Prosser avenges earlier loss to Grandview to earn second consecutive district title
PROSSER, Wash. – In a pregame rehash of the last matchup between the Grandview and Prosser boys basketball teams – a 56-53 road win for the Greyhounds – Mustangs coach Toby Cox lamented how his team hadn’t played “our game.”
Wednesday night, the Mustangs played their game.
With a balanced attack that featured all five starters in double-figures, Prosser handled neighbor Grandview, 77-62, to win the 2A CWAC district championship on its home floor before a packed house that spilled over into the balcony surrounding the court in the spiffy 2-year-old high school.
The Mustangs advance to the regional round of the state tournament.
“Maybe the last three or four games, we really haven’t played ‘our game,’” said Mustangs coach Toby Cox, who along with many other Prosser faithful will make the nearly 90-mile trek north Thursday to watch the Prosser girls – Kynzee Cox, the coach’s daughter, among them – take their shot at top-ranked Ellensburg in the CWAC championship.
“Tonight, I thought we came out and played our style – everybody was sharing the ball, everybody was shooting the ball,” the CWAC coach of the year said.
Prosser senior post Kevin Flores scored 17 points and controlled the glass to key the victory, his dunk midway through the fourth quarter and seconds later an emphatic rejection the finishing blows.
Koby McClure also scored 17 points for the Mustangs, while Kory McClure netted 15 – all in the first half – and seniors JJ Reyes and Isasak Hultberg chipped in 14 apiece.
“Kevin was focused tonight and he came out and played that physical game,“ Cox said.
The Greyhounds started quickly, using their familiar frenetic style to take an 11-6 lead. Prosser, though, answered with a 15-2 burst.
Grandview’s lineup was thinned by the absence of all-CWAC second-teamer Levi Dorsett, who was on the bench but not in uniform. The depth took another blow in the first quarter when freshman guard Frankie Medina twisted his right ankle and sported a hefty bag of ice on the injury for the rest of the game.
Still, Camron Draculan in the first half and Lino Armendariz in the second half kept the Greyhounds battling, finishing with 17 and 21 points, respectively.
Julian Garza added 12 for Grandview.
For each charge the Greyhounds made, the Mustangs answered. When Mavryk Bentley hit a 3-pointer to pull Grandview within six late in the second quarter, Reyes and Kory McClure answered with treys of their own to push Prosser’s lead back to 12.
Armendariz would can a 3-ball to open the third quarter only to have the Mustangs go on a 12-0 run and never look back.
“Them beating us here was like a statement they had for us,“ Flores said. “We just had to come back stronger and get that done and beat them here."
Armendariz finished with a game-high 21 points and Draculan had 17.
While Prosser (18-5) awaits Sunday’s announcement of regional pairings, Grandview (17-6) falls into crossover action Saturday against a Greater Spokane League opponent for a regional berth.
The Mustangs entered the game at No. 5 in the RPI, and almost certainly will find themselves in the SunDome the first week of March for the 2A state tournament.
