Andrew Rich took home his second North Sequoia League Player of the Year award, batting .495 with nine home runs, 42 runs scored and 32 RBI. He also went 9-1 with a 1.52 ERA, running his overall high school record to 26-5, and helping Washington Union High School win the CIF Division IV Central Section Title and Small Schools State Championship.

In the junior varsity girls game Yosemite defeated Washington 29-23. After trailing at half-time 7-18, the Panthers outscored the Badgers in the second half but it wasn’t enough to secure the victory.  Brittany Granados led the Panthers with 9.

Boys basketball is in action Wednesday against Yosemite in the South Gym. JV at 5:30, Varsity at 7:00.

In other action in Easton, JV soccer defeated Yosemite 2-1 and Varsity tied 0-0.

Varsity Girls Game

Yosemite 79, Washington 35
#3 Yosemite (19-2, 2-0) 25 15 24 15 – 79

Washington (7-9, 2-1)        9    6 10 10 – 35

Y: Taylor Jensen 12, Sienna Gonzales 17, Jenay Herring 9, Ashley Ellis 2, Jenn Schoonard 2, Devin Grant 1, Sydnee Fipps 24, Amanda Rudd 10, Ashley LaForce 2.

W: Marry Aphay 7, Lexi Blue 9, Samantha Mendoza 7, Michelle Maldonado 2, Latique Walton 8, Anyssa Taylor 2.

JV Girls game

Yosemite    11 7 5 6 – 29

Washington 2 5 7 9 – 23

W: Destanie Dillard 1, Natalie Serna 1, Nou Yang 7, Candy Cruz 2, Brittany Granados 9, Denise DeLaTorre 2, Monica Serna 1.

The girls, led by double-doubles from Lexi Blue and Samantha Mendoza, won 39-32.

Akili Arnold scored 19 points to lead the boys to a 49-34 win.

Both teams are 2-0 in the NSL heading into their next games, at home Tuesday (girls) and Wednesday (boys) against Yosemite and Friday (all) Homecoming against Sierra.

In Friday’s girls game, the Panthers never trailed, building a lead as big as 10 points. Mendoza scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter, to help repel the Redskins.

Blue added 11 rebounds and Mendoza 10 for their double-doubles. Marry Aphay (nine points) and Latique Walton (eight) were the only other Panthers to score.

“On a night when our shots weren’t falling, our defense won us the game,” said coach Annie Taylor. “Chowchilla is a tough environment to play in, but our team kept playing hard and didn’t let anyone get in our heads.”

Taylor singled out Walton for her defense against Chowchilla point guard Mackenzie Mangrum, who was held to three points.

In the boys game, the Panthers nursed leads of 15-14 at halftime and 26-23 after three quarters before Chowchilla jumped ahead 28-26 to start the fourth.

From there, Arnold made a three-pointer and center DeAndre Dickson converted a three-point play and an inside basket to start a Panthers run. Arnold scored eight in the fourth and Dickson added seven of his total nine points. Jose Rivas helped seal it with the last six Panthers points of the game including 4-of-4 free throw shooting.

The Panthers JV teams both lost. The boys held Chowchilla scoreless in the fourth quarter, rallying from a 15-point deficit, but lost 32-30. The girls lost 41-19.

Boys JV coach John Hetherington said, “As disappointing as the first three quarters were, the fact that we held them to zero points in the fourth quarter with plenty of chances to win was very encouraging. I think we’re better for it in the long run.”

Girls JV coach Angel Larios said, “Our girls continue to play hard. When we put a whole game together, we’ll see results in the win column.”

Varsity girls

Washington 39, Chowchilla 32

Washington (7-8, 2-0) 8 4 13 14 – 39

Chowchilla                       2 8 14   8 – 32

W: Marry Aphay 9, Lexi Blue 11, Samantha Mendoza 11, Latique Walton 8.

