District 8 tournament: West Valley girls take 2A title; Central Valley boys upset Richland; Mt. Spokane boys downs rival Mead

The second day of the District 8 tournament featuring teams from the Greater Spokane League and the Mid-Columbia Conference saw six more teams earn bids to the state tournaments, including crowning the 2A champions – the district’s lone bids to state.

2A

West Valley 50, Clarkston 43: Chloe DeHaro has led West Valley in scoring all season long. On Saturday, she got a lot of help.

DeHaro finished with 11 points and the Eagles (19-2) topped the Bantams (15-7) in the girls 2A championship game and claimed the district’s bid to state.

“We knew they were gonna come after us,” West Valley coach Rick Jones said. “(Clarkston) is such a good team. I mean, it’s just too bad that only one team gets to go (to state).

“To defeat a team that good three times is really special for us to be able do that.”

West Valley had four players with eight or more points.

Delani Walker, who is headed to Eastern Washington for soccer, scored eight points for WV.

“It just happened that way,” Walker said. “I think we were all mentally locked in and ready to go and it showed.”

“We just were so unselfish, spreading the ball around. It’s just so good,” Jones said.

Walker hit a pair of early 3s and West Valley raced out to a 14-4 lead after one quarter. Aliyah Henry picked up six points early in the second quarter, then DeHaro hit a 3 late and West Valley led 31-14 at the half.

The Bantams’ Kendall Wallace and Erika Pickett hit 3s early in the fourth quarter, and Wallace’s 3 with 33 seconds left made it 48-43. But the Eagles hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold on and advance.

“These girls and I have been battling through this whole season and we put countless amount of hours into the gym,” Walker said. “It’s finally paid off and we get to go experience once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Pullman 58, West Valley 39: With the district receiving just one bid to state, it meant one of the top eight teams ranked by the WIAA RPI in the classification would automatically be left out of the state tournament.

Pullman entered No. 5, West Valley No. 8.

With the Eagles perhaps worn down from qualifying on Thursday, Pullman took full advantage. Tanner Barbour scored 20 points, Jaedyn Brown had 17 and the Greyhounds (20-2) beat the Eagles (18-5) in the boys 2A championship game to take the sole bid.

“I’m not so sure Clarkson shouldn’t be in there, too,” Pullman coach Craig Brantner said. “I mean, RPI-wise it’s three of the top 12. And I’m disappointed that we don’t play a crossover. I wish we would.”

Turner Livingston led West Valley with 13 points.

“After we watched them play the other night against Clarkston, we were definitely worried about their 3-pointers,” Brantner said. “I thought we did a great job of defending 3s today.”

Brown had 10 points in the first quarter with a couple of deep 3s and Pullman led 19-11 after one quarter. Barbour took over the second quarter with 10 points and Pullman doubled up West Valley 38-19 at halftime.

“Tanner had an excellent shooting night tonight, had some big 3,” Brantner said. “Very timely 3s. He did a great job on the defensive effort.”

3A

Mt. Spokane 61, Mead 49: It’s hard to imagine two teams that know each other better.

“When it comes to the third (game) and you know each other so well – these guys have played against each other since like the third grade, so there weren’t any surprises,” Mt. Spokane coach David Wagenblast said.

For three quarters, it was the tight game everyone expected. The fourth quarter told a different story.

Sophomore Ryan Lafferty scored 18 points, senior Xavier Kamalu-Vargas added 14 playing through foul trouble and the Wildcats (19-4) outlasted the Panthers (11-11) in the boys 3A third-place game.

Liam Blanchat, who didn’t play in the first half, led Mead with 13 points.

“More games. more fun,” Kamalu-Vargas said. “And that was fun.”

It was a four-point game heading into the fourth quarter but the Wildcats had more in the tank.

“We took the fire out of them (in the fourth quarter) and that’s what was the game changer,” Kamalu-Vargas said.

“In the playoffs you just ask for everything from your kids and I will say that both teams obviously left it out there,” Wagenblast said. “Maybe this made us a little tougher and a little stronger.”

Kennewick 55, Ferris 54: Freshman Hanna Fiander hit a runner as the final horn sounded – her only basket of the game – and the Lions (10-11) edged the Saxons (17-6) in the girls 3A third-place game.

Dylyn Dress scored 19 points and Haylee Johnson had 18 for Kennewick.

Freshman Kayla Jones led Ferris with 19, including a 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left to give Ferris the lead.

Ferris coach Scott Ward praised his seniors, Kacey Spink and Elliot Hencz in particular, for helping turn around the program. Hencz scored 12 points, all in the second half, and Spink had eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

“They’ve just been there from Day One, really working hard and putting in extra work and, you know, when they came to the program we just weren’t a winning program at all,” Ward said. “And they had to believe that we could be and they showed we could be. They put in the work.”

“I mean, from where I started freshman year to where we ended our team has put in the effort and all the work,” Spink said. “I think everybody knows that and it’s just an awful way to lose my senior season.”

Hencz scored 10 points in the third quarter and the Saxons led 42-36, but the Lions got back-to-back 3s to tie it at 44 early in the fourth quarter.

4A

Central Valley 60, Richland 57: Richland did everything it could to stop Dylan Darling. And while it might have slowed him at times, it was Darling at the end that spelled the Bombers’ demise.

Darling scored 26 points, including both ends of a 1-and-1 with 6.1 seconds left, and the Bears (15-6) knocked off the Bombers (18-5) – rated No. 10 in the state RPI – in the boys 4A third-place game.

“We had some role players knock down some big shots for us there,” acting Central Valley coach Geoff Arte said. “And then we got Dylan at the end. That helps.”

CV has come a long way in a short time.

“We were so young early. We didn’t know,” Arte said. “You never know what you have when you don’t have a lot of guys who played varsity minutes.”

Down one, CV called timeout with 46 seconds left. Darling scored on a scoop around 6-foot-9 post Lucas Westerfield. The Bears got a stop at the defensive end, Darling hit both ends of a 1-and-1, then blocked Josh Woodard’s last-second shot near midcourt to preserve the upset.

“We knew playoff basketball is going to be tough,” Darling said. “They’re a really good team and they shoot the lights out, so we knew they were gonna come back. We just needed to keep our heads and play good basketball.”

CV led by 10 entering the fourth quarter, but Richland clamped down on double-teaming Darling and the Bombers scored the first 10 points to tie it.

Josh Woodard led Richland with 17 points and Westerfield finished with 12 – eight in the Bombers’ fourth-quarter run.

Pasco 55, Gonzaga Prep 45: Taija Mackey scored 25 points, all but one within 3 feet of the basket, and the Bulldogs (20-0), rated No. 2 in the state by the RPI, beat the Bullpups (17-4) in the girls 4A third-place game. Sitara Byrd led Gonzaga Prep with 18 points and Lucy Lynn added 13.

“Coming out of summer, we were just like one of those teams that was kind of middle of the pack,” G-Prep coach Mike Arte said. “The girls really jelled together. We had great senior leadership from Sitara and Shanaya (Byrd). That really pulled us together all year. In my 34 years of coaching, it’s one of the funnest groups I’ve ever coached.”

Leading by one at halftime, Pasco came out of the break with a 10-4 run and led 38-33 after three quarters

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