Dave Trimmer

State AAA notebook First Stacy Clinesmith handled her future teammate, then Ferris handled the athletic prodigy. Only Lewis and Clark couldn't handle the name game. The Mead girls won their opener in the State AAA basketball tournament at Mercer Arena, blowing past Eastlake of Redmond 60-49.

The Cheney Blackhawks are hoping to be the surprise team of the boys State AA high school basketball tournament this week in Tacoma. The original thought was with their 14-11 record, the Blackhawks would be overlooked and be rolling before anyone noticed. Opponents probably don't realize the Blackhawks have been impressive winning four straight loser-out games to get to Wednesday's 1:30 p.m. first-round game in the Tacoma Dome against Lynden (17-6).

1. Glenn Williams, the fifth coach at Lewis and Clark since it last played in Seattle, has the Tigers headed back to the State AAA tournament. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review 2. LC teacher Bob Lobdell, a member of the last Tigers' team to make it to Seattle, proudly carries the 1963 trophy he helped win. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Cheney basketball fans won't have to wait long between Blackhawks games at the State AA high school basketball tournament. The Cheney girls open the tournament with the 9 a.m. game at the Tacoma Dome on Wednesday and the boys hit the floor at 1:30. The girls (20-4), making their second straight appearance, face Arlington (15-9). A second-round opponent could be Chief Sealth, which the Blackhawks faced in the second round last year on their way to the semifinals.

Irwin

The good ol' boys of the State AAA high school basketball tournament thumbed their noses at one of the newcomers. Sunday morning in Bellevue, Lewis and Clark, headed to Seattle for the first time in 32 years, was matched up against pre-tournament favorite Sehome, 23-0, for Wednesday's opener. "Imagine that," LC coach Glenn Williams said. After a long pause, he added, "Wow." The Tigers, 18-9, play Sehome at 10:30 Wednesday morning at Key Arena.

Girls AAA Regional And they still had enough energy to dance. The Ferris Saxons earned their first trip to the State AAA tournament since 1984 behind a marathon 32-minute performance from four starters. And, after the 47-37 victory over Central Valley, they congratulated their family and fans in the stands and danced in the locker room. "Since we were freshmen this has been our plan," senior standout Jennifer Swinton said after scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

Boys AAA Regional The second-longest drought in Greater Spokane League boys basketball came to an end late Saturday night when Lewis and Clark rallied to defeat Mead 60-52 for a state berth. Down 33-22 at halftime, the Tigers battled back to defeat the Panthers in the Eastern Regional AAA Tournament at the Tri-Cities Coliseum, propelling them to the state tournament in Seattle next weekend for the first time since 1964, the second-longest drought for a GSL team.

Scott Stocum helps Ferris slam dunk Wenatchee, 84-54, in first round of AAA regional in Cheney on Tuesday night. Photo by Kristy MacDonald/The Spokesman-Review

Lewis and Clark's Paul Mencke may end up being voted Most Valuable Player in the GSL, but how will he do against Eisenhower? Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review

GSL basketball It was a night for Panthers to growl. They also scratched, clawed and basically mauled Ferris to give Mead a sweep of the Greater Spokane League District 8 Tournament titles at the Arena Friday night. First, the Mead girls pounded Ferris in the third quarter before coasting to a 52-36 victory. Then, the Mead boys shredded the Saxons' vaunted matchup zone with 57-percent shooting for a 69-55 win.

There were four sighs of relief at the Arena Thursday night but only one was audible. That's because Greater Spokane League basketball fans only got to enjoy one close game out of four matchups. The Mead boys held off Central Valley 50-43 in the closest of the "stay at home" games of the GSL District 8 Tournament.

Justin Bursch has quarterbacked Ferris on football field and basketball court. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

Kasey Ahrens of Riverside led the Frontier League in scoring this season. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Postseason basketball begins tonight for eight Greater Spokane League teams in the Arena, and ends tonight for four of them. Winners in the District 8 Tournament advance to the Region IV Tournament next week, which means survivors can play at least four more games. Girls games today are: No. 3 Central Valley (13-3, 16-3) vs. No. 6 University (7-9, 9-10) at 3:45 and No. 4 Shadle Park (8-8, 11-9) vs. No. 5 Gonzaga Prep (7-9, 11-9) at 7:15.

Now Andy Hilzer can wash his socks and retire his shoes. He's done walking all over his brother. The Ritzville senior won the 158-pound championship at Mat Classic VIII in the Tacoma Dome Saturday night, joining Chris Padayao, a senior from Lakeside at 115 pounds, as the only champions from the Northeast A/B district.

