5, Urquhart 0-4 2-2 2, Fenumiai 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, French 3-6 1-2 9, Hull 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-65 8-12 72.

Halftime — WWCC 33, YVCC 29. 3-point goals — WWCC 2-7 (S. Isham 0-1, Tucker 1-2, K. Isham 1-3, Silverthorn 0-1); YVCC 4-24 (French 2-4, Marchbanks 0-4, Adzasu 1-8, DeRosier 1-6, Hull 0-1, Fenumiai 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — WWCC 40 (K. Isham 8); YVCC 27 (Marchbanks 14). Assists — WWCC 14 (Tucker 4); YVCC 12 (Adzasu 7). Turnovers — WWCC 18, YVCC 11. Total fouls — WWCC 12, YVCC 22.

Yak women reach finals with win over Clackamas

KENNEWICK — Nicole DeRosier has a secret.

And she’d like to keep it for the next 24 hours.

The Yakima Valley sophomore, whose second-half marksmanship keyed the Yaks’ 75-64 defeat of Clackamas in an NWAACC semifinal Monday night in the Toyota Center, was asked afterward if she had a favorite location from which to launch her laser-like 3-pointers.

“I can’t tell you that,” she said, smiling, “because then everyone would know.”

For the record, it didn’t seem to matter once DeRosier got going.

Scoring 17 of her 18 points in the second half, the 5-foot-8 guard led fourth-ranked YVCC’s surge into today’s 4:30 p.m. championship game against second-ranked Walla Walla.

Point guard Rosetta Adzasu was her typical mercurial self with 20 points and five assists, and forward-center Anna Marchbanks had a third straight standout game with 17 points, 11 rebounds and six steals.

But DeRosier, hitting five 3-balls and adding a pair of free throws over the final 20 minutes, made the Yaks (24-5) an equation which the third-ranked Cougars (23-5) were unable to solve.

With YVCC leading 26-24 at halftime, DeRosier connected from the top of the key for a 29-24 advantage.

And while Clackamas led 42-40 with 11:46 to play, Yakima Valley took the lead for good in the see-saw affair with an 8-2 run punctuated by an emphatic Marchbanks swat of a Cougar layup attempt.

The Yaks steadily increased their edge until the 1:50 mark, when DeRosier got nothing but net with a 3-ball from the corner.

“She was right in front of me when she took that shot,” coach Cody Butler said. “And I told her, hit that and the game’s over.”

And it was, essentially, since the shot put YVCC up 66-57.

“You can tell the shots are having an effect on the other team,” DeRosier said. “After awhile they were bickering among themselves. That’s when I knew we had them on the run.”

Providing ample help in Yakima Valley’s first title game berth with Butler — the Yaks are making their fourth final four appearance in six years under his tutelage — was 6-2 Highland sophomore Kate Urquhart, who totaled seven points and six rebounds as YVCC amassed a 41-28 advantage on the glass.

“Kate got a lot of really big boards for us,” Butler said. “She was active and real strong in there. Down the stretch she pretty much limited them to one shot.”

Melair Holterhoff and Rylee Peterson, two of the Cougars’ top regular-season threats, scored 15 points each.

Yakima Valley, which shot only 37 percent during the first half, hit at a 58 percent clip over the final 20 minutes.

More of the same will probably be needed to subdue Eastern Region rival Walla Walla (27-1), which one two of three regular-season meetings with the Yaks. The teams shared the region title with 13-1 records.

“They have two of the best players in the NWAACC,” Butler said. “We’ll have to try limit Kati Isham’s touches and keep Nancy Johnson off the boards.

“It feels good to have gotten to this point. But I told the girls to not celebrate too much, because we’ve still got more work to do.”

And a secret for Nicole DeRosier to keep.

