A group of MLK Peace March supporters hold up their sign as they head downtown.

By Joe Hampton
On Monday, a group of around 100 people got together and bundled up for the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March in Toppenish.  The walk started around 10:30 a.m. as supporters of all ages lined up in the Market Place parking lot before they started the trek toward downtown Toppenish, ending at the high school.

You could sense the support and feel the pride among the group for MLK as they waved a plethora of signs covered in pictures and quotes from Martin Luther King. 

The group was guided through town by police patrol cars, and they were not to hard to recognize as the Top-High marching band played a tune to the number of flags leading the way.

Organizers were pleased with the turnout on such a cold day.

The march ended at Toppenish Middle School, where there was a presentation to honor King’s legacy and vision.

Carlos Olivares of the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic was the keynote speaker, and there were performances by Toppenish school district students.

Wapato senior class president Beverly Dosono was happy with the bean feed turnout. Joe Hampton photo
 
By Joe Hampton
The 55th Annual Bean Feed was held this past Friday at Wapato High School.

This year Wapato’s student leadership teamed up with students on the ASB from neighboring high school

Toppenish, to put on the event. The bean feed was entitled “Rivals for a Cause” because students from both schools have been selling tickets as a competition.

“There has been a great turnout again this year,” said Wapato Senior Class President Beverly Dosono. 

“It’s more than just a tradition, it’s been a fun contest to see who can sell the most tickets.”

The event is held to raise money for cancer patients in the Yakima Valley.  Tickets were sold for $5, and the goal was to reach $5,000.  All proceeds from the event will go to the North Star Lodge Cancer Center in Yakima.

SAMMI! SAMMI! SAMMI!
Wapato senior guard, Sammi Jo Blodgett scored her 1,000th  point in her career over a week ago against Grandview.  It has been almost 30 years since anyone in the district has repeated this achievement. She was honored this last Friday after the girl’s game at home against Toppenish.  Cathy Gonzales, who was the last player to reach 1,000 points in her career, presented the ball from the Grandview game to Blodgett with a plague recognizing her accomplishment.  Congratulations Sammi, keep up the good work! 
Joe Hampton photo

By Joe Hampton
If you live in Granger and were not at the gym Saturday night watching SCAC league basketball, you missed out. The Zillah Leopards came into town ready for a tough battle against the Granger Spartans.  Both teams looked on point and ready to play as they tipped off a game that came down to a dazzling 4th quarter finish. 

It was close all game, as the Leopards led the Spartans by one point heading into the second half with a 32-31 lead.  Granger stuck with Zillah, outscoring the Leopards in the 3rd quarter, and tying up the game heading into the 4th quarter.

A Toppenish defensive player sticks right on the East Valley offensive. Joe Hampton photo

By Joe Hampton
It was a full house in Red Devil country Saturday evening, as East Valley got ready to defend their home court against the visiting Toppenish Wildcats. The East Valley boys were looking for their first win of the season and it looked as though they were going to get it, but the Wildcats had something a little different in mind.

Toppenish, who lead by just 2 points at the end of the 3rd quarter, was able to brush off their opponent and put a dent in the lead, outscoring the Red Devils 22-12 in the 4th quarter. East Valley had a tough time keeping track of the Isadore brothers who combined for 29 points, and Sal Gudino had 17 points, helping the Wildcats win another one on the road 64-52. Anton Valle led East Valley with 19 points while Frankie Navarro and Victor Davilla chipped in 10 points each.

The victory adds to the Wildcats winning record and push’s them to (6-1) in CWAC conference play and (7-2) overall. Toppenish is now at the top of the CWAC in a three-way tie for first sharing the honor with Ellensburg and Prosser.

The girl’s final outcome did not work out the way they had planned. Leading most of the game, the undefeated East Valley Girls were tough, outscoring Toppenish 24-16 in the second half.  The Lady Wildcats (4-3, 6-3) fought hard, but were unable to bring down the lady Red Devils. Toppenish’s Osiris Rodriquez led both teams with 20 points, while East Valley’s Yasi Mohsenian put up a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
 

A Highland player waits at the foul line as Grangers’s Moses Rodarte looks on. Joe Hampton photo

The Granger Spartans were a force to be reckoned with Saturday. The boys and girls teams both looked very comfortable on their home floor as they took on the visiting Highland Scotties.  During the boy’s game, Granger jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, outscoring the Scots every quarter. 

The Spartans ferocious defense contributed to 30 Highland turnovers.  Granger who led 46-17 at the half, held their opponent to just 10 points combined in the last 2 quarters ending the game with a final score of 76-27.  Brandon Castro netted 15 points, while Andrew Reddout tacked another double-double on to his season with 15 points, 11 assists, and 5 steals. Granger is in a tie for first place with Naches Valley sharing a record of (3-0) in league play, as Highland falls to (1-3).

The lady Spartans pushed their record to (2-1) in league as they rolled over the lady Scots 48-24.  Lyndsay Oswalt pushed the Spartans with a double-double netting 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Wapato defensive set to rebound, during Friday’s shoot-out between the Wolves and Cougars. Joseph Hampton photo

By Joseph Hampton
You could barely hear the opening whistle Friday night, as the Wapato Wolves tipped off against home team, the White Swan Cougars.  Even though it was a non-league game, the gym was packed with anticipation for these two quick teams to get under way. Wapato was ahead most of the game, leading White Swan 29-22 at halftime, but it was a hard fought battle to the end between the two squads.

The cougars came out with a vengeance in the third quarter out-scoring the wolves, but Wapato was not going to bow down to their opponent as they prevailed with a 64-57 victory.

Lawrence Fiander was the go-to-guy for the cougars netting 32 points. Ozzie George was the main man for Wapato leading the pack with 22 points, while Marcus Guevara lend a helping hand with 17.  White Swan was looking to keep their undefeated streak alive with their third win of the season.  The win boosted Wapato’s record to 2-3 overall.
The girls game was a great one as well, as the Lady Cougars (2-0) tried to protect their home against the visiting Wolves (5-0).  After a 32-31 Wapato half time lead, the Wolves Sammi Jo Blodgett kept momentum going leading the team with 27 points, while Brianna Cordova added a respectable 14 to help Wapato sneak away from the Lady Cougars with a 59-48 win. Evelyn Hawk led the way for the cougars with 14.