University High School's Tara Hulbert competes on uneven parallel bars. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

Deer Park's Clint Umbach, left, throws Tenino's Jamie Colard around in victory at 141. Photo by Sandra Bancroft-Billings/The Spokesman-Review

The University gymnastics team rode an emotional roller coaster in the Tacoma Dome Friday night, but when all was said and done, the Titans were jumping for joy. University finished fourth in the team competition, its highest ever placing at the WIAA/U.S. Bank State Gymnastics Championships. That came despite two injuries and the controversy over the spring (foam block) floor used for the floor exercises.

GSL boys Central Valley continued its second-half roll, clinching a tie for second place in the Greater Spokane League boys standings with a 50-42 victory over Mead at the Arena Tuesday night. The Bears completed the regular season with a 10-6 league record, a half-game ahead of Mead, which finishes up against University on Thursday. If the Panthers win, Mead and CV will meet in a tiebreaker on Saturday at North Central. The Bears (13-7 overall) earned their fifth straight win by racing to a 31-17 lead at halftime and blunting Mead's charge by hitting 11 of 14 fourth-quarter free throws.

GSL girls The Mead Panthers achieved the near impossible Tuesday night - they got a rave review from their cautious coach. Mead, the third-ranked girls team in the state, won its third straight Greater Spokane League title by demolishing No. 5 Central Valley 54-33 at the Arena. And the game wasn't that close. "Didn't we play great," Mead coach Jeanne Helfer acknowledged with an ear-to-ear grin. "That is by far the best overall game my team has played from the first girl to the last player on the bench." Mead scored off the opening tip - Jennifer Bennett tipping to Stacy Clinesmith who dished to Jennifer Clark for a 5-footer - and never trailed. After CV's Crystal Lee, the league's scoring leader, converted a three-point play to cut the Mead lead to 11-8 with 3:15 left in the first quarter, the Panthers went on a 16-0 run over the next 8:12 to break the game open. "We got beat," said CV coach Dale Poffenroth, who had a wry smile of his own. "Mead stepped up. Stacy came to play but don't just say that. All their other kids did, too. They're not a one-person team, that's what makes them so tough to beat." The Panthers (17-2, 14-1) pushed the lead to 36-14 at halftime, 44-16 after three quarters and the lead was 29 points with 6:21 to play. "Others expect it more than we do," Mead forward Jennifer Clark said of the Panthers' fourth title in five years. "You never expect it but that's one of our goals." Clinching by beating CV (16-3, 13-3) is a bonus. "It's always fun to play CV," said Clinesmith, who had 14 of her 17 points in the first half. "CV is one of our biggest rivals in basketball." Mead did for a half on offensive and the whole game on defense. "We played them straight up man," Helfer said. "We got after it defensively. They played their guts out. " With CV controlling the tempo and the non-related Clarks and Bennett dominating the inside, the outcome was never in doubt. The inside trio combined for 24 rebounds as the Panthers had 15 more rebounds than the Bears and allowed just more than 20 percent shooting.

Spokane got such a kick out of its first season of USISL soccer, Shadow officials decided to double the pleasure. The Shadow has moved up to full-time status in the Western Premier Division of the United States Interregional Soccer League. The Shadow will play 22 games, 12 on their home field at Spokane Falls Community College. The season runs from April 27 to July 27. Gonzaga's Einar Thorarinsson returns as coach. Last year, Spokane played 12 games as a provisional team. The schedule and Thorarinsson's return were announced at a press conference at the Arena on Tuesday, attended by USISL commissioner Francisco Marcos. The first three league games are on the road at Yakima, Puget Sound and Bellingham. The first home game will be Saturday, May 5, against the Willamette Valley Firebirds. Half of the home games will be played on Saturdays, including the season-ending July 27 game against the Southern California Gunners. There will be three Friday games and one each on Wednesday and Sunday.

Barratt

GSL boys The playoffs aren't settled with two games left in the Greater Spokane League boys basketball season, but if every game was like Friday night's Mead-Gonzaga Prep contest, no one would care about the playoffs because they wouldn't want the season to end. Before a turn-away, standing-room-only crowd of 1,200 at Gonzaga Prep, the Bullpups beat the Panthers 78-72 in double overtime in the best GSL game of the season. "That was a very good high school basketball game," Mead coach Jim Preston said. "We knew we were in tough. Prep had to win and they were playing in their gym with a great crowd situation. They really elevated their game and we matched them."