CLACKAMAS — Meyer 0-2 0-0 0, Peterson 7-12 1-2 15, St. Paul 2-4 0-0 4, Kapua 4-8 0-0 11, Holterhoff 5-8 3-5 15, Powell 3-8 1-2 8, Filipetti 0-0 2-3 2, Martine 1-3 0-0 3, Ball 3-10 0-0 6. Totals 25-55 7-12 64.
YAKIMA VALLEY — Jones 2-4 2-3 6, French 1-6 0-0 3, Marchbanks 8-14 1-2 17, Adzasu 7-13 5-8 20, DeRosier 5-11 3-4 18, Urquhart 1-3 5-6 7, Hull 0-0 0-0 0, Fenumiai 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 26-56 16-23 75.
Halftime—Yakima Valley 26, Clackamas 24. 3-point goals—Clackamas 7-24 (Kapua 3-5, Holterhoff 2-5, Powell 1-3, Martine 1-3, Mayer 0-1, St. Paul 0-2, Ball 0-2, Peterson 0-3), Yakima Valley 7-16 (DeRosier 5-9, French 1-2, Adzasu 1-4, Marchbanks 0-1). Fouled out—Peterson. Rebounds—Clackamas 28 (Peterson 7), Yakima Valley 41 (Marchbanks 11). Assists—Clackamas 14 (Ball 5), Yakima Valley 12 (Adzasu 5). Total fouls—Clackamas 18, Yakima Valley 17. Turnovers—Clackamas 23, Yakima Valley 24.

YVCC men fall by two points in NWAACC semis

KENNEWICK — During the second half of Yakima Valley’s NWAACC Tournament semifinal with Lower Columbia on Monday night, Red Devils coach Jim Roffler shouted, “Marcus — stay home!”

Though the coach wanted Marcus Bell to stay near the basket on defense, YVCC’s Yaks no doubt wished the instructions regarding the Red Devils’ 6-foot-7 freshman center had been literal.

Because while Yakima Valley had found an answer to nearly everything third-ranked LCC had done en route to an early 17-point lead, it did not find one for Bell in a 72-70 loss in the Toyota Center.

“What happened,” said YVCC coach Ray Funk, “was we dug ourselves such a big hole early (the Yaks trailed 20-3 with 13:12 left in the first half) that we had to go to a smaller lineup.

“We were able to handle their other guys. But we weren’t able to handle him.”

Bell, the NWAACC’s regular-season rebounding leader at 12.8 per game while also scoring 15.7, totaled 24 points and 12 boards on this occasion.

His relentless inside play dropped Yakima Valley (17-12), playing in its third straight final four, into a 2 p.m. game today with Tacoma (24-4) for third and sixth places.

YVCC, which won the title in 2008, was third last year.

In spite of Bell’s heroics, and 36 LCC free throws of which the third-ranked Devils (25-3) made 22, the Yaks had a shot at victory.

Down 72-66 with 34.6 seconds to play, Yakima Valley got two free throws from Damar Wilson and a putback by Derrick January to make it 72-70 with 7.5 seconds left.

LCC’s Kekoa Carvalho missed two foul shots with 5.2 to go, and after a timeout YVCC’s Caden Skelton hustled the ball into frontcourt and handed off to Willie Blodgett for a deep and hurried three that was well short at the buzzer.

Jordan Kidd led the Yaks with 18 points while Ryan Dornik had 15 and January came off the bench for 13.

Guard Jeray Key backed Bell with 19 points and eight boards.

“We would have liked a different outcome,” Funk said, “but I’m really proud of the way our guys battled. Coach Roffler said afterward he was really impressed with how hard our team played, especially after getting down that much early. So we’ll just try to come back tomorrow and win one more.”

