Sports

From staff reports

PULLMAN – Around the time Washington State coach Kyle Smith was discussing his group’s latest win, a come-from-behind victory over USC Thursday night that helped the Cougars improve their NCAA Tournament stock, the coach of his team’s next opponent was busy wondering which of his players he’s interested in retaining.

PEORIA, Ariz. – The Mariners won’t have Matt Brash in the bullpen on opening day at T-Mobile Park. But they also haven’t lost him for the 2024 season before it had even started.

TACOMA – If someone told you Greater Spokane League Most Valuable Player Teryn Gardner would match her lowest point total of the season in the State 3A semifinal, you would probably think Mead would lose.

From staff reports

YAKIMA – Second -seeded Lynden held the fifth-seeded Clarkston girls to 19 points in the second half Friday to defeat the Bantams 61-43 in a State 2A tournament semifinal in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Whitworth’s senior duo again showed up in the biggest moments Friday night as the Pirates escaped with an overtime win over California Lutheran in a raucous environment in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Throughout the season, the Wellpinit boys basketball team got used to doing a lot of running.

BILLINGS – Although congregating wildlife is known to spread deadly chronic wasting disease (CWD) and brucellosis, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is touting its new elk feedground management plan as a path forward without abandoning the practice.

TACOMA — The last time an “East Side” team won the boys State 3A title was in 1984, when Othello went over the pass and came back with the gold ball.

MORAGA, Calif. – There won’t be a regular-season title on the line or conference tournament seeds up for grabs when one of the West Coast’s top rivalries tips off Saturday night in the Bay Area.

From staff reports

SANDPOINT – Michael Boge didn’t remember the man sitting next to him on the chairlift, but the man remembered him.

MORAGA, Calif. – Nearing the end of his fifth and final college season, Alex Ducas has logged more than a few miles in a Saint Mary’s uniform.

The landscape looks nothing like it did the night Michigan won the national title.

Gonzaga Prep led the entire game...until it didn't. There were no ties until the final horn, and no lead changes until overtime. But once that lead change occurred, there wasn't another one. 

Gonzaga’s improvement was incremental after falling to Santa Clara on Jan. 11 and more pronounced since stumbling late in a 64-62 loss to Saint Mary’s in early February. The Zags have won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13, but they face their biggest West Coast Conference test Saturday in Moraga when Saint Mary’s attempts to close out an unbeaten conference season.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It wasn’t March in Pullman. Nor San Francisco. And certainly not Cheney. Not yet anyway, though it was only minutes away. Instead, all we had was the madness. And Thursday night, that was more than enough.

PULLMAN — The first hint Isaiah Watts picked up on was a grin from associate head coach Jim Shaw. Washington State was in the locker room, celebrating a 75-72 home win over USC Thursday night, and the freshman guard Watts noticed that Shaw, the team’s defensive guru, was in a good mood.