Colleges: YVCC men rally, clinch tourney berth

PENDLETON, Ore. — Yakima Valley shot a robust 56 percent in the second half and overcame a six-point deficit in the final minutes Saturday to beat Blue Mountain 78-73 to clinch a spot in next month’s NWAACC Tournament.

It’s the fifth straight season the Yaks have qualified for the tournament, and sixth time in the past seven seasons they’ve claimed a spot in the 16-team field.

DeShawn Battle and Amir Royal each had 18 points and Dabrail Henton added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Yaks (9-3 East Region, 16-8 overall).

Ryan Strand scored 24 points for Blue Mountain.

The Yaks conclude their regular season with home games Wednesday night against Spokane and Saturday versus Walla Walla.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Johnnie Diggs 3-6 3-4 10, DeShawn Battle 6-12 2-2 18, Amir Royal 7-12 3-4 18, Martinez 0-1 0-0 0, Bagby 0-3 2-2 2, Molina 3-6 1-2 8, Dabrail Henton 4-11 3-6 14, Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Romero 1-4 0-0 2, Flowers 2-4 0-0 6. Totals 26-60 14-20 78.

BLUE MOUNTAIN — Burt 3-7 1-1 8, Johnson 2-8 1-2 6, Hermann 1-5 0-0 2, Davis 6-11 2-2 14, Ryan Strand 12-25 0-0 24, Nathan Walker 1-2 8-10 11, Adams 2-9 0-0 6, Peisner 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-68 12-15 73.

Halftime—Blue Mountain 39, Yakima Valley 34. 3-point goals—Yakima Valley 12-26 (Battle 4-7, Henton 3-9, Flowers 2-2, Molina 1-1, Diggs 1-3, Royal 1-3, Martinez 0-1), Blue Mountain 5-17 (Adams 2-9, Walker 1-1, Burt 1-3, Johnson 1-4). Fouled out—none. Rebounds—Yakima Valley 43 (Henton 9), Blue Mountain 41 (Strand 9). Assists—Yakima Valley 10 (Diggs 6), Blue Mountain 19 (Hermann 5). Total fouls—Yakima Valley 18, Blue Mountain 14.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tourney-bound Yaks roll on

PENDLETON, Ore. — Simone Jordan scored 20 points to lead four Yakima Valley scorers in double figures as the NWAACC Tournament-bound Yaks overwhelmed Blue Mountain 78-52 Saturday in an East Region game.

YVCC (9-3 region,19-6) secured a tournament berth with Friday’s win at Treasure Valley.

Jordan, in addition to her 20 points, had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ashley Swetzof came of the bench for 13 points while Kaylah Gonzales, Jaimi Cox and Hannah Lekson scored 10 each, with Gonzales collecting four steals.

The Yaks led 30-26 at halftime, but made 17 of 21 free throws in the second half and improved their field goal shooting from 32 percent to 44 percent and broke the game open with a 37-9 run to open the half.

Stephanie Lopez scored 15 points to lead the Timberwolves (7-5, 15-8).

YVCC, ranked sixth in the NWAACC, concludes its regular season with home games Wednesday night against Spokane and Saturday against Walla Walla.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Newcomb 2-6 2-3 6, Jaimi Cox 5-12 0-0 10, Kaylah Gonzales 2-6 5-6 10, Simone Jordan 7-16 6-9 20, Zapien 1-5 4-6 6, Ashley Swetzof 4-10 3-4 13, A. Gonzales 1-3 0-0 2, Hannah Lekson 5-10 0-0 10, Weaver 0-3 0-0 0, Smythe 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-72 21-30 78.

BLUE MOUNTAIN — Cambronero 2-16 2-3 7, Stephanie Lopez 4-13 6-8 15, Telles 0-3 0-0 0, McIntyre 3-4 0-0 6, Mikel Harrington 5-12 4-4 14, Stover 0-2 0-0 0, Weaver 0-3 2-7 2, Savedra 2-4 1-1 6, McKay 0-2 0-0 0, Rominger 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-61 15-23 52.

Halftime — YVCC 30-26. 3-point goals — YVCC 3-24 (Newcomb 0-4, Swetzof 2-7, K. Gonzales 1-5, Lekson 0-2, Jordan 0-4, Weaver 0-2); BMCC -17 (Cambronero 1-6, Stover 0-1, Savedra 1-2, McKay 0-2, Lopez 1-5, Harrington 0-1). Fouled out — Lopez. Assists — YVCC 9 (Jordan 5); BMCC 8 (Rominger 2); Turnovers — YVCC 13, BMCC 28. Total fouls — YVCC 18, BMCC 19.

Western outlasts CWU

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Central Washington’s Jessica VanDyke scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as rival Western Washington pulled away from the Wildcats in the second half for a 75-64 victory Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Sophie Russell added 21 points, 14 of them in the second half, for CWU, which fell to 8-16 overall and 4-12 in the GNAC.