YAKIMA VALLEY — Skelton 3-7 1-2 8, Blodgett 0-5 0-0 0, De. Wilson 0-5 0-0 0, Da. Wilson 1-8 4-4 6, Evans 2-6 0-2 4, Kidd 3-5 10-14 18, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Dornik 6-13 1-1 15, January 5-14 3-5 13, Kirvin 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 23-66 19-28 70.
LOWER COLUMBIA — Hoff 0-1 0-0 0, Key 5-19 8-11 19, Burgoyne 3-9 0-0 8, Ritchie 1-4 1-4 4, DeGraaff 0-0 0-0 0, Stores 3-5 4-6 10, Bell 10-16 4-8 24, Carvalho 1-5 4-5 6, Moreland 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 23-60 22-36 72.
Halftime—Lower Columbia 32, Yakima Valley 26. 3-point goals—Yakima Valley 5-25 (Kidd 2-4, Dornik 2-8, Skelton 1-3, January 0-2, Blodgett 0-4, De. Wilson 0-4), Lower Columbia 4-15 (Burgoyne 2-6, Ritchie 1-4, Key 1-5). Fouled out—Da. Wilson, Kidd, Stores. Rebounds—Yakima Valley 46 (January 9), Lower Columbia 45 (Bell 12). Assists—Yakima Valley 5, Lower Columbia 13 (Stores 6). Total fouls—Yakima Valley 27, Lower Columbia 19. Turnovers—Yakima Valley 16, Lower Columbia 13.

YVCC women look to break through

YAKIMA, Wash. — So is this the year?

Yakima Valley’s women, who have knocked numerous times on the NWAACC championship door during coach Cody Butler’s seven-year tenure, will begin their quest for the school’s first such title since 1991 when they meet Mt. Hood at 4 p.m. today.

The NWAACC Tournament, to be played in Kennewick’s Toyota Center, runs through Tuesday.

“This team,” Butler said of his 21-5, fourth-ranked Yaks, “has improved through the course of the season as much as any I’ve coached. If you remember, at the start of the year we weren’t that good.”

Indeed, YVCC was 4-3 after successive losses to No. 1 Lane and unranked Lower Columbia. A defeat to national juco power North Idaho would come in Yakima Valley’s final game of 2009.

The onset of Eastern Region play, however, saw the Yaks go 13-1 and share the title they won outright for three of the previous four years. Their lone loss came at second-ranked Walla Walla.

On Jan. 2 in Sherar Gym, the Yaks beat Mount Hood 82-65.

Yakima Valley’s improvement, and accompanying status as a title contender, has resulted from a combination of events.

The return of Nicole DeRosier, one of the NWAACC’s best shooters, was one. The development of 6-foot-2 Highland sophomore Kate Urquhart was another and the recovery from a kidney infection and development of athletic 5-8 freshman guard Jocelyn Jones was yet another among numerous positive elements.

And the addition of forward Anna Marchbanks and point guard Rosetta Adzasu from national juco champion Central Arizona have been huge.

The active and agile 5-11 Marchbanks ranks as the NWAACC’s No. 3 scorer at 19.35 points per game and also is sixth in rebounding at 8.92. Adzasu, a lightning-quick 5-5 is second in steals and eighth in assists.

And while Marchbanks can score in transition or from the perimeter, Butler said her inside presence is something that separates this team from others he’s coached.

“She’s the first player we’ve had who can get that really big rebound,” he said. “When we were playing CBC up here they had a chance to win it, we forced a tough shot and Anna went up and just cleaned the glass.”

Maybe this year there will be a championship trophy for she and her teammates to polish, too.

First up for Yak men, No. 1 Chemeketa

YAKIMA, Wash. — They’re a No. 4 seed playing a No. 1 seed in the NWAACC Tournament, and from Ray Funk’s perspective that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Yakima Valley, a team that Funk insists is as talented as any he’s coached including the 2008 tourney champions, has traversed its share of speed bumps this season but will enter its first-round meeting with Chemeketa on an upswing. The Yaks have won seven of their last nine.

So if YVCC is going to knock off not only a No. 1 seed, but the No. 1-ranked team in the NWAACC, 8 p.m. today seems as good a time as any.

“I stand by the fact that we have as much talent as we’ve ever had,” Funk said via telephone Wednesday while scouting the Class 4A state tournament in the Tacoma Dome. “Early in the season that worked against us, from the standpoint of not having enough basketballs to go around. But now role acceptance has happened, and that has enabled us to go on.”

