Othello girls working hard to change the culture

OTHELLO — As it is with the learning process, there are some good days and some bad days. Othello’s 63-46 loss to Prosser in Central Washington Athletic Conference girls basketball action wasn’t necessarily bad, it’s just not where want to take the program.

It’s been a process and the Huskies (0-6, 0-5 CWAC) are slowly, but surely changing the culture back to when the Othello girls ran the floor with the best of ‘em in the CWAC. Huskies athletic director Jenny McCourtie sat on a stool at the end of the floor watching last week’s game with the Mustangs. McCourtie is currently ninth on the all-time area scoring list with 1,505 career points during her career back in 1998-2002. Teammate Shawna Juarez (1999-2003) is also on the list with 1,060 career points.

Othello duo Macy Hampton and Maciah Tovar are working hard to be like that McCourtie-Juarez tandem that led the Huskies to good things back in the day.

“I feel a lot more comfortable with my teammates and this year I don’t feel like it has to be me doing all the scoring,” Hampton said. “Our starting group has a lot of energy on the scoring end. Maciah is a great shooter and I can always trust her with the ball.

“Othello has always supported wrestling and football, we’re trying to make it a basketball town.”

They’re doing that one bucket at a time. Hampton had a team-high 16 points against Prosser (4-1, 4-1 CWAC) with six points coming from 3-point range. Tovar had two from downtown to finish with seven points. Alexis Coronado ended with six points, Ashley Perez had five and Hailee Guzman added four.

Prosser 15 13 15 19 - 63

Othello 13 13 10 12 - 46

Prosser - Maiia Cortes 8, Halle Wright 2, Marissa Cortes 19, Leila Taylor 1, Alexis Harris 3, Abby Rodriguez 11, Gabby Olivarez 6, Madison Golden 15. Totals: 14 4-15 62

Othello - Jeweliana Pruneda 2, Janissa Garza 2. Lane Simpson 3, Macy Hampton 16, Maciah Tovar 7, Hailee Guzman 4, Ashley Perez 5, Alexis Coronado 6. Totals: 15 5-8 48