7 Mid-Columbia high school basketball teams bring home WA state trophies
The Kamiakin girls basketball team finished the season with a fifth-place trophy on Saturday at the WIAA Class 4A state basketball tournament in the Tacoma Dome.
The Braves had lost in the state semifinals on Friday, falling 64-53 to eventual state champion Eastlake.
Eastlake led 34-21 at intermission.
Nikole Thomas paced the Braves with 14 points and 3 steals, while Nicole Wertenberger and Liv Whitemarsh added 10 points each.
Overnight at the team’s hotel, the CO2 alarm went off at 2 a.m., and the players weren’t able to go back to bed until 4:30 a.m.
Still, the Braves played powerful Tahoma well enough to only lose 61-57.
Senior Maddy Rendall led Kamiakin with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while Wertenberger added 11 points and 5 rebounds.
4A boys
After falling to Mount Si in the Thursday quarterfinals, Richland’s boys lost to Gonzaga Prep 72-63 in a loser-out game on Friday.
Senior Jase Vopalensky led the Bombers with 17 points, while junior Luke Westerfield had a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Westerfield also had 5 blocked shots.
1B boys
Dean Wagenaar had hoped his No. 2 seed Sunnyside Christian boys could get that 10th state championship title for the school.
But the Knights couldn’t overcome a fast start by top-seeded Wellpinit, which ended up taking the 1B boys state title on Saturday night by a score of 55-50 in the Spokane Arena.
The Redskins led from the start, leading 15-6 after the first quarter, and then 26-15 at the half.
Cole Wagenaar led the Knights with 16 points and 8 rebounds, while Buddy Smeenk added 16 points and 7 rebounds.
David Wynecoop III led Wellpinit with 12 points in the victory.
Sunnyside Christian got to the title game by taking care of Southeast 1B rival DeSales in Friday night’s semifinal, winning 55-41. The Knights jumped out to a 12-2 first quarter lead and never trailed.
Cole Wagenaar led SSC with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while teammate Dash Bosma added 14 points.
DeSales senior Jack Lesko led the Irish with 20 points in the loss.
DeSales bounced back to finish third on Saturday, beating Willapa Valley 64-52.
Lesko led the team with 23 points (sinking 15 of 17 free throws), 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Teammate Carter Green added 15 points for the Irish.
2B boys
Columbia-Burbank bounced back from a disappointing Friday semifinal loss to beat Lind-Ritzville-Sprague-Washtucna 70-49 for third place on Saturday in Spokane.
Quincy Scott led the Coyotes with 20 points, while Tristan Frimodt added 14 points and 9 rebounds.
In Friday’s semifinal, Tennessee Rainwater had a monster game for Davenport — scoring 28 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing off 6 assists — as the Gorillas won 76-52.
Davenport, which won the state title Saturday night, led Burbank 42-22 at halftime.
Frimodt led the Coyotes with 17 points and 7 rebounds.
2A girls
Prosser’s girls bounced back from a semifinal loss on Friday to finish third at the 2A state tournament in Yakima.
On Saturday, the Mustangs beat White River 53-50, as Laylee Dixon scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and blocked 6 shots.
Kambree Blair added 6 points and 12 rebounds.
For the fourth time this season, Prosser played Ellensburg in the semifinals.
The Bulldogs, who won the state title Saturday to go 25-0 and 51-0 over the past two seasons, won 61-33.
Dixon scored 9 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Prosser finished the season 20-7, with four of the team’s losses to Ellensburg.
“We played really well in the district championship against them (a few weeks ago),” said Prosser coach Kyler Bachofner. “They’re hard to match up against. But we held their D1 player (Olivia Anderson) to under 10 points. I was proud of our defense.”
And he feels no one else could beat his young Mustangs.
“I feel we’re the second-best 2A team in the state,” Bachofner said. “That was the championship game right there.”
2B girls
In the Spokane Arena, Warden — which won the state title back in 2022 — finished third on Saturday by beating Napavine 54-47.
Lauryn Madsen led the Cougars with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 3 steals; while Quinn Erdmann added 14 points and 4 steals.
On Friday, Warden lost to eventual state champion Colfax 66-53 in the semifinals. The Cougars led after three quarters, but Colfax exploded with a 24-6 fourth quarter.
Madsen finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals in the loss.
▪ Mabton’s girls lost their loser-out game Friday at the 2B girls state tournament, falling to Adna 50-48.
Alana Zavala led the Vikings with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
2A boys
Prosser’s boys finished fifth in the 2A state tournament in Yakima.
The Mustangs lost 60-42 to eventual state champion Lynden in Friday’s semifinals. Koby McClure led Prosser with 12 points.
On Saturday, the Mustangs lost to Pullman 57-53 in the third-place game.
Kevin Flores — who was named to the second unit of the all-tournament team — finished the contest with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals. Kory McClure added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
