72nd Polly Wilhelmsen Invite: Tulare Western rolls to championship game vs. North

The 72nd annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational continued Friday at Mt. Whitney and Redwood high schools in Visalia.

Here's a quick recap from day three of the 16-team high school boys basketball tournament:

Championship bracket

Tulare Western 59, Tulare Union 36

Tulare Western will play North Bakersfield for the 72nd annual Polly Wilhelmsen championship on Saturday night at Mt. Whitney's Charles Marshall Court.

The Mustangs defeated Tulare Union by 23 points in the tournament semifinals to claim a spot in the Wilhelmsen finals.

Malachi Ficher turned in an all-around performance for Tulare Western. He scored a team-high 21 points, hitting 9-of-11 two-point shots while registering eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Kaine Garcia sank three triples and finished with nine points. Jaydon Henningham contributed eight points.

Garcia also had 12 rebounds and a steal.

Tulare Western sealed the victory with a strong second half, outscoring Tulare Union 32-12.

In three tournament appearances, Ficher is averaging 25 points per game.

Brayden Stevenson was the only Tulare Union player to score in double-figures with 10 points. Rashawn Hayes chipped in nine points and Demaje Riley had eight points.

The Tribe will play Redwood in the tournament's third-place game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mt. Whitney.

Tulare Western: Malachi Ficher 21, Michael Johnson 5, Carson Miller 4, Kaine Garcia 9, Xavier Garcia 4, Juan Cortez 2, Oscar Cortez 2, Jaydon Henningham 8, Grant Crawford 4.

Tulare Union: Damien Rivera 5, Damaje Riley 8, Brayden Stevenson 10, Franklin Lockard 2, Nemiah Moreno 2, Rashawn Hayes 9.

North Bakersfield 53, Redwood 47

North is headed to this season's Wilhelmsen championship game after knocking off Redwood in the tournament semifinals.

Redwood led 30-27 at halftime but North rallied in the second half, outscoring the Rangers 26-17 to advance to the finals.

North was anchored offensively by Wyatt Haner (11 points), Dylan Taylor (eight points), Ethan Saenz (17 points) and Nate Becerra (11 points).

Becerra also recorded four rebounds, two assists and three blocks. He scored nine of his 14 points in the second half, including seven in the fourth quarter.

For Redwood, Zander Jensen and Elijah Casas each tallied 11 points. Cole Gilcrest added 10 points and nine rebounds with six blocks. Isaac Esquivel had eight points.

North: Wyatt Haner 11, Junior Rodriguez 2, David Vasquez 2, Dylan Taylor 8, Baylin Statler 2, Ethan Saenz 17, Nate Becerra 11.

Redwood: Isaac Esquivel 8, Zander Jensen 11, Josh Abbot 2, Elijah Casas 11, Christian Carlos 2, Cole Gilcrest 10, Evan Galley 3.

Porterville 55, Exeter 42

Porterville's win catapulted the Panthers into the fifth-place game, which will be against Dinuba on Saturday at Mt. Whitney.

Nine different players scored for Porterville. Camden Haynes led the way with 12 points. Brayden Della generated 10 points and Jace Galangue, Sammy Santillan and Logan Martinez each had six points.

Hanynes also had three rebounds and four steals.

Exeter's Aden Plyman scored a team-high 15 points. Blaine McFall had nine points with 18 rebounds, two assists and a block.

Porterville: Ayden Ceballos 3, Brayden Della 10, Jace Balangue 6, Camden Haynes 12, Nykolas Ruiz 2, Jhabie Casabay 5, Omar Ramirez 5, Sammy Santillan 6, Logan Martinez 6.

Exeter: Cadon Hughes 3, Andrew Taylor 4, Max McCormick 3, Blaine McFall 9, Eric Roach 1, Jaydin McAllister 2, Aden Plyman 15, Madden Pasos 4.

More: 72nd annual Polly Wilhelmsen: Redwood, Tulare Union, Tulare Western advance to semifinals

More: 72nd annual Polly Wilhelmsen Invitational: Day 1 scores, highlights, top performers

Dinuba 60, El Diamante 58

Dinuba edged El Diamante by two points in overtime to advance to the tournament's fifth-place game.

The Emperors' victory was fueled by Josiah Ochoa (11 points), Javier Torres (17 points) and Brice Watley (15 points).

Dinuba shot 8-of-29 from 3-point land. Ochoa nailed three triples and Torres and Michael Espirito had two treys each. Torres also had seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a pair of steals.