C: Mackenzie Mangrum 3, Deanna Riberio 4, Stepphani Deathrage 10, Catrina Gaither 11, Cami Rosso 3, Brittany Hitchcock 1.

Varsity boys

Washington 49, Chowchilla 34

Washington (12-10, 2-0) 5 10 11 23 – 49

Chowchilla                            8   6    9 11  - 34

W: Jose Rivas 8, Josh Williams 3, Rance Hightower 8, DeAndre Dickson 9, Akili Arnold 19.

C: Terrance Olivia 2, Harjot Singh 19, Omar Misleh 2, Edgar Armenta 10, Kyle Kinsey 1.

JV boys

Chowchilla 32, Washington 30

Washington  8   6 3 13 – 30

Chowchilla  12 11 9  0 – 32

W: Deshawn Fletcher 14, Martin Renteria 11, Nick Santellano 5.

JV girls

Chowchilla 41, Washington 19

Washington 8  1    5 5 – 19

Chowchilla  6 18 14 9 – 41

W: Nou Yang 6, Brittany Granados 2, Denise DeLaTorre 7, Monica Serna 1, Amber Aguilar 3.

Some highlights from last night saw Gabriel Rios step into the varsity line-up and record a Pin :59 seconds into the first round at 140 pounds. Another highlight saw Mario Marquez, back in action for the first time since suffering a broken finger, major decisioned his opponent 11-2.

The win extends the Panthers NSL winning streak to 12 matches, which dates back to the 2007-2008 season. Next up for the Panthers is a HOME match against Sierra on Thursday Jan. 28th. The match starts at 6pm in the South Gym.  The match will be highlighted by 7 different wrestlers ranked in the top 4 in the Valley! None will be bigger than the match-up at 189 pounds between #3 Ranked Conner Cunningham of Sierra and #4 Ranked Jose Hernandez of Union!

The victory in the North Sequoia League opener boosted Washington to 11-10 overall.

“It was a good team effort, everybody contributed,” coach Tony Petersen said. “Kerman made a couple runs and we held our composure. We were able to fight them off and put them away at the end.”

Senior guard Jose Rivas led the Panthers with 16 points, including 3 of 4 free throws in the final three minutes.

The Panthers forced 21 turnovers while committing just seven.

“We played good defense, we just need to convert our turnovers,” Petersen said.

Junior guard Akili Arnold scored 10 for the Panthers, followed by junior forward Rance Hightower with nine. Junior center DeAndre Dickson added six points, nine rebounds and two assists. His steal in the final two minutes helped put away Kerman.

So did two free throws from senior reserve John Hills, who is now 4 for 4 for the season.

The victory made it a basketball sweep of Kerman this week by Washington. Both girls teams beat Kerman on Tuesday, and the JV boys beat the Lions 36-33 Wednesday. Dashawn Fletcher led the Panthers with 15 points. “Our defense played very well in the second half. We were able to score points off of turnovers. It was a great win and an awesome way to start league,” Coach John Hetherington said.

The Panthers are back in action Friday at Chowchilla. The next home game is Wednesday night against Yosemite — JV at 5:30, varsity at 7.

Varsity

Washington 53, Kerman 45

Kerman         10 17 5 13 – 45

Washington 14 15 8 16 – 53

K: Jose Acosta 4, Mike Rodrigues 6, Robert Zavala 4, Ken Buchnoff 14, Jesus Rico 17.

W: Donzelle Amey 2, Jose Rivas 16, Josh Williams 6, Abel Garcia 2, John Hills 2, Rance Hightower 9, DeAndre Dickson 6, Akili Arnold 10.

JV

Washington 36, Kerman 33

Kerman         9 10 5 9 – 33

Washington 7 7 13 9 – 36

K: Rico 4, J.Singh 6, Reyes 2, Montero 3, Kirkava 4, H.Singh 2, Brar 1, Harvey 4, Valdez 7.

