YAKIMA — The Walla Walla Community College women’s basketball bounced back from a first-round loss to beat Centralia College, 81-57, in the Yakima Valley Tip-Off tournament on Saturday.
The Warriors dropped into the loser’s bracket after a 55-49 loss to Chemeketa on Friday.
After a poor shooting performance against Chemeketa, coach Bobbi Hazeltine said Walla Walla’s shooters responded in a big way.
“We had a long team meeting and we talked about mentality and having a basketball mentality,” Hazeltine said. “We didn’t have any leaders on the floor. We addressed all that and today we came out like a different teem. It was just amazing the difference between the first day and the second day.”
The Warriors had five players in double figures, as freshman Karli McHone led the way with 18 points and five 3-pointers. MeShel Rad added 13 points and Lainey Corbett, Amy DeLong and Bailey Nygaard all chipped in 10 points apiece.
“Karli McHone got us going by getting a couple 3s,” Hazeltine said. “We were not shooting well from the outside and she lit it up today. We got some offensive rebounds and converted those. We got to the line a lot and we shot really well from the free throw line.”
The Warriors did most of their damage from the charity stripe, as they nailed 38 of their 50 free throw attempts. Corbett led the way, finishing a perfect 8-for-8.
Hazeltine said with the new hand-check rules, the Warriors are focused on attacking the basket to draw fouls.
“We’ve spent a lot more time on free throws because we know we’re going to have to go to the line,” Hazeltine said. “The way the game is played this year, you have to be able to convert free throws. We just did a nice job of getting to the line and putting them in.”
In the loss to Chemeketa on Friday, the Warriors simply could not find the bottom of the net. Walla Walla shot less than 30 percent from the floor and only 13 percent from the perimeter.
DeLong led the Warriors with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but no other player reached double figures for WWCC.
“Every possession we came down and we missed a shot and they made a shot,” Hazeltine said. “If you don’t convert, you have to defend and we didn’t. The fact that we were in the game itself was kind of amazing.”
Walla Walla faces Clark College today at 11 a.m. Hazeltine said the Warriors bounced back well after the opening round loss, but the Penguins will be another challenge.
“They’re a very talented team and we’re going to have our hands full,” Hazeltine said. “It’s going to be a good measuring stick for where we are.”
Chemeketa 55, Walla Walla 49
CHEMEKETA (55) — Savoy 8-13 2-4 18. Munson 1-7 10-14 13. Shull 4-9 0-1 9. Mitchell 3-7 1-2 7. Tulee 2-9 0-0 5. Lewis 0-0 1-2 1. Downs 0-0 0-0 0. Stillings 0-0 0-0 0. Parra 0-2 0-0 0. Benedict 0-4 0-0 0. Varney 0-0 0-0 0. Darras 0-2 0-0 0.
WALLA WALLA (49) — DeLong 7-12 1-3 15. Vincent 2-11 3-4 7. Jordan 2-8 2-3 7. McHone 2-8 0-0 5. McConnell 1-1 3-4 5. Siler 2-10 0-0 4. Rad 2-5 0-2 4. Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Corbett 0-3 0-2 0. Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Nygaard 0-4 0-0 0. Stubbs 0-0 0-0 0. Stefanski 0-1 0-0 0.
Halftime score — Chem 22-19. 3-point goals — Chem 3-16 (Shull, Tulee, Munson), WW 2-15 (McHone, Jordan). Total fouls — Chem 20, WW 22. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — Chem 41 (Savoy 8), WW 49 (DeLong 10). Turnovers — Chem 25, WW 30. Assists — Chem 8 (Munson 2), WW 11 (Nygaard 4).
Walla Walla 81, Centralia College 57
CENTRALIA (57) — Davis 5-10 5-6 15. Sorensen 5-10 3-6 15. Gee 3-6 1-2 9. Kaupu 3-8 2-2 8. Myers 1-7 2-4 5. Fisher 1-2 0-0 3. Narolski 0-5 2-4 2. Preuninger 0-3 9-0 0. McDonald 0-3 0-0 0. DeVore 0-0 0-0 0.
WALLA WALLA (81) — McHone 5-9 3-3 18. Rad 3-8 7-10 13. Corbett 1-2 8-8 10. DeLone 1-6 8-10 10. Nygaard 1-5 8-8 10. Siler 3-8 2-4 8. Johnson 2-4 1-6 5. Jordan 1-2 1-1 3. Vincent 1-7 0-0 2. Stefanski 1-1 0-0 2. Davis 0-1 0-0 0. Stubbs 0-0 0-0 0.
Halftime — WW 32-26. 3-point goals — WW 5-16 (McHone 5), Cent 6-19 (Sorensen 2, Gee 2, Fisher, Myers). Total fouls — WW 20, Cent 35. Fouled out — Cent (Fisher, Kaupu, Narolski, Sorensen). Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — WW 47 (DeLong 7), Cent 34 (Preuninger 6, Narolski 6). Turnovers — WW 11, Cent 14. Assists — WW 8 (Nygaard 4), Cent 8 (Preuninger 2).
