Defense falls short as Walla Walla sweeps YVCC

YAKIMA, Wash. — If sturdy low post defense is something you enjoy, Sherar Gym was a place to avoid on Saturday.

Because neither Yakima Valley’s men or women were able to summon much in that regard during their regular-season finales with Walla Walla — the women falling 75-68 before the men bowed 92-90.

And while both squads had already secured NWAACC Tournament berths, the defeats did affect their seeding.

YVCC’s men (9-5 East Region, 16-10 overall) will be a No. 4 seed and will play second-ranked Clark (25-2) in a first-round game at 6 p.m. next Saturday at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

The sixth-ranked Yaks women (10-4, 20-7), seeded third, will also meet Clark (20-6) at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The 16-team, double-elimination events run through Tuesday.

Walla Walla’s Tai Jensen, a 6-foot sophomore, scored 23 points in the women’s game. But that performance paled in comparison with her men’s counterpart, 6-5 Dallen Bills, who rolled up 34 on 14-of-16 field goal shooting — the overwhelming majority of which were layups or dunks against a Yakima Valley defense that could have been politely called soft.

Coming into the game, Bills was not among the NWAACC’s top 20 scorers.

As if his exploits weren’t enough, guard Mac Stannard added 29 in a game that saw 182 points scored despite what was predominantly a half-court tempo.

“We seem to be mastering the heart-breaking defeat,” said YVCC men’s coach Ray Funk, whose team played immeasurably better in a 73-72 Thursday night loss to region champion Spokane.

“The good news is we’re all 0-0 when the tournament starts. But we’re a little bit of a dysfunctional team right now, and we’ve got to get things straightened out in a fairly short amount of time.”

Defensive indiscretions aside, the Yaks had a chance to win.

Down 75-62 with 10:13 to play, they scrambled to within two, and caught a break when Walla Walla’s Caleb Bravard missed two free throws with 10.9 seconds to play.

YVCC’s Dabrail Henton rebounded — his game-high 15th — and teammate Jason Bagby got a fall-away bank shot from about eight feet that missed just prior to the buzzer.

Amir Royal led the Yaks with 26 points and Cameron Jensen had 22.

The Warriors (10-4, 19-8) shot 51 percent from the field, including 58 during a first half in which Bills did not miss in 10 attempts.

The women’s game was closer than the final score indicated, and offset a 29-point, seven-rebound, two-assist, two-steal outing from Simone Jordan.

A back-and-forth affair (nine ties, 13 lead changes) saw YVCC take a 68-67 lead with 1:14 to play on five unanswered points by Kaylah Gonzales.

Jensen then missed inside, and Yakima Valley’s Brittney Newcomb dived to the floor in pursuit of the rebound. Her pass toward a teammate was intercepted, however, and Sienna Edmundson of Walla Walla (11-3, 20-6) was fouled and made two free throws to ignite an 8-0 Warriors finish.

“Brittney should have called timeout — we had four left,” YVCC coach Cody Butler said. “We keep the ball, they foul us and we win. Also, the foul they called on us was very weak. It should not have been called.”

Newcomb was the Yaks’ only other double-digit scorer with 13 points. Alex Pfefferle scored 18 points for Walla Walla, Edmundson had 12 and former Granger High School standout Janae Klarich added seven.

WALLA WALLA MEN 92, YAKIMA VALLEY 90

WALLA WALLA — Crane 0-0 1-4 1, Radliff 0-7 2-2 2, Jay Payne 4-12 3-3 15, Mac Stannard 10-16 8-9 29, Dallen Bills 14-16 6-9 34, Bravard 1-4 2-4 4, Hahn 0-2 0-0 0, Arias 1-3 0-0 2, Hight 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 32-63 22-31 92.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Diggs 2-8 5-5 9, Amir Royal 11-16 2-3 26, Bagby 2-5 1-2 5, Dabrail Henton 3-12 4-6 10, Cameron Jensen 8-14 3-3 22, DeShawn Battle 3-6 4-5 10, Martinez 2-3 1-2 5, Romero 0-0 0-0 0, Flowers 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 32-66 20-26 90.

Halftime — WWCC 40-38. 3-point goals — WWCC 6-24 (Radliff 0-4, Payne 4-12, Stannard 1-2, Bravard 0-3, Hahn 0-1, Arias 1-2); YVCC 6-14 (Royal 2-5, Henton 0-2, Jensen 3-6, Flowers 1-1). Fouled out — Royal. Rebounds — WWCC 37 (Bills 9); YVCC 38 (Henton 15). Turnovers — WWCC 14, YVCC 14. Total fouls — WWCC 20, YVCC 22.

WALLA WALLA WOMEN 75, YAKIMA VALLEY 68

WALLA WALLA — Klarich 3-8 0-0 7, Stillar 2-9 0-0 4, Felgenhauer 1-4 0-0 2, Sienna Edmundson 4-7 3-4 12, Tai Jensen 5-16 13-13 23, Seitz 1-5 0-0 2, Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Pfefferle 6-11 4-4 18, Humphries 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 25-65 21-23 75.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Brittney Newcomb 5-14 1-2 13, K. Gonzales 3-9 0-0 8, Lekson 2-6 0-0 4, Simone Jordan 12-17 3-5 29, Zapien 3-9 2-2 8, Brewster 0-2 0-0 0, Cox 0-4 0-0 0, Swetzof 2-4 1-2 6, A. Gonzales 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 7-11 68.

Halftime — WWCC 38-34. 3-point goals — WWCC 4-14 (Seitz 0-1, Klarich 1-2, Stillar 0-4, Pfefferle 2-5, Edmundson 1-2); YVCC 7-29 (Newcomb 2-8, Swetzof 1-3, K. Gonzales 2-8, Lekson 0-3, Jordan 2-5). Turnovers — WWCC 14, YVCC 11. Fouled out — Zapien. Total fouls — WWCC 12, YVCC 17.