Central Valley girls extend winning streak with win over Sunnyside

RICHLAND – Central Valley’s girls basketball team is the defending Class 4A state champion.

The Bears have also not lost a game in the last 52 contests.

But that didn’t mean anything with the new RPI system that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, where it ranked the Bears No. 5 in the final rankings.

“It’s a little frustrating,” said CV junior forward Lexie Hull. “But it gives us a little fire.”

Hull and her teammates responded with a 63-49 Regional victory over No. 4 Sunnyside at Richland High School on Saturday.

Because of that, Freddie Rehkow’s 24-0 Bears advance to the quarterfinals Thursday in the Tacoma Dome. CV will play at 3:45 p.m., against the winner of Wednesday’s loser-out matchup of Woodinville and Bellarmine Prep.

Meanwhile, Sunnyside (18-3) also advances to Tacoma, where the Grizzlies will play a first-round, loser-out contest against Auburn Riverside at 7:15 on Wednesday night.

Rehkow was happy to get out of Richland with a victory. He thought his team was out of sync all night.

“That was just our second game in the last three weeks,” said Rehkow. “We just want to get out and run. But we got into foul trouble, and we couldn’t find any rhythm.”

But, like any other CV game this year, the Bears led from the start, jumping out to a 10-3 lead and never looking back.

Both Lexie Hull and Hailey Christopher had four points each in the run.

Hull, in fact, finished the quarter with 8 points as the Bears led 17-7. And by halftime, CV held a 34-18 lead.

But Sunnyside, with its diminutive and cat-quick sharpshooters, was not going away.

Half of the Grizzlies’ 16 field goals were from the 3-point line.

“We were worried about the 3-ball,” said Rehkow. “We knew they could shoot the 3. So we were supposed to find the ball, and defend the 3. That was the key, because I knew we could control the boards.”

But when Sunnyside’s Destiny Salinas and Ashlee Maldonado sank treys sandwiched around two Emilee Maldonado free throws – for an 8-0 Grizzlies run to open the fourth quarter – fans on both sides of the court thought they were getting a close contest as CV’s lead was cut to 51-44.

Enter Lexie Hull again.

She sank two running jumpers to answer, and suddenly the Bears had fended off the Sunnyside rally.

“We just needed to calm down,” she said. “I think we got frazzled at that point.”

Rehkow agreed.

“We were up by 20, and the next thing I knew our lead was down to 7 or 8,” he said.

Hull finished with a game-high 29 points, and added 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for good measure.

Her twin sister, Lacie Hull, added 8 points and 12 rebounds.

“(The Hull sisters) are great kids,” said Rehkow. “They’re 4.0 kids, going to Stanford, and they practice every day as hard as they play in the game.”

Hailey Christopher also contributed 14 points and seven rebounds.

If Rehkow was to find one thing his team needed to work on, it was defense. Sunnyside’s 49 points were the most surrendered by CV in the past two seasons.

“Sunnyside did a great job,” said Rehkow. “They got us into a run and chuck game.”

Lexie Hull said the ultimate goal was achieved though.

“We knew that by winning, we’d have an advantage going into Tacoma,” she said. “We’d get a bye into Thursday. Wednesday games are all loser-out. We’re leaving Tuesday and can relax before we play Thursday.”