Wahluke has opportunity to pull away in boys hoops

MATTAWA — Wahluke High School has fashioned a nice record in the first half of the boys basketball season and has a chance this weekend to solidify its grip on a district tournament berth.

The Warriors, 5-1, are half a game out of for first place in the SCAC. They have a 9-2 overall record. This weekend, the Warriors will play two teams that are chasing, at 4-3 Kiona-Benton and at home against 4-3 River View. They are tied for third place.

Last weekend was sweet for the Warriors. Friday they ran away from Burbank, 65-51. Saturday they bopped Connell, 74-55.

Burbank climbed into the game at 48-41 after a 24-20 third quarter. Then Wahluke put the Coyotes away with a 17-10 fourth period.

Sergio Pineda continued to be the scoring leader for his team and one of the top scorers in the league. He unloaded 18 points on Burbank, then hammered Connell with 30. He added 12 rebounds in each contest.

Ricky Cabrera had 17 points and six rebounds against Burbank, Abraham Olivares had 15 points and four steals and Nathan Buck scored six points and made six assists. Francisco Espindola rounded out the scoring with three points.

“It was a good game from start to finish,” coach Clayton Buck said. “Missed lay-ins in the first half slowed us down, but our defense stepped up in the fourth quarter. Communication and teamwork helped us get a good win.”

The contest with Connell was essentially over at halftime. Wahluke exploded for 50 points in the first two quarters. The Warriors administered a crippling 31-14 second period to make the score 50-28 at the half.

Ricky Cabrera had another good night, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Nathan Buck scored 12 points, made 11 steals and picked off seven rebounds. The rest of the scoring was Gonzalez 8 points, Olivares 4, Gatica 2

“Awesome teamwork in the first half passing ball, shooting open shots and excellent effort through the whole game on defense,” coach Buck said.

“Communication, hustle and having fun playing basketball,” he added. “Thank you Wahluke Warrior fans for all the noise and support.”