Ccs Has Chance To Bring Back Long-Lost Title

Here’s why the Community Colleges of Spokane has a chance to do something it hasn’t done since its current players were in grade school - win the NWAACC tournament:

The Sasquatch (22-8) bring their terrific trio of Shelley Massingale (17.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Alana Carlander (14.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Kelli Pilkington (12.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg) into the eight-team tournament, which begins Thursday at Yakima Valley Community College. This is the 20th year of the tournament and CCS has not won it since 1984.

CCS, the Eastern Division runner-up, is in what’s considered the light half of the bracket. It opens at 6 p.m. against Mt. Hood, a team that pulled the upset over Clackamas in the Southern Division championship game. That earned the Saints a No. 1 seed, despite their 14-14 record.

CCS beat Mt. Hood 61-55 earlier this year at the Clackamas tournament. However, that was before the Gresham, Ore., team added Amy Mayer to its roster, a center averaging 11.8 ppg and 6.4 rpg.

The winner plays the winner of the Lower Columbia (21-9) vs. Everett (16-15) game.

The power half of the bracket features Eastern Division champ Wenatchee Valley (26-3) vs. Clackamas (21-6) and Skagit Valley (29-0) vs. South Puget Sound (19-10).

Bringing the trophy back to Spokane could happen - but the downside can’t be overlooked:

Wenatchee thumped CCS 79-50 in the division’s title game. The two split games during the regular season.

CCS beat Clackamas 81-69 in December and have not faced undefeated Skagit Valley this season. The title game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

Can the Cougars spoil the parties?

If this sounds familiar, it must mean you also follow Washington and Washington State men’s basketball, too.

It’s a Cougars vs. Huskies Pac-10 Conference hoop finale for both teams and WSU is in the position to end the thought that UW is going to be invited to either dance.

(Hey, Coug fans, you gotta have something to root for).

WSU women bring a 12-14, 6-11 record into Hec Ed Pavilion Saturday at 3 p.m. A win over Washington and the eighth-place Cougars can finish as high as sixth place, depending on the outcomes of USC and Arizona State’s games.

In the first conference game of the season for both schools, Washington beat Washington State 73-58 in Pullman.

“The first time we played Washington seems like a full season ago,” WSU coach Harold Rhodes said.

A full season ago and looking more and more like the only part of the season UW was playing to its full potential. The Huskies entered the Jan. 3 game coming off a 9-0 preseason record and ranked eighth. They enter the finale 17-9 overall and fifth in the conference at 8-9. UW has lost four of the last five games. It’s still getting votes in the AP poll, but has slipped out of the Top 25.

A loss to the Cougars and the Huskies can forget about the NCAA Tournament. That’s if there’s still a chance - but only the committee knows for sure.

For the men’s scenario, substitute correct records, add UW’s Sunday stunner over UCLA and see above.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Area leaders Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Shelley Massingale, CCS 172-379 124-165 16 17.3 Alli Nieman, UI 161-333 115-161 9 16.5 Tammy Goyne, NIC 140-295 69-95 47 15.2 Yvonne Kunze, WSU 152-282 75-115 2 14.7 Andrea Sherer, Whit. 141-292 65-135 2 14.5 Alana Carlander, CCS 145-352 59-96 60 14.1 Kelli Johnson, UI 133-327 51-61 59 13.4 Susan Woolf, UI 105-284 90-121 59 12.8 Kelli Pilkington, CCS 149-332 61-103 4 12.5 Becki Huddle, NIC 87-236 115-156 17 12.2 Alke Dietel, WSU 119-262 49-67 28 12.2 Tracy Ford, EWU 108-301 53-64 32 12.0 Lydia Ledgerwood, GU 110-274 77-105 8 11.5 Tricia Lamb, WSU 87-203 51-76 28 9.7 Sandy Gere, GU 80-221 41-56 30 9.6

Rebounding Pilkington, CCS, 9.2 (263); Juli Carlson, EWU, 7.9 (205); Kunze, WSU, 7.3 (191); Sherer, Whit., 7.3 (174); Nieman, UI, 7.2 (195).

Assists Goyne, NIC, 4.9 (125); Emily Stuenkel, Whit., 4.3 (68); Woolf, UI, 4.1 (116); Kathryn Gussett, UI, 3.9 (110); Lisa Bocook, CCS, 3.8 (81).

Steals Goyne, NIC, 3.7 (96); Bocook, CCS, 3.0 (64); Gussett; UI, 2.0 (55); Gere, GU, 2.0 (48); Johnson, UI, 1.8 (50).

Schedule Today: NIC vs. Dixie College at Region 18 Big West Conference tournament, (first round) at Rexburg, Idaho, 2 p.m.; Idaho vs. UC Irvine at Big West Conference tournament, (first round) at Reno, Nev., 3 p.m. Thursday: CCS vs. Mt. Hood at NWAACC tournament, (first round) at Yakima Valley CC, 6 p.m. Saturday:WSU at Washington, 3 p.m.