Sports

LEWISTON – The forecast for this year’s spring chinook run is difficult to characterize.

LEWISTON – Fisheries managers are expecting about 8,000 hatchery spring chinook to return to the Clearwater River this year.

That leaves two viable candidates in redshirt sophomore guard Vukasin Masic and 6-foot-8 freshman guard Tyler Harris. The nod goes to Masic, who has been a fixture in the starting lineup while Harris, one of the top freshmen in the conference, is just returning from an ankle injury. Masic, a Serbian native, has good size (6-5 and 210 pounds), is a capable ballhandler (leads the Pilots in assists in conference at 3.7) and connects on a team-leading 39.6% beyond the 3-point arc.

Gonzaga's four-game closing stretch begins Thursday against Portland, which won’t generate nearly as much hoopla as Saturday’s contest against Santa Clara or next week’s road swing against San Francisco and Saint Mary’s, but the outcome matters a great deal.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Another Wednesday, another notes column. Except this one has a special note. Spring training is full-go in Arizona and Florida. The training part is immaterial. The spring part is what matters.

From staff reports

PULLMAN – Jaylen Wells has picked up a favorite hobby on the court. He’ll put the ball in the basket for Washington State, maybe via 3-pointer or a midrange jumper, and immediately turn to the opposing coach.

Tuesday marked the first state basketball games in Ridgeline school history. While both teams played in elimination games, the girls had the luxury of playing at home, while the boys were on the opposite side of the state.

From staff reports

Heading into this women’s basketball season, Eastern Washington’s Jaleesa Lawrence set a couple of personal goals.

DALLAS – Zach Collins has a new high-profile teammate in San Antonio in Victor Wembanayma, the French-born 7-foot-4 sensation who was the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft and is, along with Gonzaga product Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City), a favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

The occasion of the All-Star break gave 10 former Gonzaga players on NBA rosters a chance to reset as they prepare for the home stretch of the regular season with about two more months until playoff pairings are official.

Julius Halaifonua, a 7-foot, 290-pound center, is on Gonzaga’s radar in the 2025 recruiting class.

The field for the 12-team College Football Playoff will comprise five conference champions and seven at-large selections after the university presidents who oversee the CFP voted unanimously Tuesday to tweak the format.

BILLINGS – Amid concerns of economic impacts and with problems mainly focused in northeastern Montana, the Fish and Wildlife Commission voted against delaying the nonresident upland game bird hunting season by two weeks this fall.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We sat down this morning and realized we were suffering from an illness there usually is no coming back from. Writer’s block. Facing a blank slate that won’t fill itself. What to do? Follow Hemingway’s advice. No, not to have a stiff drink. To just start typing. And see what happens.

As the factory workers on the assembly line utter in regard to the mundane grind of earning a routine paycheck: “Another day, another dollar.”