El Diamante's Santana Guijarro drained 22 points with four boards, an assist and four steals. Matthew Perez added 13 points. Ezra Ayers had nine points and Emilio Cortez chipped in eight points.

Dinuba will play Porterville on in the Wilhelmsen fifth-place game on Saturday at Mt. Whitney. Jump ball is at 4:15 p.m.

El Diamante: Logan Tavare 3, Santana Guijarro 22, Ezra Ayers 9, Matthew Perez 13, Emilio Cervantez 8, Diego Ramos 3.

Dinuba: Michael Espirito 6, Joseph Lopez 2, Josiah Ochoa 11, Javier Torres 17, Brice Watley 15, Angel Sanchez 7.

Consolation bracket

Golden West 61, Justin Garza 42

Golden West advanced to the Wilhelmsen consolation title game with its second straight tournament victory.

The Trailblazers sank eight 3-pointers in the rout. Juan Cortes shot 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points. He also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Jagar Brooks led Golden West in scoring with 16 points. He registered a double-double by also grabbing a dozen rebounds. Javon Holmes added 12 points and Vince Aceves had 10 points.

The Trailblazers led 56-32 after three quarters.

Golden West will play Hanford on Saturday in the tournament's consolation championship game at Mt. Whitney. Tip-off is at 2:30 p.m.

Garza's Lee Williams and Gurveer Singh each had 12 points.

Golden West: Juan Cortes 14, Isaac See 2, Vince Aceves 10, Javon Holmes 12, Noah Young 1, Terry Turner 2, Jayden Najera 2, Jagar Brooks 16, Evan Renteria 2.

Garza: Omari Bogan 2, Payton Powell 3, Lee Williams 12, Gurveer Singh 12, Tristian Chavez 1, Mason Hill 3, Cameron Greening 3, Carter Cabario 4, Gorv Singh 2.

Hanford 68, Delano 56

Hanford punched its ticket to the Wilhelmsen consolation championship game.

Delano led 33-28 at halftime but the Bullpups went on a 27-11 run in the third quarter to seize command.

The Bullpups were led by Jaren Pimentel's 17 points and Kourdey Glass' 15 points. Glass also grabbed 13 rebounds, made two blocks and a pair of steals.

Delano's Ibrahim Shuwalt scored a game-high 31 points, hitting 14-of-22 shots and 3-of-6 free throws. He finished with a double-double with 18 rebounds, including eight on offense, an assist and a steal.

Hanford: Jaren Pimentel 17, J.C. Turner 6, Anthony Perryman 9, Kourdey Glass 15, Christian Wittwer 8, Aiden Paul 6, Eli Noyola 1, David Jefferies 6.

Delano: Juan Lopez 6, Edward Rodriguez 5, Damian Miranda 3, R.G. Garcia 2, Jotham Amodo 9, Ibrahim Shuwalt 31.

Mt. Whitney 57, Pioneer Valley 40

Izzy Briggs netted a team-best 23 points to lead Mt. Whitney to a tournament consolation victory.

Briggs scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half.

Also for Mt. Whitney, Chase Kottage dropped 12 points. Xavier Soto had eight points and Josiah Simmons finished with six points.

Pioneer Valley's Inderveer Toor had 14 points.

Mt. Whitney: Josian Simmons 6, Izzy Briggs 23, Adrian Huerta 5, John Applewhite 2, Matt Townsend 1, Xavier Soto 8, Chase Kottage 12.

Pioneer Valley: Thomas Zepeda 1, Elias Giddings 8, James Torres 5, Jarrell White 5, Inderveer Toor 14, David Lopez 2, Jeremy White 3, Jordan Teniente 2.

Kingsburg 77, Monache 58

Kingsburg's 19-point win was spearheaded by Carlos Blancaz (12 points), Jensen Hirschkorn (13 points), Max Warkentin (13 points) and Isaack Smith (11 points).

Monache's Ty Baxter erupted for a game-best 30 points.

Kingsburg: Bryce Cornell 6, Nick Palm 4, Chris Browe 6, Carlos Blancaz 12, Jensen Hirshkorn 13, Max Warkentin 13, Tej Purewal 9, John Peterson 3, Isaak Smith 11.

Monache: Ty Baxter 30, Jayden Garcia 9, Ramsey Barrios 8, Isaiah Rogers 2, Gabriel Carbajal 2, D.J. Shimer 2, Emmett Focke 5.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Tulare Western rolls to Wilhelmsen championship game vs. North