Lady Warriors round ball on a heater
MATTAWA — Wahluke girls basketball has got it going on taking down Royal and College Place over the weekend for the teams’ sixth win in a row and seven out of its last eight games. The victories move the Warriors to 3-2 in East Conference play and 8-3 overall.
“I couldn’t be happier really (about being 8-3) — it’s the best record for a Wahluke team since 1998,” coach Brock Anderson said. “But there’s a lot of league games left and the league is very tough this year — teams lost very few seniors from a year ago so the playing level is high. It seems pretty much every game is tight so we have to be at our best in terms of effort and execution night in and night out.”
Wahluke 52
Royal 45
Jacky Hidalgo drained 19 points on five buckets from 3-point range, Kaylynn Holiday dumped in 13 and pulled down 15 rebounds, and Wahluke pulled out a come back win over arch rival Royal at home Friday night, Dec. 5.
The game was a highly contested contest throughout the evening as the Knights led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter and were up 27-25 at the half.
The Warriors heated up in the third quarter with a 16-3 run to go up top 41-30. But home team went ice cold in the fourth quarter and trailed 43-42 with 1:19 to go. Hidalgo then took charge of the game putting the team on her back with a three-point bucket, assisting on give-and-go to Holiday, and sinking three shots from the charity stripe to lead Wahluke to victory.
“That was a big game for us for sure. They pretty much got the better of us in the second quarter — we weren’t very prepared for how skilled and dominating their freshman post Chenoa Louis is. She’s amazing,” Anderson said. “But then we really came out strong in the third quarter — I think our senior post Kaylynn kind of took it personal and was able to keep Chenoa from getting the ball in deep.”
The Warriors held a 40-30 lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Knights went on a 15-3 run to go up by a bucket with a little over a minute to go. Wahluke cranked up its defensive effort down the stretch and Hidalgo went to work having a hand in the Warriors final nine points.
“Jacky came up big in the second half and knocking down some key 3-pointers,” Anderson said. “She’s a clutch player — is relentless and never gives in.”
Wahluke 49
College Place 39
The Warriors made it back-to-back wins with a 10-point margin of victory on the Hawks home court Saturday, Dec. 6. This time it was Jacky Barajas leading the way for Wahluke with 19 points and 11 boards. Hidalgo added 18.
The Warriors got off to a slow start offensively falling behind 14-9 after the first quarter was in the books. But the team made a late charge to go up 29-23 at intermission. Both squads managed just six points each in the third quarter. Wahluke closed it out with a 15-10 run in the fourth.
“Royal was an intense, emotional game and unfortunately I think it carried over to the trip to Walla Walla,” Anderson said. “We were down by five after the first quarter thanks to some pretty ragged defense. But we got our act together the rest of the way and held them in check.”
The Warriors struggled at the free throw line making just 12 of 27 attempts, but got a great effort from Barajas who posted the double-double.
“Jacky was huge, scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for the second straight game,” Anderson said. “She’s averaged about 10 points a game over the past six games, which is a big deal because it gives us another strong offensive threat to go with Kaylynn and Jacky (Hidalgo). Blanca Gutierrez gave us some big minutes off the bench also.”
Anderson said he likes the cohesiveness of the team and added the strength of the Warriors squad is based on a familiarity of core players.
“I have an amazing — amazing bunch of kids,” he said. “It’s very rare to have seven seniors who have played together since basically the 5th grade still be together — still be united — and still care a whole lot about one another and playing together.”
The Warriors hosted the Warden Cougars Tuesday, but the result of the game was not available at press time. Wahluke travels to Columbia-Burbank Friday, and then takes on Connell at home Saturday. Tipoff is 6 p.m.