CC Spokane men’s and women’s basketball teams will host playoff openers

After strong finishes in the Northwest Athletic Conference, the men’s and women’s teams at the Community Colleges of Spokane will host first-round postseason basketball games on Saturday.

The Sasquatch women will host Skagit Valley at 2 p.m. at Spokane Falls Community College. The men will host South Puget Sound at 6 p.m. at Spokane Community College.

The CCS men finished 25-5 overall and 11-3 in the NWAC, good for second place in the East Region behind Big Bend Community College.

The Sasquatch rank second in the 33-team conference, which includes two-year schools in Washington and Oregon.

They’re led by East Region first-team all-stars Jake Love, a West Valley product who averages 17.4 points a game, and former Lewis and Clark star Levi Taylor (18.2 ppg).

Taylor has made 15 of his last 27 3-point attempts.

Dalton Patchen, from Colton, was a second-team pick after averaging 7.5 rebounds a game, and Kage Sobotta (Clarkston) made the all-defensive team.

The Sasquatch are averaging a league-high 98 points a game but have lost their last two games.

The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the quarterfinals on March 11-13 in Everett.

The CCS women are 23-6 overall and 12-2 in the East Region, which earned them a first-place tie with Wenatchee Valley College.

The Sasquatch, ranked fourth in the NWAC, are led by East Region MVP Brianna King, a former North Central star who averages 16.1 points and 2.2 steals. King also was the East Region freshman of the year.

Teammates Gese Gruber and Khadija Neumeyer were second-team selections.

Neumeyer also made the all-defensive team, while Bruce Johnson was regional coach of the year.

The Sasquatch have won 12 straight and are holding teams to a conference-low 56.8 points a game.

The winner will advance to the quarterfinals in Everett on March 10-13.