Higher Hoops rallies for title
After losing its first two games in pool play, Higher Hoops’ chances of making a successful run at the Nike Main Event National Basketball Championships held July 22-26 in Las Vegas, Nev., looked bleak.
The 16-U boys team out of Spokane won their next game in pool play, though, and everything turned around.
Coached by Darcy Weisner, a former Shadle Park boys basketball coach, Higher Hoops won all four of their games in the Bronze Division, including a victory over the Las Vegas Blue Chips in the championship game, to claim first place.
Made up mostly of Greater Spokane League players, Higher Hoops finished with a 5-2 record.
Higher Hoops team roster: Ryan Nicholas (Gonzaga Prep), Aaron Dunn (Shadle Park), Travis Long (Gonzaga Prep), Bo Tully (Mead), Taylor Pettersen (Shadle Park), David Nelson (Gonzaga Prep), Michael Weisner (Walla Walla), Gary Winston (Walla Walla) and Tim McEwen (Walla Walla).
Girls basketball
Spokane teams placed fourth and fifth in the AAU Grade Based Girls Basketball Championships that wrapped up Sunday in Reno, Nev.
After going 2-2 in what turned out to be the toughest bracket in pool play, the Spokane Dawgs went 3-1 in championship play to earn fifth place in the 7th Grade Division. The Dawgs were the top-finishing Northwest team, beating Oregon Reign 50-42 for fifth. The teams that defeated the Dawgs in pool play finished first and second in the tournament.
Dawgs coaches are Doug Brown, Eric Bowton and Jamie Stewart. (The name of player Maya Bowton was misspelled in last week’s Youth Notebook.)
Spokane Lady Hoops, after going 3-0 in pool play, were 1-2 in championship play and placed fourth in the 6th Grade Division. The coaches are Apryl Brainard and Shaney Redmon.
Baseball
Shortstop Jarek Cunningham, who will be a senior at Mt. Spokane High School, has been selected to play in the Area Code Baseball Games Aug. 5-10 in Long Beach, Calif.
The games are perhaps the highest-regarded showcase for high school talent in the country. Players are chosen in tryouts by major league scouts. Cunningham was chosen by the Washington Nationals at a tryout at Mt. Hood Community College.
Cunningham has made an oral commitment to play at Arizona State.
Golf
Colbert’s Savana Bezdicek set a tournament record with a two-round total of 151, taking first place in the 12-14 years-old girls division at the Banner Bank Junior Golf Invitational held Aug. 2-3 at the Walla Walla Country Club in Walla Walla.
Bezdicek shot a 74 in the first round and a 77 in round two, finishing with a score that would have placed her first among the 15-17 years-old girls.
Spokane’s Lauren Howell took the top spot in that division, finishing with rounds of 74 and 82 for a 156 total.
Local golfers finishing in the top five of their age group: Howell (first, girls 15-17, 74-82–156), Chewelah’s Gracie Schory (fifth, girls 15-17, 84-85–169), Bezdicek (first, girls 12-14, 74-77–151), Spokane’s Garrett Howard (second, boys 12-14, 72-72–144), Spokane’s Peter Gullickson (third, boys 12-14, 77-70–147).
Hayden’s Kyler Gable (73-78–151) and Coeur d’Alene’s Alex Pounds (73-78–151) tied for sixth in the boys 15-17 age-group to top local golfers in that division.
•St. George’s Chessey Thomas, 15, helped lead Team Washington to a sixth-place finish at the Girls Junior Americas Cup held July 31-Aug. 2 at Waverly Country Club in Portland, Ore.
Thomas, who competes for the Lewis and Clark golf team because St. George’s is without a squad, shot a 54-hole total of 235 to place tied for 15th among 72 competitors.
Team Washington’s other three members were Katrina Hegge, Simone Strauss and Lauren Sewell, all from the Seattle area.
Team Southern California took first place.
Track and field
Eight Spokane Mercury Track Club athletes fared well at the USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships held July 24-29 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
Mead junior Justin Graff led the group with a third-place finish in the Intermediate Boys javelin throw with a toss of 184 feet, 8 inches.
Other finishers included Stephanie Inouye (10th, Young Women 2,000-meter steeplechase, 8 minutes, 20.07 seconds), Melissa Inouye (11th, Youth Girls 3,000-meter race walk, 21:38.41), Latecia Howell (15th, Youth Girls triple jump, 32 feet, 1 inch), Cyra Carlson (19th, Bantam Girls 1,500 meters, 5:46.25), Maja Rodell (10th, Young Women 1,500 meters, 5:01.05) and Steven Kutsch (12th, Intermediate Boys 1,500 meters, 4:09.09).
Girls softball
The Spokane Crash finished in fifth place at the ASA 10-U Class A West Nationals in Beaverton, Ore. Carli Riordan pitched 39 innings over six games in the tournament and struck out 70. Also on the roster are: Sierah Beeler, Devon Bond, Kylie Bremner, Alex Douglas, Kaylee Draine, Nicole Hitchcock, Markee Jackson, Jensen Kirkwood, Paiton Larson, and Katelyn Sage.
The Spokane Crash 14-U team was 32nd at the ASA Class B West Nationals in Stockton, Calif.
•As reported Sunday, Northwest Wildfire of Hayden won the ASA 18-U Class B Western National at Franklin Park. Coeur d’Alene Crush finished fourth, Eagle Sportswear fifth and Spokane Crash ninth, to round out the local teams.
•The Spokane Sliders 12-U softball team went 1-3 at the ASA Class A Western National Championships held in Portland.
The Sliders 16-U team went 0-4 at the USA/ASA A National Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Wrestling
Fourteen-year-old Johnny Peregrina of Plummer, Idaho took first place in the 145-pound weight class at the West Kids Regional Championships held in Klamath Falls, Ore.
To help pay for travel costs, Peregrina was awarded a grant from the Athletic Achievement Grant Program, administered by the Spokane Regional Sports Commission.
Jump roping
Spokane’s Alexander Cano fared well at the United States Jump Rope Federation National Competition held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Cano was 18th in the freestyle competition and 15th in the 3-minute speed event.
Cano was also awarded a grant from the Spokane Regional Sports Commission.