Corinn Waltrip led a balanced WWU attack with 15 points and six assists for the Vikings, who were sixth in the NCAA Division II West Region rankings this week and have already clinched a berth in the GNAC Tournament. The Vikings (18-6 overall, 12-4 GNAC) have won six of their last seven games.

Mabton’s Trishi Williams had nine points for WWU.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Jessica VanDyke 9-14 3-4 25, Sophie Russell 5-14 7-10 21, Dunn 2-11 2-2 7, Valdez 2-4 0-0 4, Burke 1-7 0-0 3, Johnson 1-4 0-0 3, Rethwill, 0-0 1-2 1, Martinez 0-0 0-0 0, Moser 0-2 0-0 0, Albrecht 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 13-18 64.

WESTERN WASHINGTON — Corinn Waltrip 6-13 0-0 15, Kristin Schramm 5-14 2-2 14, Britt Harris 7-12 0-0 14, Williams 4-8 1-2 9, Hill 2-5 3-4 8, Donaldson 3-5 0-0 6, Bernsen 1-3 2-2 4, Ramstead 1-2 0-0 3, White 1-3 0-0 2, Colard 0-1 0-0 0, Feeney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-67 8-10 75.

Halftime—WWU 37, CWU 34. 3-point goals—CWU 11-28 (VanDyke 4-8, Russell 4-12, Burke 1-3, Johnson 1-3, Dunn 1-2), WWU 7-17 (Waltrip 3-5, Schramm 2-6, Hill 1-1, Ramstead 1-1, White 0-1, Colard 0-1, Feeney 0-1, Donaldson 0-1). Fouled out—CWU-None, WWU-None. Rebounds—CWU 38 (VanDyke 10), WWU 38 (Harris 7). Assists—CWU 8 (Albrecht,Stacy 3), WWU 20 (Waltrip 6). Total fouls—CWU 13, WWU 12. Technical fouls—CWU-None, WWU-None. A-748.

TRACK AND FIELD

CWU men second in GNAC Indoor

NAMPA, Idaho — Junior Scott Hunter and senior Bryan Mack each won one event and finished second in another as the Central Washington men’s track and field team finished second at the GNAC Indoor Track and Field Championships that concluded Saturday at Jackson’s Track at the Idaho Center.

Central, which led the meet after four events held on Friday, finished behind Western Oregon in the final team standings with 122 points in 16 events, including 81 in 12 events completed on Saturday.

Hunter won the men’s pole vault by clearing 4.55 meters (14 feet, 11 inches). Mack won the men’s 60 meters in 6.90 seconds, only 0.01 seconds shy of the conference championship meet record, and was the lone sub-seven-second time in the event. He also added a second-place mark in the triple jump, leaping 14.21 meters (46-7 1/2).

On the women’s side, Central Washington finished sixth out of eight teams.

Following a victory by senior Kati Davis in the women’s pole vault on Friday, the Wildcats had just six top-five event finishes on Saturday. Leading the way were third-place finishes by freshman Tayler Fettig, junior Katharine Lotze and junior Kelsey Kreft in the high jump, triple jump, and 5,000 meters, respectively.

BASEBALL

CWU drops pair in Lewiston

LEWISTON, Idaho — Brandon Wang had the second four-hit game of his career, but Central Washington fell to No. 17 Western Oregon 6-3 on Saturday morning at the Inland Cellular Tournament at Harris Field.

The Wildcats lost to tournament host Lewis-Clark State 7-1 in their second game of the day.

Wang’s hits, all singles, came in the first, second, fifth and sixth innings of the first game and were part of a 14-hit effort from Central Washington (2-7).

Western Oregon scored three times in the fifth inning on two hits, three walks and two sacrifice flies.

The Wolves (9-3) added two more runs in the sixth.

In the second game, Central Washington managed just four singles in its 10th consecutive loss to LCSC. The only run for the Wildcats came on a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Ryerson.

Western Oregon 6, Central Washington 3

Central 200 001 000 — 3 14 0

W. Oregon 100 032 00x — 6 9 1

Engel, Jones (5), Knutson (8) and Sani; Bradshaw, Burke (7) and David.

CWU highlights: Brandon Wang 4-5, RBI; Brett Bielec 2-4; Brady Kincannon 2-4, RBI; Derrick Webb 2b.

Lewis-Clark State 7, Central Washington 1

Central 001 000 000 — 1 4 0

Lewis-Clark 111 301 00x — 7 12 1

Long, Hastings (6), Cruzen (8) and Swartz; Pentecost, Wilhite (7) and DeGuire.

CWU highlights: Jimmy Ryerson RBI; Ethan Sterkel 1-3.

FASTPITCH

CWU splits on the road

NAMPA, Idaho — Central Washington outslug Northwest Nazarene 11-9 Saturday to earn a split in a GNAC doubleheader.

The Crusaders won the opener 2-1.

The Wildcats are 4-5 overall and 3-1 in conference.

No other information was available at press time.