SELAH – With a packed Carl Kellman ready to see a slugfest to decide the CWAC girls championship Tuesday night, third-ranked Prosser pressed the issue.

And pressed. And pressed. And pressed a little more.

Delivering the suffocating defense that had fueled eight straight blowout victories coming into the contest, the Mustangs avenged their lone conference loss of the season and ran away from No. 6 Selah 72-45.

The victory wraps up the first conference title for Prosser since the 2011 squad – led by assistant coach Tamara Jones – swept through the conference slate en route to the Class 2A state championship in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“That’s our style and what we do to teams, we kind of played on our heels last time and didn’t apply that kind of pressure,” Mustangs coach Jessica Huntington said. “And our offense is created from our defense.”

Prosser forced Selah into many of its 15 first-half turnovers. The Mustangs converted several of those extra possessions into points as they won their ninth straight – all by at least 27 points – since the Vikings won at Prosser four weeks ago.

“I think it was a lot of motivation for our girls, especially,” Huntington said of the loss. “Yes, it was motivational, but it also was a learning experience.”

Lesson learned.

Star junior Herbie Wright again topped Prosser is scoring with 24 points. The conference’s leading scorer has 1,484 career points, trailing only Jordan Brown (1,485) and Jones (1,930) on the school’s career scoring list.

Selah was physical with Wright, bodying up when she tried to post up, and bumping her as she went through the lane.

BOYS STANDINGS/GIRLS STANDINGS

“That’s growth for her mentally, because in the past in those physical games – playoff-style basketball – she’s kind of let up,” Harrington said. “But she kept attacking and got what she needed to get to be a threat for our team.”

After a quiet first quarter with just one bucket, Wright revved up in the second quarter, scoring eight points while playing through contact.

“It’s definitely something I’ve had to focus on and change,” she said.

She took her game outside in the second half, scoring 14 points with 12 of those coming on 3-

pointers.

“I started off the season not shooting as great as I wanted to, so it’s something I’ve been working and getting into the gym,” Wright said.

Deidra Phillips added a double-double for the Mustangs with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Amelia Chapman had 13 points.

Prosser (14-1 CWAC, 17-3 overall) caps its regular season by hosting Grandview on Friday.

Makenna Pepper led Selah with 11 points and Elise Kingston added nine points.

The Vikings (12-3, 16-4) is in a three-team logjam behind the Mustangs. Selah shares the same record with No. 7 Ellensburg and ninth-ranked Grandview, and visits the Bulldogs on Friday, with the winner standing a good chance to be the No. 2 seed in the district tournament that begins Feb. 10.

At least one of the CWAC’s top-four teams will be left out of the state tournament. The CWAC has just two berths to the Class 2A state tournament in the SunDome, with a third bid up for grabs in a crossover with the Northwest Conference.

In the boys game, Selah finished unbeaten in the conference, beating the Mustangs 59-36.