Basin roundup: Moses Lake's Hunter Cruz captures Gut Check championship

BREMERTON — Hunter Cruz romped his way to the 160-pound championship at the Gut Check Invitational and Moses Lake tied for sixth as a team with 107 points.

Head coach Jaime Garza characterized the level of competition as better than the Tri-State Tournament.

“This tournament, in my opinion, was wide open,” he said.

White River walked away with the team title, totaling 128.5 points. Curtis was a close second with 122 points.

Some closes losses kept Moses Lake from climbing higher up the leaderboard.

“We had some matches that we need to learn from,” Garza said.

Riley Burgess (113), Christien Knopp (145) and Daiman Vasquez (195) all placed seventh.

Moses Lake hosts Othello and Chiawana in a double dual on Wednesday. The first dual against Othello is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.

Team scores

1. White River 128.5

2. Curtis 122

3. Bonney Lake 119

4. South Kitsap 116

5. Camas 109.5

T6. Moses Lake 107

T6. Orting 107

Othello seventh at Pacific Northwest Classic

SPOKANE VALLEY — Othello finished seventh as a team with 111 points and crowned one champion at the Pacific Northwest Classic.

Flathead of Montana totaled 219 points and won the tournament.

Isaiah Perez pinned his way to the 285-pound final before defeated Flathead’s Alex Paul 11-8.

Chris Melo reached the 113-pound championship, but lost to Mead’s Chase Randall 10-1. Randall is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A at 106 pounds.

Jovani Espindola (third), Bernie Garza Jr. (fifth) and Elijah Roylance (sixth) also placed for the Huskies.

Team scores

1. Flathead 219

2. University 209.5

3. Mead 185

4. Mt. Spokane 165.5

5. Freeman 129

7. Othello 111

Girls wrestling

Moses Lake’s Melanie Flores wins Kelso Invite championship

KELSO — Melanie Flores defeated two wrestlers ranked above her en route to the 100-pound championship at the Kelso Invite.

Flores edged top-ranked 100-pounder Taylor Wilson of Hanford in the semifinals 8-7 before defeating second-ranked Aaliyah Escamilla of Warden 7-1 in the finals.

Warden was the top local finisher, placing fifth with 132.5 points. Othello was sixth with 122 points.

In addition to Escamilla, Alexia Hernandez (eighth), Andrea Hernandez (seventh), Daneil Jolley (third) and Karely Garcia-Acevedo (seventh) placed for the Cougars.

Husky placers included Emily Mendez (fifth), Elizabeth Giles (sixth) and Estephania Vargas (fourth).

Team scores

1. Yelm 188

2. Union 166.5

3. Sunnyside 157

4. White River 140

5. Warden 132.5

6. Othello 122

31. Moses Lake 63.5

73. Royal 12

Boys basketball

Moses Lake wins twice on the road

Moses Lake improved its league record with a pair of road wins over Eastmont and West Valley.

Michael Byers scored 23 points against the Wildcats. Zach Phillips and Kyle Karstetter scored 22 and 15 points, respectively.

Moses Lake outscored West Valley by 12 points in the second half to win 77-63.

Ephrata climbs CWAC standings with two wins

Ephrata routed rival Quincy 54-28 and out-shot Grandview 87-72.

The Tigers led the Greyhounds 70-46 after three quarters. Jakob Oxos scored 25 points and Caden Blankenship added 21.

Selah 81, Quincy 44

SELAH — Quincy trailed by 20 points after one quarter and lost to Selah 81-44.

Max Molina led the Jacks with 19 points.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline wins pair of blowouts.

Almira/Coulee-Hartline led 56-8 at halftime and routed Inchelium 82-15.

Reese Isaak and Maguire Isaak scored 19 and 17 points, respectively.

ACH also crushed Selkirk 68-20.

Chase Gerard scored a game-high 20 points and Maguire Isaak had 14.

St. George’s 58, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 46

RITZVILLE — St. George’s outscored Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 20-4 in the third quarter to pull away and win 58-46.

Bryce Kelly and Camden Smith paced the Broncos with 12 points each.

Warden 64, Kiona-Benton 54

BENTON CITY — Warden overcame injury to defeat Kiona-Benton 64-54.

Jesus Mercado scored 16 points to lead a balanced effort from the Cougars. Dreyton Martinez and Zach Richins chipped in 15 points each and Martin Arriaga had 12.

Royal 62, Connell 42

ROYAL CITY — Royal improved to 4-0 in league with a win over Connell 62-42.

Isaac Ellis led the Knights with 18 points.

Other Basin scores

Tonasket 60, Soap Lake 51

Girls basketball

Moses Lake improves to 11-0

Moses Lake remained unbeaten after convincing wins over Eastmont, 64-38, and West Valley, 64-36.

Abby Rathbun (14), Jamie Loera (12), Ellie Mayo (10) and Madisyn Clark (10) all scored in double figures against the Wildcats.

The Chiefs held the Rams to 14 points in the first half.

Rathbun led the charge with 23 points. Loera had 16 and Kiera McPartland added 11.

Ephrata returns to .500

Ephrata won twice to improve its league record to 5-5.

Ephrata led 42-6 at halftime and rolled Quincy 59-14.

Avery Mickelsen had 10 points for the Tigers. The Jacks had four players score three points each.

Ephrata rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Grandview 61-54.

Katelyn Ostrowski poured in 22 points and Madison Martin scored 10.

Selah 77, Quincy 15

SELAH — Quincy was shutout in the fourth quarter and lost to Selah 77-15.

Kylie Wilkey scored a game-high 21 points for the Vikings.

Tonasket 49, Soap Lake 37

SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake was outscored by 10 points in the fourth quarter and lost to Tonasket 49-37.

Bella Pelegrino scored nine points for the Eagles.

Warden 43, Kiona-Benton 18

BENTON CITY — Warden picked up its second win in a row, defeating Kiona-Benton 43-18.

Bailey Whitney led the Cougars with 12 points.

ACH girls handed first loss

Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s 10-game win streak was snapped by Selkirk 42-41.

Selkirk freshman Bri Dawson made a game-winning three-pointer. Gabi Isaak scored 14 points for the Warriors.

ACH cruised past Inchelium 62-41.

Gabi Isaak scored 23 points and Tiffany Boutain had 11.

Connell 62, Royal 56

ROYAL CITY — Royal could not contain Mattie Mauseth and fell to Connell 62-56.

Mauseth led all scorers with 21 points.

St. George’s 51, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 39

RITZVILLE — St. George’s created some breathing room in the second half to beat Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 51-39.

Peyton Curtis paced the Broncos with 19 points.

Boys swimming

Moses Lake sixth at Kentridge Invite

FEDERAL WAY — Moses Lake scored its most points ever at the Kentridge Invitational (362) to finish in sixth place.

League rival Wenatchee was just ahead with 371 points and Mercer Island scored 698 points to win the meet.

Zach Washburn was second in the 100 freestyle, clocking in at 47.58 seconds. Eric Kemper finished the 100 butterfly in 52.76 seconds to take third.

The 200 freestyle relay team comprised of Washburn, Dylan Bond, Noah Heaps and Ander Molitor was first in 1:28.86.

Team scores

1. Mercer Island 698

2. Issaquah 444

3. Kamiak 424

4. Bainbridge 417

5. Wenatchee 371

6. Moses Lake 362

Women’s basketball

Big Bend 79, Blue Mountain 54

PENDLETON, Ore. — Big Bend evened its league record at 1-1 with a win at Blue Mountain 79-54.

Callie Gronning scored a team-high 22 points.