College Basketball — YVCC women, men find their ways past CBC

By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

It's not like they weren't trying to score.

If anything, Yakima Valley's women were probably trying too hard, falling victim to that tiny bit of subconscious, excessive and often counterproductive energy that can come with playing a big game in front of a big crowd against a rival team.

KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Valley's Taitum Dixie drives against Columbia Basin's Lela Buck on Sunday in Sherar Gym.

YVCC's men, while not playing for the Eastern Region lead, dealt a definite blow to the Hawks' hopes with a 97-87 triumph, making it a home-team two-for Sunday in Sherar Gym.

Yakima Valley's women improved to 9-2 in region play and 23-3 for the season while CBC slipped to 8-3 and 17-7. The Yaks men rose to 3-8 and 11-14 while dropping the Hawks to 7-4 and 19-5.

KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic The Yaks' Shaunte Nance-Johnston is fouled by Columbia Basin's Alexandria Allen.

Nance-Johnson made several key plays in a game that saw the Yaks lead most of the way, but never by more than eight points.

The biggest might have come with YVCC's lead at 55-52 with 1:05 to play. After the Hawks called time to set up a full-court press, Nance-Johnson took the inbounds pass, zig-zagged quickly through the defenders and fed Chelsie Morrison for layup. Fouled on the play, Morrison made the free throw for a 58-52 lead with 59 seconds left.

Columbia Basin responded with a 3-pointer by Nikki DePeel, but Nance-Johnson made one of two free throws at 0:46, added another foul shot with 19 seconds left and then iced the win with a steal in the final seconds.

Morrison led YVCC's scoring with 13 points despite limited playing time due to foul trouble. Nance-Johnson had 11 points, four assists, four steals and committed only one turnover in 30-plus minutes of court time.

Tana Stickney had a rough shooting night, perhaps due to two jammed fingers on her right hand, but nonetheless collected 10 rebounds. And Bryna Trescott came off the bench for 10 boards, too.

"To me, the difference was two things," said Hawks coach Cheryl Holden. "One was their offensive rebounding — they really crashed the boards. The other was our free-throw shooting."

Indeed, the Yaks compiled a 28-14 advantage on the offensive glass, with Trescott grabbing six and Stickney five, and CBC made only 12 of 22 from the foul line.

Brittany Cherry led the Hawks with 24 points, while Alexandria Allen, a former White Swan teammate of YVCC's Andrea Blodgett, had 18.

"Big game, great win," said YVCC coach Cody Butler. "If we win our last three (at Treasure Valley on Friday, at Blue Mountain on Saturday and at home against Wenatchee Valley on Feb. 21), we'll win the league title. That's always great, plus it gives us a seeding advantage in the NWAACC Tournament."

Coach Ray Funk's men won't be involved in the four-day, 16-team, double-elimination event March 1-4 in Kennewick, but they're nonetheless making their presence felt in the Eastern Region race.

Yakima Valley's win jeopardized the third-place Hawks' chances, dropping them nearer fourth-place Blue Mountain (6-5) and fifth-place Spokane (5-6). The top four teams in each region qualify.

"We've put together four pretty good games in a row, now," Funk said, "and that says a lot about our kids. A lot of NWAACC teams in our position would just sort of mail it in."

The Yaks clearly didn't, riding the 33 points of Anthony Johnson and the 23 of Manaway.

Down 41-36 at halftime, YVCC drew even at 57-57 via two WaLynn Burgess free throws with 14:19 to play and, after a period of exchanging leads, the Yaks surged ahead for keeps on a Manaway 3-pointer with 4:37 left.

Successive steals and hoops by Johnson and Edwin Dixon sparked a 9-0 run in the final two minutes that sealed it.

Jeff Curfman came off the bench for 17 points and Burgess, also playing in reserve, had 14.

Johnson's big night included 11-for-18 field goal shooting, along with 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

"Anthony is such a talent," Funk said of the 6-foot-3 freshman from Tacoma's Stadium High School, "and he's become a much better team player. He's already a very good player, and he's going to get better."

Andrew Kilgore, a 6-8 freshman from Meridian, Idaho, led CBC with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and former Ellensburg High School standout Riley Sivak finished with 20 points.

YAKIMA VALLEY WOMEN 62, COLUMBIA BASIN 57

COLUMBIA BASIN — DePeel 2-8 4-8 7, Edwards 0-2 0-1 0, Thomas 0-5 4-6 4, Alexandria Allen 9-15 0-0 18, Chandler 0-4 2-3 2, Begali 0-1 0-0 0, Welch 1-2 0-2 2, Brittany Cherry 11-17 2-2 24. Totals 22-54 12-22 57.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Shaunte Nance-Johnson 4-13 3-6 11, Blodgett 3-12 2-2 9, Honn 4-9 1-2 9, Chelsie Morrison 13, Stickney 1-8 2-4 4, Hansen 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 2-2 0-0 7, Trescott 1-4 3-4 5, Dixey 2-4 0-1 4, Carlos 0-1 0-0 0, Streff 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-74 14-23 62.

Halftime — Yakima Valley 23, Columbia Basin 22. 3-point goals — Columbia Basin 1-10 (DePeel 1-7, Thomas 0-2, Cherry 0-1); Yakima Valley 2-10 (Blodgett 1-5, Hansen 0-1, Jones 1-4). Fouled out — Morrison. Rebounds — Columbia Basin 42 (Cherry 8, Allen 8); Yakima Valley 52 (Stickney 10, Trescott 10). Assists — Columbia Basin 10 (Allen 5); Yakima Valley 7 (Nance-Johnson 4); Turnovers — Columbia Basin 18, Yakima Valley 6. Total fouls — Columbia Basin 20, Yakima Valley 20.

YAKIMA VALLEY MEN 97, COLUMBIA BASIN 87

COLUMBIA BASIN — Hammond 4-7 0-0 9, Blessinger 2-4 1-3 9, Dean Colbray 5-13 0-0 11, Riley Sivak 7-16 5-6 20, Andrew Kilgore 10-15 4-4 25, Mson 2-2 0-0 4, Collier 3-5 1-2 7, Reuben 0-1 0-0 0, Repp 0-2 1-2 1, Beribak 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 34-69 13-19 87.

YAKIMA VALLEY — Bryan Manaway 11-25 1-2 23, Kelsey 1-3 0-02, Williams 0-4 0-0 0, Anthony Johnson 11-16 7-8 33, Dixon 2-4 1-2 5, Bollman 1-6 0-0 3, WaLynn Burgess 6-7 2-2 14, Jeff Curfman 6-13 4-5 17. Totals 38-80 15-19 97.

Halftime — Columbia Basin 46, Yakima Valley 41. 3-point goals — Columbia Basin 6-13 (Hammond 1-2, Blessinger 2-2, Collier 0-1, Colbray 1-5, Sivak 1-1, Kilgore 1-2); Yakima Valley 6-22 (Manaway 0-4, Bollman 1-5, Williams 0-2, Johnson 4-6, Curfman 1-5). Fouled out — None. Assists — Columbia Basin 7 (Hammond 5); Yakima Valley 12 (Dixon 4). Turnovers — Columbia Basin 16, Yakima Valley 13. Technical fouls — Kilgore. Total fouls — Columbia Basin 18, Yakima Valley 17.