W: Dashawn Fletcher 15, Aaron Rangel 5, Martin Renteria 8, Sal Olvera 4, Germaine Garcia 2.

The Panthers girls basketball team beat Kerman 61-17 Tuesday night in the South Gym in a North Sequoia League opener.

Sophomore guard Lexi Blue scored 26 points to lead Washington.

The Panthers led 24-4 after the first quarter and 45-12 at halftime as Kerman wilted under a full-court press.

“Our girls played really well tonight,” said Washington coach Annie Taylor. “Our press was great and we got off to a quick start, so we got to practice some new things that we might need to use later in league. I’m very proud of each girl and the effort we gave tonight.”

Washington, which also won the Parlier tournament this month, is 6-10 overall. The Panthers play Friday as part of a four-game night (boys and girls, JV and varsity) at Chowchilla.

The Washington JV beat Kerman 25-23. Nou Yang made two free throws with 30 seconds left to secure the win.

Varsity

Washington 61, Kerman 17

Kerman           4   8   3 2 – 17

Washington 24 21 15 1 – 61

K: Amaro 4, Taylor 2, Lee 5, Mendrin 3, Ortiz 1, Vela 2.

W: Lexi Blue 26, Samantha Mendoza 10, Latique Walton 13, Anyssa Taylor 10, Holli Bradford 2.

JV

Washington 25, Kerman 23

Kerman         4 10 6 3 – 23

Washington 4   6 9 6 – 25

K: Vera 7, Velez 2, Robles 4, Jimenez 2, Zermeno 5, Martinez 3.

W: Natalie Serna 5, Nou Yang 2, Candy Cruz 7, Brittany Granados 6, Denise DeLaTorre 2, Monica Serna 3.

The Panthers boys soccer team stayed in first place in the North Sequoia League by beating Kerman 1-0 Tuesday night at John Ventura Stadium.

Junior goalkeeper Hector Saenz made nine saves for his third shutout of the season.

Washington scored early in the first half on an own goal. Senior midfielder Darin Guevara’s shot deflected off a Kerman defender and into the Lions’ goal.

The Panthers are 2-0-1 in league and 8-2-2 overall. They play Thursday at Chowchilla, where a loss to the Redskins last season cost Washington the league championship last season.

In Tuesday’s JV game, Kerman beat Washington 5-1.

Posted by the Hatchet Staff

All four basketball teams played their first home game of the new year on Friday night in the South Gym.

First up was the jv girls team. They were defeated by the Roughriders  33 – 22 .  Candy Cruz led the team with 11 points. “Our team works hard and they are improving everyday. They are really starting to come together as a team,” Coach Angel Larios said.

Next up was the jv boys team who had played Roosevelt twice already. The Panthers were victorious  38-29  .”It’s tough to beat anybody three times in a season and we were successful at that.  I am extremely proud of our team and the progress we have made so far this year. I know we will be ready on Wednesday (Panthers play Kerman at home),” Coach John Hetherington said. Leading the scoring for Washington was Martin Renteria (11) with 18 points and Deshawn Fletcher (10) with 10 points.

The varsity girls followed.  After trailing at half-time by 5, the Panthers closed to within 2 points of Roosevelt early in the third period but failed to close the gap and were defeated 58-48. Lexi Blue (11) led the team with 14 points and Latique Walton (10) added 11 for Washington. “We need to put together a complete game if we want to win. I am proud that we played hard and didn’t quit. We learned a lot from the loss, so that’s a good sign,” Coach Annie Taylor said.

Finally, it was the varsity boys turn. Washington took control early, leading 19-6 at the end of the first quarter and 35-18 at the half. The Panthers continued their domination of the Roughriders and never allowed them to get close. “We are getting better. We don’t rely on any one player. It is a different guy every game.” Coach Tony Petersen said. Jose Rivas led all scorers with 18 points. Deandre Dixon added 15 and Akili Arnold contributed 12 to lead the Panthers.