While the teams didn’t meet during the regular season, Yakima Valley (15-11) would seem to pose a threat to the Storm (22-2) tonight in Kennewick’s Toyota Center.

In addition to all-Eastern Region players Jordan Kidd, Damar Wilson and Derrick January, Wapato guard Willie Blodgett has joined Dennis Wilson, Caden Skelton, Ryan Dornik and 6-foot-10 Jonathan Kirvin as being what Funk termed “facilitators.”

The 6-2 Kidd, a freshman from Chief Sealth, is Yakima Valley’s top scorer at 17.6 points a game and is tied for the NWAACC lead in steals. Chemeketa, from Salem, Ore., has been led by 6-1 point guard Tyrone Phillips at 18.4 points.

The Storm, formerly coached by former Portland Trail Blazer and longtime NBA mentor Rick Adelman, also feature Patrick Adelman, a 5-7 sophomore point guard and Rick Adelman’s son.

“Chemeketa is very long and athletic,” Funk said. “Their front line is mobile, so we’re going to have to defend. We’ll know we’ll score points — it is, after all, the NWAACC — but the question is can we stop anybody?”

But as Funk hastened to add, “Crazy things happen in tournaments.”

The 16-team, double-elimination tournament runs through Tuesday.

Youthful Leopards bounced

Taller Pioneers end Zillah’s season ||

YAKIMA, Wash. — The progression of a high school basketball team, whether experienced or youthful, is never a steady one. And among the unfortunate things the postseason can bring is the magnification of such a team’s backward steps by good competition.

Witness Zillah’s girls.

The Leopards had dealt top-ranked Granger, a 2009 tournament finalist, its first defeat in their regular-season finale, then had come within a point of duplicating that feat in the SCAC district title game.

 

So coach Mindi Winters’ squad, short on both seniors (three) and size (no one taller than 5-foot-9 freshman Caitlin Myers) came into the SunDome riding waves of momentum and confidence.

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But after running smack into a talented and touted Freeman team in its opener, Zillah on Thursday encountered a Nooksack Valley squad whose record was distorted by the Class 2A and 3A foes in its Northwest Conference.

And the circumstances were not kind to the Leopards, as evidenced by a season-ending 42-28 defeat.

“It just seemed like the little things that sparked us when we were doing well, like when Alisi (Uasike) or Caitlin would get going, just didn’t happen,” Winters said. “And then when those things aren’t happening, confidence can suffer. With a young team, that can be fragile.”

Zillah (15-10) started strongly enough, especially Uasike. The active 5-8 junior, hampered Wednesday by early foul trouble, capped a 9-0 Leopards burst with a 3-pointer at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter.

Having scored seven of Zillah’s first nine points, Uasike then scored the next four, but only after the Pioneers (16-11) had rolled up 15 unanswered.

Nooksack led 20-15 at halftime, then held the Leopards without a field goal for the first 7:07 of the third quarter en route to a 29-17 lead. And complicating matters for Zillah was Uasike’s being whistled for her third foul at 5:16 of the third period and another at 6:25 of the fourth.

She fouled with 4:56 to play, having scored a game-high 15 points, and the Leopards down 31-22. NV then staged a 6-0 run to seal it.

Uasike also collected five rebounds and three steals. Whitney Winters, who scored six points in the fourth quarter, finished with eight and was the only Zillah player other than Uasike to hit a 3-pointer in 18 team attempts.

For the game, the Leopards made just eight field goals including two in the second half.

Austen Beard, a 5-9 senior, led Nooksack with 14 points and eight rebounds.

“People talk about what a great job Granger does — and they do — with being a team of 5-9 players and under,” Winters said, “and here we are with all our players 5-81?2 and under.

“But these girls have accomplished a lot this season, and I’m very proud of them. They have very big hearts, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

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