CWAC-leading Selah boys get to Othello early in 80-53 victory

OTHELLO — In the boxing world, they call it getting caught.

Selah guard Elijah Pepper scored 14 points in first quarter and outscored the Othello Huskies in the first half all by himself. The 6-foot-2 Viking sophomore had 23 of his game-high 29 points in the first half and the Central Washington Athletic Conference-leading Vikings (16-3, 15-2 CWAC) rolled to a 80-53 victory over the Huskies Tuesday night.

It didn’t help that the Huskies (2-17, 2-14 CWAC) came out flat and ran into a buzzsaw in the first eight minutes. For a couple of sophomores, Pepper and shooting guard Calvin Herting took control early, scoring 20 of the Vikings 26 first-quarter points. They combined for four 3-point goals in the first quarter and Selah jumped out to a 47-21 lead at the intermission.

“We got into some kind of funk, honestly. But we tried our hardest,” said Othello guard Elias Valdez. “We didn’t give it a go in the first quarter and by the time we rebounded in the second half it was too late.”

Pepper led all scorers with 29 points and Herting finished with 18. Adrian Garza came off the bench and scored 10 for the Huskies. Senior Trenton Cutforth also had 10 points for Othello, which had just seven points in the second quarter.

“It’s been a long season, but we still play with pride,” Valdez said. “We still keep our heads up and work hard every day in practice. We have a lot of character and potential. I think If we play more in the summer we’d be able to get the pieces in place.

Jose Gomez finished the game with six points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Huskies. Trevor Hilmes, 6-foot-1 junior, had four of his eight points in the fourth quarter, which proved to be the most productive as the Huskies finished with 21 points in the final eight minutes.

Score by quarters Selah 26 21 18 15 — 80 Othello 14 7 11 21 — 53

Selah — Calvin Herting 18, Zach Donato 8, Brader Davis 4, Dac Archer 1, Wil Middlebrooks 3, Riley Quincy 4, Cort Dietrich 2, Giovanni Baldoz 7, Caleb Walter 4, Elijah Pepper 29. Totals — Field goals: 29. 3-point goals: 8. Free throws: 14-24. Score: 80

Othello — Joseph Lopez 7, Kyler Villarreal 3, Jonathan Garza 2, Adrian Garza 10, Trevor Hilmes 8, Jose Gomez 6, Trenton Cutforth 10, Michael Gutierrez 4, Diego Buenrostro 3. Totals — Field goals 20. 3-point goals: 2. Free throws: 8-14. Score: 53