Hot shooting leads Wapato,
Grandview into tournament

By SCOTT SPRUILL
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

If Wapato and Grandview continue their recent ways, the SunDome could be a shooting gallery this week.

In their two CWAC postseason victories, which resulted in the program's first district title in 33 years, Wapato fired in 26 shots from 3-point distance.

It was the last one -- Jacoby Howe's halfcourt heave at the buzzer -- that lifted the Wolves to a stunning 78-76 title victory over second-ranked Ephrata and made Adam Strom's crew a scary team to face in the Class 2A state tournament, which opens Wednesday.

Grandview has been on a similar tear, casting in 21 treys in loser-out wins over East Valley and Selah to claim the third state berth.

They will play in back-to-back openers Wednesday -- Grandview (16-8) facing Fife (20-3) at 10:30 a.m. and Wapato (17-5) taking on Deer Park (15-7) at 12:30 p.m.

It may not be quite as necessary for Wapato to hoist that many outside shots since Strom expects to have senior forward Matt Guevara back on the floor -- to one degree or another -- after sitting out the Ephrata game.

Guevara was averaging 18 points a game when he suffered a knee injury Jan. 30. He came back for the district semifinal against Selah and tweaked the knee again.

"He woke up the next morning and the knee felt fine, not sore at all," Strom said. "He's ready to go. Matt's a smart player and knows what he can and can't do. He can overcome the injury with his mental game."

That the Wolves are in this position at all is impressive, having graduated seven seniors and scoring star Willie Blodgett from last year's state-qualifying team. The transition was obvious when Wapato started this season 3-3.

"Those early losses helped us break things down, figure out what to fix and move on," Strom said. "We needed more role players than actual scorers, and early on we were playing 12, 13 kids. Once the roles were established things really came together."

After the 3-3 start, Wapato put together an 11-game win streak and head to state having won 14 of its last 16. Strom has seen several players step up their offense during Guevara's absence, most notably senior guard Rigo Alvarado, who averaged 15.0 before the injury and 19.7 after it.

And beating second-ranked Ephrata twice -- once without Guevara -- proves the Wolves can play with anybody.

"We had our state berth and didn't play Matt, but we told the kids Saturday to play for pride and play for the community," Strom said about the district final. "It was a huge boost for the team. These kids have poise and confidence, and now momentum."

Same goes for Grandview, which recovered from a rough patch in midseason to win nine of its last 11 with no shame in the two losses -- both were to Ephrata.

"We've overcome some things and kept on fighting," said coach Roy Garcia, whose team lost five of seven after a 5-1 start. "Physically we've been there, but mentally took some time with so many younger kids coming up. We changed our approach a little and let these kids play to their strengths."

One of which is clearly shooting. In the two loser-out district games, the Greyhounds put up 87 and 80 points and shot 53 percent over eight quarters.

Six different players contributed to the 21 deep baskets, and junior Daniel Nielsen led the way with 10-for-16 accuracy from behind the arc.

"This week is just a bonus," Garcia said. "We'll be prepared and we definitely want to win. But we'll have fun, too. The kids deserve this."