The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Boys high school basketball kicked off the season in the area with the Dayton-Waitsburg High School's team's first home game of the year. Instead of good tidings, the Mac-Hi Pioneers arrived in a grinch-like mood and left town with a 46-33 victory.

Dayton-Waitsburg dropped two other games last week, 78-56 to College Place and a close loss 59-48 at St.John-Endicott/LaCrosse.

Despite losses against bigger schools, Coach Roy Ramirez felt the team is going to be fine as the season goes along.

"It was just a matter of not shooting the ball well in both games (Thursday and Saturday)," he said. "Once we get our shots to start falling, we'll be ok."

Against Mac-Hi, Dayton-Waitsburg once again faced a team putting on a full-court press. The team showed improvement from last year and were able to move the ball up the court with general ease.

The Pioneers also came out gunning from beyond the 3-point arc, getting their first three points on a shot from Dareagan Stephens. He would lead all scorers with 19 points. Tayven Seney answered for Dayton-Waitsburg with a short basket and converted the 3-point play with a free throw after being fouled on the shot. Seney would finish with six points.

An almost eight-minute dry spell from the time Seney put up a hook shot with 5:14 left in the third quarter, until a 3-point shot from Colton Vanblaricom at the 6:25 mark in the fourth quarter, put a damper on the team's effort to make a comeback. Dayton-Waitsburg had plenty opportunities but there just seemed to be a lid over the basket.

"We got the ball where we wanted to tonight," Ramirez said. "We just need to finish. They play hard, just need to get to a point where they finish. Once we get to that point, we'll be fine. They are doing everything we ask them to."

Dayton-Waitsburg saw much of the same on Thursday against their larger opponent in College Place. While still having difficulty getting ball to go through the net, the team was very successful against the Hawks' full court press and consistently moved the ball around on offense.

Braden Kitselman scored the first three points of the game for Dayton-Waitsburg. He would finish with eight points. But 14-unanswered points by College Place put the Hawks up for good.

"I felt like I did a good job of rebounding," Kitselman said. "I made some free throws and I made some good steals. I felt like we played well. They are a bigger school and they have that big kid."

Kitselman was referring to College Place's Joel Jamison who finished with 20 points before sitting out most of the fourth quarter. Jamison did bring the house down with a slam dunk with six minutes left in the game to put the Hawks up 75-38.

Dayton-Waitsburg showed off its heart and hustle and willingness to never give up as they finished off the game on a 16-0 run. Senior forward Seney scored six of his team-high 10 points over that stretch.

Another bright spot for Dayton-Waitsburg in Thursday's contest was sophomore guard Dylan Bledsoe. Bledsoe came off the bench and scored six points in the third quarter.

In the end, Dayton-Waitsburg wants to build on the week's experience against tough opponents going into the second week of the season.

"We hope to win, we have to win games," Kitselman said emphatically after being asked where the team goes from here.

Next up for the boys are home games against Prescott Tuesday Dec. 10 at 5:30 and Finley on Friday Dec. 13 at 7:30.

Mac-Hi 46, Dayton-Waitsburg 33

MAC-HI (46) – Stephens 19, H. Castillo 14, C. Castillo 5, Earl 4, Flores-Gomez 2, Badilla 2.

DAYTON-WAITSBURG (33) – Vanblaricom 9, Finney 8, Seney 6, Bledsoe 5, White 2, Pettichord 2, Kitselman 1.

Mac 13 19 7 7 -- 46

DW 7 10 4 12 -- 33

3 pt – M 5 (Stephens 3, H. Castillo, C. Castillo), DW 2 (Vanblaricom, Bledsoe). Total Fouls – M 18, DW 12. Fouled out – M (Gilmore).

College Place 78, Dayton-Waitsburg 56

Eric Umphrey

DW's #10 Mason Finney surrounded by 6' 8" Joel Jameson, 6' 2" Braden Hill and 5' 10" Jackson Shumate.

DAYTON-WAITSBURG (56) – Seney 10, Kitselman 8, Evans 8, Finney 7, Costello 6, Bledsoe 6, Vanblaircom 6, Pettichord 3.

COLLEGE PLACE (78) – Jameson 20, Case 14, Howard 13, Hamada 10, Hill 10, Durand 7, Shumate 2.

D-W 9 13 16 18 -- 56

CP 18 20 29 11 -- 78

St.John-Endicott/Locrosse 59, Dayton-Waitsburg 48

DAYTON-WAITSBURG (48) – Finney 14, Evans 10, Kitselman 6, Seney 6, White 5, Pettichord 3, Bledsoe 2, Lindley 2.

ST.JOHN-ENDICOTT/LaCROSSE (59) – Harder 22, Swanack 11, Campbell 8, Stach 8, Conteras 5, Stanley 4, Marconi 2.

D-W 20 9 9 10 -- 48

SJEL 8 18 18 15 -- 59

3-pt – DW 4 (Kitselman 2, Finney). Total Fouls – DW 25, SJEL 17. Fouled out – DW (White), SJEL (Harder, Campbell). Technical Fouls – DW (Finney), SJEL (Harder).