Lot left in tank for Nelson, who’s playing at New Mexico

The Class of 2007 was pretty special around here – as far as girls basketball was concerned.

Seven Greater Spokane League players earned Division I scholarships and a handful of others went to smaller schools.

Their careers are winding down, or at least most of them.

One that isn’t is Nikki Nelson’s. The Chewelah grad, who spent one year at Mead and took her skills to New Mexico, is only halfway through, in a matter of speaking.

Just before practice started she tore the ACL in her right knee, forcing her to redshirt.

She was quick to point out it was her good knee, not the one that suffered a blown ACL before her freshman season.

“I was devastated when I heard the news,” she said, sounding anything but. “I miss a whole year and I’ve been through it once. But if you get discouraged, you’re going to hate life. It’s OK. … It feels better every day.”

The 5-foot-5 guard, known for her ball-handling exhibitions, recovered from the first knee injury to play in 32 games and average two points a game. She averaged 2.3 as a redshirt sophomore, scoring a game-high 11 points in the Lobos’ last game.

That was enough to have her itching for at least one more year.

“I want to play next year,” the biology major said. “I’m going to spread my classes out. I have to take 12 credits to be eligible to play. Potentially I could get two more years, but I don’t know if I’ll do that.”

New Mexico is known for good crowds, which has helped the adjustment for Nelson, who is close to her family.

“You learn to deal with it,” she said of the distance. “I like the fans. The whole town rallies around college sports. It took (New Mexico) a while to grow on me. It’s desert, not a lot of water or green trees. It’s a different kind of pretty.”

On tap

Gonzaga (4-3) heads to Eastern Washington (1-5) on Friday and Montana (2-4) on Sunday. Idaho (5-1) is at Wyoming on Saturday. Nevada (5-1) is at Washington State (1-6) on Sunday and South Dakota State (3-2) visits the Cougars on Tuesday.

Tip-ins

The area teams were in tournaments over Thanksgiving and four seniors received all-tournament honors. Two Idaho players, Yinka Olorunnife and Derisa Taleni, were recognized at the Oregon tourney after the Vandals went 2-1. Gonzaga went 2-1 in Hawaii with Courtney Vandersloot honored. Julie Piper of Eastern Washington received honors in Colorado even though the Eagles went 1-2. … Another all-tourney pick was Portland State senior Kelli Valentine (Mead) at Cal, where she surpassed 1,000 career points. … Piper was perfect on eight free throws to move into EWU’s top 10 for free throws made. … Redshirt senior Heidi Heintz scored 17 points, including six straight in the second half, to rally UC Davis (5-1) from a 16-point deficit in a 61-52 win over visiting California. It was the Aggies’ first win over a Pac-10 foe.

Saint Mary’s, picked to finish second behind Gonzaga in the WCC, beat Wisconsin 56-50 to win its tournament with senior Louella Tomlinson setting the NCAA all-division record for career blocked shots with 536. … Junior Kelsey Baker (Lewis and Clark) scored 16 points off the bench as Saint Martin’s beat Cal State East Bay 70-59 to go 2-0 in a tourney at Western Washington. … Senior Samantha Flett (Wellpinit) scored a game-high 16 points as Eastern Oregon (7-1) crushed Webber International to win the Turkey Shootout in Babson Park, Fla. Junior Kyle Miller (Cheney) had eight assists and 11 points. In the opening 85-50 win over Warner University, Flett had nine points, six assists and six rebounds.