ACH earns strong victory over Neah Bay
CALEB PEREZ | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 2 weeks AGO
Warriors senior Caden Correia rushes down the court after gaining possession of the ball against Neah Bay in the first round of the state tourney.
CALEB PEREZ/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Max Grindy, a junior from ACH, makes a shot with pressure from a Neah Bay defender.
Warriors freshman Nolan Grindy smiles after making his first free throw shot and gets prepared to go for a second shot against Neah Bay in the state tournament.
ACH junior Brody Pitts looks for an opening during Saturday’s matchup against Neah Bay.
Tucker Bayless, a senior from ACH, locks in on the net during a free throw against Neah Bay Saturday afternoon.
Warriors senior Josh Booker protects the ball from a Neah Bay defender while looking for an open teammate to pass to.
WENATCHEE — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors claimed a 64-51 victory over Neah Bay in the opening round of the 1B state tournament. With this victory, the Warriors move on to the quarterfinals as they push toward a state championship.
“We got to the point where it’s kind of survive and advance, so a win is a win and we move on to the next game,” said Warriors senior Caden Correia.
The Warriors came out strong on both sides of the court in the first quarter. By the end of the first eight minutes of the game, the Warriors had gained a 10-point lead over Neah Bay.
Coming into the second quarter, Neah Bay picked up more steam and stayed right behind ACH. At the end of the half, the Warriors maintained their 10-point lead.
The Warriors found some trouble after halftime when Neah Bay began to close the gap between the two teams. ACH quickly got back into the groove in the final quarter to dominate the rest of the game and take the victory.
Nolan Grindy, a freshman for ACH, led the team offensively with 22 points scored during the matchup. Warriors senior Josh Booker followed with 14 points scored and juniors Max Grindy and Tucker Bayless were right behind with 11 points each.
“We got off to a decent start and then we got in a stretch where we couldn’t rebound the basketball, so that definitely hurts us,” said Correia. “But we regrouped and played well to finish off the game.”
He said the key to getting themselves back into their groove during the third quarter was taking a step back and getting calmed down. This helped them refocus and get back to playing the type of basketball they’re known for.
“I think we just have to keep playing loose and having fun, and I think that’s what we’re doing really well,” said Corriea.
Warriors Head Coach Graham Grindy said he was glad to see the steady lead that the team built in the first quarter. The lesson learned from the struggles in the middle of the game was that making blocks and being more efficient on rebounds will be essential to claiming victories as they move forward.
“We’ve proven over the season that we are a good rebounding team. It’s just teams like Neah Bay and every team from here on out, you better be ready for a battle and you have to do the little things,” said Grindy.
The coach added that every member of the Warriors squad contributed to the victory Saturday as the players were ready to go and contribute off the bench.
As ACH gets ready for the quarterfinals of the state tourney, he said their main focus is just to earn the victory.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘It’s ok if it doesn’t look pretty, you just try to get the W,” said Grindy. “It’s really going to come down to those little things like defense, rebounding and communication.”
The coach said he is feeling confident in the abilities that the Warriors have been displaying on the court and knows that they’ll all have each other’s backs.
“The whole train’s coming and I hope that we can just keep plugging along,” said Grindy.
The Warriors’ next game will be March 5 at 2 p.m. at the Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane.
BOX SCORE
NEBY: 11-13-12-15: 51
ACHW: 21-13-11-19: 64
Max Grindy, a junior from ACH, makes a shot with pressure from a Neah Bay defender.
Warriors freshman Nolan Grindy smiles after making his first free throw shot and gets prepared to go for a second shot against Neah Bay in the state tournament.
ACH junior Brody Pitts looks for an opening during Saturday’s matchup against Neah Bay.
Tucker Bayless, a senior from ACH, locks in on the net during a free throw against Neah Bay Saturday afternoon.
Warriors senior Josh Booker protects the ball from a Neah Bay defender while looking for an open teammate to pass to.ARTICLES BY CALEB PEREZ
Erickson looks back on a busy and successful four-sport high school career
WARDEN — A four-sport athlete is not someone you often come across due to the time and dedication it takes for success in one sport, but for Amaya Erickson, tackling that challenge was something she was up for in her senior season. “My family’s always been really big into sports,” said Erickson. “Both my parents have played and my siblings both play, so I guess they’re all a really great inspiration for me.”
Tigers start summer 3-1 after split with Sunnyside Christian
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tiger Baseball Club (3-1) finished their second matchup of the season as they split a doubleheader with Sunnyside Christian Tuesday evening. “I was pleased with a lot of aspects of the doubleheader,” said Tigers Head Coach David Tempel. “The summertime is all about development and getting some experience. The good part about (Tuesday) is we were in some different situations that we haven’t seen much, so we were able to learn from those and use those to our advantage.” Sunnyside was the first on the board during game one as they put up two runs in the top of the second inning. The Tigers responded at the bottom of the third as they put up five runs to claim the lead.
Fletcher named new Eagles volleyball head coach
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team will be under new leadership this fall as Erin Fletcher has been selected as the new head coach. She is following the successful tenure of the previous head coach, Nikki Noble, who helped guide the team to multiple state appearances over the years. “I’m so excited,” said Fletcher. “I’ve had the opportunity to watch these girls play the last couple years as a (referee). I’m really excited to be able to step in after Coach Noble and continue on that winning and competitive spirit that they’ve had for so long and kind of take it now to the next level.” Her love for athletics came from growing up in an athletic family of basketball players, but in second grade, she became the first in her family to start playing volleyball. From there, a passion for volleyball began to grow.