SELAH -- Two young CWAC teams showed some growing pains along with impressive flashes of potential in Friday night's season opener at Selah.
Sophomore Madison Thomas and freshman Leyla Rodriguez provided a strong inside-outside combination, keeping Grandview's girls in front most of the night. But Selah found just enough outside shooting, including freshman Makenna Pepper's buzzer beater just inside the 3-point line at the end of regulation, and her block at the final buzzer secured the Vikings' 50-47 win.
She finished with nine points and Navarro expects many bigger scoring performances to come from the latest in a long line of Peppers at Selah. Her oldest cousin, Elijah, holds the all-time scoring records at Selah and UC Davis, his younger brothers Noah and Levi both play at Central Washington, and Makenna's brother Jackson earned first team all-CWAC honors for the Vikings as a junior last season.
"It's in her blood," coach Ray Navarro said. "What can you say? She's seen her brothers (and cousins) do it for so long. It's pretty cool she gets to do it now and just play huge minutes for us."
Last season's standout freshman, Elise Kingston, led Selah with 13 points, including Selah's first seven to start the second half and tie the game at 22. The 5-foot-9 forward also grabbed 13 rebounds and held her own inside while defending the Greyhounds' 6-1 center, Angel Torres.
Navarro said guard Braylee Pendleton never backed down from primary ballhandling duties as a freshman two seasons ago, and that experience prepared her well for important moments. The junior guard stepped up to knock down a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions as Selah started overtime with an 8-0 run.
"I've just got to know when it's my time and sometimes it's not my game," Pendleton said. "I had rough shooting in the beginning and then I picked it up for my time and I knew I needed to knock down those shots."
She tried to do her part to keep the Vikings' younger players thinking positively while Grandview jumped ahead early, thanks in large part to a big rebounding edge. Thomas finished with a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Torres added seven points on an off night for Grandview's leading scorer from a year ago, sophomore Miya Lopez.
Rodriguez contributed eight points three days after scoring 22 in a win at Sunnyside and another freshman starter, Jennalynn Garza, knocked down a jump shot to cut Selah's lead to 49-47 late in overtime. Ice cold outside shooting ultimately prevented the Greyhounds from picking up a third straight road win, highlighted by a 53-46 triumph at West Valley to begin the season.
Hard-nosed defense by both teams made it difficult to find many open looks close to the basket, but Navarro told his team at halftime they needed to do a better job of rebounding to close out defensive stops. He said they responded by showing more energy and credited assistant coach Kerie DePell for instilling a toughness in the Vikings every day at practice.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight," Navarro said. "But I think once they can kind of taste it and the stands start filling up for the boys game, you can kind of feel it a little more, right? And so maybe they just got some more juice."
He's anticipating many more difficult matchups in the new nine-team CWAC this season. Ellensburg and Prosser remain the teams to beat with plenty of returners after three straight years of top three 2A finishes, including two state titles for the Bulldogs.
But Selah and Grandview could be in the mix along with newcomer Toppenish for one of what's likely to be three postseason spots for the CWAC. The Wildcats knocked off Othello 71-30 in their league opener Friday night and boast a strong senior class that won a SCAC district title last February.
Games continue Saturday night when Selah (1-0 CWAC, 2-1 overall) travels to East Valley and Grandview (0-1, 2-2) hosts Quincy. Both teams will face key road tests next week when the Vikings travel to Toppenish on Dec. 20 and the Greyhounds play at Ellensburg the following day.
Grandview=10=8=15=6=8= -- =47
Selah=7=7=14=11=11= -- =50
GRANDVIEW -- Madison Thomas 10, Leyla Rodriguez 8, Torres 7, Miya Lopez 3, Baylee Hamm 3, Garza 0, Guillen 2, Armendariz 0, Benitez 0. 17-64 12-15 50.
SELAH -- Elise Kingston 13, Braylee Pendleton 11, Makenna Pepper 9, Coons 7, St. Mary 4, Phinney 6, Keller 0. 20-64 3-10 50.
3-point field goals: Grandview 1-20 (Thomas 1-4), Selah 7-29 (Kingston 2-3, Coons 2-4, Pendleton 2-7, Pepper 1-4). Rebounds: Grandview 55 (Thomas 15), Selah 40 (Kingston 13). Steals: Grandview 10, Selah 6. Turnovers: Grandview 18, Selah 19. Fouls: Grandview 11, Selah 14. Fouled out -- St. Mary.
Elise 13
Thomas 15
Hamm 9