Heading into last Wednesday's season finale against Big Bend, the Yakima Valley men's basketball team still had an outside chance of reaching the postseason. But even though the Yaks took care of the last-place Vikings at home to finish tied for fourth place in the standings, they came up short of a postseason berth when Treasure Valley toppled Blue Mountain the same night.

Treasure Valley went on to win its final regular season contest over Columbia Basin on March 1 to secure the conference's No. 3 playoff seed with a record of 8-6. But since the Yaks (6-8 NWAC East) fell twice to CBC during the regular season, they ended up missing out on the league's final postseason berth.

In the 83-67 win over Big Bend, Jaxson Goldsmith returned from injury to score a game-high 23 points off the bench, connecting on 4-of-7 long-range attempts. Kenzel Massey posted 13 points and 11 rebounds, Fabian Alvarado put up 11 points and five assists, and Jose Brown had 11 points and four assists as the Yaks raced out to a 13-point halftime lead.

Clay Delp added seven points and five assists, Kameron Ferrell had eight points and five boards, and Levi Dorsett scored six points off the bench on a night where YVC shot 41.2% (28-of-68) from the field and 34.8% (8-of-23) from downtown.

The sophomore-heavy Yaks won four of their final six games and finished 12-14 overall. Possible returnees for next season include Dorsett, Zion Jones, Jaymon Wright, Amari Harris and Taijon Simmons.