Grandview is in. Few spots remain for Mid-Columbia teams in WA basketball championships
On Thursday, Grandview’s boys basketball team was added to the roster of Mid-Columbia qualifiers to the various state high school tournaments.
The host Greyhounds snared the area’s top Class 2A state berth by beating Prosser.
That gives the region a total of 10 teams — with more possibly to come in the next few days — to have qualified for state.
District tournaments all around the state must be completed by Saturday.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will meet on Sunday morning to determine the seedlings of each tournament.
Here is a look at what our area’s teams did on Thursday:
Class 4A boys
LEWIS & CLARK 60, KAMIAKIN 58: Kamiakin saw its season end when Lewis & Clark’s Luke Jessop scored on a driving layup at the buzzer in a loser-out game at Kamiakin.
Lewis & Clark advances to play at Richland at 6 p.m. Saturday for the district’s second state tournament berth.
Class 4A girls
CHIAWANA 70, CENTRAL VALLEY 42: Junior Malia Ruud scored as many points as the entire visiting Bears team did in a loser-out game in Pasco.
Ruud scored 42 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, as the Riverhawks advance to another rematch against Gonzaga Prep on Saturday. Tip-off will be at 4 p.m., and it will be the third meeting between these two schools this season.
Winner advances to state, loser is done.
Junior Kaia Foster added 14 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists for Chiawana.
Class 3A boys
WALLA WALLA 66, KENNEWICK 58 (2 OT): The host Blue Devils stayed alive in the district tournament by eliminating the Lions.
So now, Wa-Hi will host Ridgeline — a 65-47 winner over University — at 5 p.m. on Saturday for the district’s third berth to state.
Class 3A girlsUNIVERSITY 65, WALLA WALLA 60: Visiting U-Hi eliminated Walla Walla from the district tournament.
University will play Ridgeline for the district third state berth on Saturday.
Kennewick, which has already clinched a state berth, plays at Mead at 5 p.m., Saturday, in the district championship.
Class 2A boys
GRANDVIEW 67, PROSSER 49: The host Greyhounds won the 2A CWAC district title, leading the neighbors for most of the game.
Grandview now awaits for the WIAA’s assignment of who and where it will play.
Prosser still has a shot of advancing to state. The Mustangs will play host to Selah at 5 p.m. Saturday for a winner-to-state game.
Class 1A boys
ZILLAH 64, ROYAL 52: Royal lost the 1A SCAC championship game, played at Wahluke High School.
Zillah earns the district’s top spot to state, but the Knights still have a chance to qualify. They’ll play Wapato at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, at Royal, for the second state berth.
Class 2B boys
STATE QUALIFIERS SET: White Swan eliminated host River View 66-58, while host Cle Elum ousted Mabton 66-50 in District 5 2B tournament games on Thursday.
That means White Swan and Cle Elum earned the district’s third and fourth (respectively) state 2B berths.
Those two teams will meet at 3 p.m. Saturday at Burbank for third and fourth place.
Meanwhile, Tri-Cities Prep will visit Burbank at 6 p.m. Friday for the championship game.
Boys swimming
The WIAA boys state high school swimming and diving championships got underway Thursday at the King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.
Chiawana senior Matthew Logston finished his prep career Thursday afternoon by placing fifth out of 20 divers in the 4A diving competition. Logston scored 321.75 points in his dives.
After the preliminaries, Logston had settled into fifth place.
But he dropped to sixth after the semifinals. He came up with a few good dives in them finals to get back into fifth.Mt. Rainier’s Corwin Lindeman ended up winning the competition, finishing with 449.10 points.
All preliminaries for the three meets — Class 4A, 3A, and 1A/2A — will be held Friday. All finals will be held on Saturday.
The Mid-Columbia is sending eight swimmers from Hanford, one from Richland, eight from Walla Walla, and one from Prosser to the meet.
In the 4A meet, Hanford senior Herky Wright comes into the 200 IM event with a good chance at a high podium finish. Wright is ranked second among all 20 competitors going in with a time of 1 minute, 54.38 second.
Wright also has a good shot to do well in the 100 backstroke, ranked fifth with a time of 51.76 seconds. Richland’s Cody Cowin is ranked seventh in the same event at 51.85 seconds.
In the 3A meet, Walla Walla has a few swimmers who could place high.
Noah Stillman is ranked fourth heading into the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.77 seconds. Stillman is also ranked sixth in the 100 backstroke at 53.06 seconds.
Blue Devils sophomore Eli Bona is ranked fifth heading into the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:47.94; and senior Jesse Snyder is sixth in the 100 breaststroke at 58.95 seconds.
Here are all Mid-Columbia competitors competing in the WIAA meet this week:
CLASS 4A
Chiawana: Matthew Logston, sr., 5th in 1-meter diving, 321.75 points.
Hanford: Connor Hodges, so. (200 free relay, 200 medley relay); Jadley Jeppson, sr. (200 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 500 free); Porter Kartcher, sr. (200 free relay); Luke Nielson, jr. (100 breast, 100 fly, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay); Luca Rolodex, jr. (200 free relay); Colin Shen, jr. (400 free relay); Aiden Wang, fr., (200 medley relay); Herky Wright, sr., (100 back, 200 IM, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay).
Richland: Cody Cowin, jr. (50 free, 100 back).
CLASS 3A
Walla Walla: Eli Bona, so. (200 free, 400 free relay, 500 free); Jake Buratto, jr. (400 free relay); Zechariah Frierson, sr. (200 free relay); Hayes Hendley, so. (100 fly, 200 free, 400 free relay); Graham Johnson, jr. (200 medley relay, 500 free); Jesse Snyder, sr. (100 breast, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay); Noah Stillman, so. (100 back, 100 free, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay); Jerry Yao, jr. (200 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay).
CLASS 1A/2A
Prosser: Jimmy Park, fr. (100 fly).
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.
