Area prep wrestlers begin postseason competition

The road to Mat Classic XXIII in Tacoma begins in earnest this weekend.

The District 8 4A and 3A tournaments will be held at Mead beginning at 5 p.m. Friday. Action resumes Saturday morning at 9:30 and afternoon finals are at 4:30.

In 4A, the top four in each weight move on to regionals. In 3A, the top three advance. Central Valley and Mead will challenge for the 4A district championship while University is favored in 3A.

The 4A regional will be Feb. 12 at Ferris with the top four moving on to state. The 3A regional will be the same day at Pasco with the top three going to state

Lewiston out to defend

The 5A Region I girls basketball tournament begins Friday at Lewiston.

In the opener, No. 2 seed Coeur d’Alene (16-4) faces No. 3 Lake City (15-5) at 5:45 followed by No. 4 Post Falls (8-12) taking on top-seeded Lewiston (17-3) at 7:30.

The winners play in the title game Tuesday and the losers meet in a loser-out game, also Tuesday. Two teams go to state.

Backing up?

Gonzaga Prep’s lead atop the Greater Spokane League girls basketball standings is down to one game after Lewis and Clark avenged an earlier loss to the Bullpups.

G-Prep (14-3, 13-2) plays host to Mt. Spokane (7-10, 5-10) tonight before concluding regular-season play next week with a game at North Central (11-6, 10-5) on Tuesday and a home game next Thursday against University (6-11, 5-10).

LC (13-4, 12-3) is at NC tonight. The Tigers face Ferris in the Rubber Chicken game Tuesday before ending at Rogers.

NC and Shadle Park (11-6, 10-5) are not only tied for third but knotted for the all-important top seed to the District 8 3A tournament. Shadle is at Mead (11-6, 9-6) tonight.

• In the boys, Ferris (16-1, 15-0) can clinch a share of the league title and top district seed against visiting Rogers (6-11, 6-9).

GNL finishes tonight

Great Northern League boys and girls conclude basketball play tonight with a few key games impacting seeding to the district, which begins Monday.

The league titles are on the line when the WV boys (17-2 overall, 10-1) entertain Pullman (14-4, 8-3) and East Valley (11-8, 4-7) goes to Clarkston (16-3, 9-2).

In the girls, Clarkston (14-5, 9-2), at home against EV (11-8, 7-4), has a one-game lead over WV (15-4, 8-3) and Pullman (10-8, 8-3), which is at WV.