Area roundup: Community Colleges of Spokane men open Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament with win
Cesar Sandoval finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds and George Pilimai added 19 points and nine rebounds Saturday to lead Community Colleges of Spokane to a 97-77 men’s basketball win over Tacoma to open the Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament in Everett.
JR Delgado added 17 points off the bench for the Sasquatch (22-8), and Cameron Gay totaled 11 points, 10 assists and 6-for-6 shooting from the line to guide the team’s 13-for-14 effort.
The Sasquatch held a 50-31 rebounding advantage over the Titans (12-14).
CCS will meet Portland (25-5) at 6 p.m. Sunday in the quarterfinals.
In another opener, North Idaho (21-8) was set to play Lower Columbia (20-8) at 10 p.m.
Baseball
Washington State 2, Saint Mary’s 1: Scotty Sunitsch pitched a career-best seven innings, and James Rudkin and Blake Clanton hit solo homers to lead the Cougars (4-7) past the visiting Gaels (8-5) in nonconference play at Bailey-Brayton Field.
Sunitsch (1-1) allowed five hits and no earned runs, striking out two and walking one. The Cougars’ defense aided him in the second by pulling off their first triple play since 1999.
Gonzaga 7-1, Rice 5-6: Closer Casey Legumina worked out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth to give the Bulldogs (8-5) a win over the Owls (7-9) to open a nonconference doubleheader in Houston.
Ford Proctor had three RBIs in the second game as Rice ended Gonzaga’s six-game winning streak.
GU’s Branson Trube finished 6 for 8 on the day, with two RBIs and two stolen bases in the win.
Whitworth 10-7, George Fox 3-0: Brady Simmelink (2-1) allowed two hits in seven innings while striking out 10 to give the Pirates (9-7, 4-1 Northwest Conference) a home sweep over the 18th-ranked Bruins (14-5, 8-3).
Whitworth’s Liam Fitzpatrick homered and had four RBIs in the opener. Taylor Poffenroth went 4 or 5 with a homer, and JT Phelan hit a three-run homer in the sixth.
Pierce 13-13, CC Spokane 0-2: Alan Vasquez pitched a seven-inning two-hitter in the opener and the Raiders (4-6) cruised to a nonconference sweep over the Sasquatch (6-2) at Spokane Falls CC.
Nick Anthony hit a two-run homer in the fourth to give Pierce the lead for good in the second game.
Softball
Whitworth 4-0, Puget Sound 1-2: Michelle Silva finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Madelyn Carlson (7-2) allowed two hits and struck out five as the Pirates (8-8, 1-3 Northwest Conference) defeated the Loggers (3-12-1, 1-5) to open a doubleheader in Tacoma.
Amber Popovich’s two-run double in the fifth gave UPS the second-game win.
Track and field
Sophomore Scout Cai (Colfax High) of Seattle Pacific established personal-best marks in three of the five events and placed fifth with 3,790 points in the women’s pentathlon at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kansas.