South county roundup: Othello freshman Hailee Guzman scores two goals against Quincy

OTHELLO — As it stands right now, the rest of the Central Washington Athletic Conference is still chasing unbeaten Selah (13-0, 6-0 CWAC).

Ellensburg (8-3, 5-1) gained a little ground, handing Ephrata (10-3, 5-1) its first CWAC loss in the battle amongst second-place teams Tuesday night.

Where the top of the food chain has its own agenda, Othello (6-6-1, 4-2), under the direction of first-year coach Armando Vasquez, kept pace for the fourth-place spot with a 4-1 victory over much improved Quincy (5-6-1, 2-4) Tuesday night at Husky Stadium. They also beat Wapato 3-1 on Thursday.

First-year Quincy coach Francisco Tafoya has turned the Jacks program around and despite a one-sided score, it was a nice little matchup for two programs looking to break out of the middle of the CWAC pack.

On Tuesday, Othello freshman Hailee Guzman scored the first two goals of the night to give the Huskies a 2-nil lead at the intermission. Freshman Janelly Verduzco had the goal of the night off a corner kick by Hailee Guzman. The Huskies freshman put a head on the ball, driving it past Quincy goalkeeper Zayuri Arizmendi for the third Huskies score of the night.

Quincy's Brianna Pedregon, a sophomore midfielder, put the Jacks on the board in the second half and Othello's Gracie Sorenson had the final score of the night.

“I give our defense instructions on where to be in certain situations,” said Huskies goalkeeper Giselle Monroy, who finished the match with two saves. “On the indirects, you have to know when to come out and at what angle. People usually go over the wall at the opposite corner kick. I thought it was a good game for defense.”

Othello converted four scores on eight shots on goal, where the Jacks found the net once on six shots.

It the postseason where to begin today, the Huskies would join the six-team tournament where the top two get first-round bye. The Jacks have some work to do if they want to move up into the sixth and final playoff slot.

Othello v Ephrata on Saturday.

Quincy 0 1 - 1

Othello 2 2 - 4

O - Hailee Guzman

O - Hailee Guzman

O - Janelly Verduzco (Hailee Guzman)

Qu - Brianna Pedregon

O - Gracie Sorenson

Warden 1, Royal 0

WARDEN — Royal played strong defense against first-place Warden but fell 1-0.

Bailey Whitney scored the game's lone goal in the 58th minute off an assist from Melanie Cazares.

Royal also lost to Connell 1-0 earlier in the week.

In other SCAC East action, Wahluke defeated Kiona-Benton 4-2 and College Place 3-1 to move into third place.

Prep volleyball

Royal volleyball loses twice

Royal took a hit to its playoff hopes after being swept by Connell and losing in five sets to Warden.

The Knights evened the match 2-2 against the Cougars before eventually falling 25-21, 25-20, 18-25, 13-25, 15-13.

Other South County scores

Kiona-Benton d. Wahluke 25-9, 25-19, 25-13

Wahluke 3, College Place 1

Othello 3, Grandview 0

Othello 3, Prosser 2

Cross country

SCAC #3 at College Place

Boys

1. Royal 22

2. College Place 36

3. La Salle 82

Individual winner: Drew Adams, College Place, 17:19.20. Top local: 2, Rodolfo Flores, Royal, 18:09.04.

Girls

1. Royal 23

2. College Place 43

3. La Salle 69

Individual winner: Melia Loe, College Place, 20:49.59. Top local: 2, Abigail Delay, Royal, 21:24.30.

SCAC #3 at Highland

Boys

1. Connell 19

2. Wahluke 48

3. Riverside Christian 74

Individual winner: Nolan Chase, Connell, 16:18.90. Top local: 3, Yerik Arellano, Wahluke, 16:39.70.

Girls

1. Connell 24

2. Wahluke 35

Individual winner: Claudia Olivares, Wahluke, 21:12.80.