Greg Lee

Coeur d'Alene coach won't return

Less than 48 hours after the showdown for the Greater Spokane League championship, the Mead and Gonzaga Prep girls basketball teams must stoke the fire again in a face off for the District 8 4A title. Gonzaga Prep hopes the mental edge is on its side tonight when they meet at Mead. Tipoff is at 6.

Sue Winger may be a sophomore, but the Mead basketball player has the savvy of a seasoned veteran. Winger used her long arms to steal a deep inbounds pass and alertly fed a pass ahead to breaking teammate Delany Junkermier, who was intentionally fouled going to the basket.

Thursday Prep Page

Until Central Valley senior Austin Rehkow launched the record-setting 67-yard field goal last fall, recruiting interest was lukewarm at best. Then the video of the kick went viral and interest increased measurably.

As their teammates cut down the net following the District 7 2B championship game last Saturday, St. George’s standouts Dexter Sienko and Erik Muelheims sat on the bench exhausted. The district final was the tightest finish the Dragons (21-1) have had since a 55-54 midseason loss to 2A Pullman. It was the most minutes – at least most intense minutes – the pair had played all season, and Sienko and Muelheims needed a couple of moments to catch their breath.

Two days after a group of disgruntled parents met with school administrators alleging verbal abuse, Coeur d’Alene boys basketball coach Kent Leiss abruptly resigned Friday afternoon, effective immediately. “I know I’m straight forward and some may look at it as being abusive,” Leiss said. “I don’t sugarcoat it. I’ve gotten along with almost all of my players over the years. It’s the parents that might not like my approach, not necessarily the kids. I would call my coaching tough love.”

Those dang ACL injuries

Just 22 seconds remained in the game when Molly Barnhart crumpled to the court. All she was doing was dribbling up the floor. It prompted her mom, Robin, to start yelling at her. She abruptly stopped yelling, almost hoping she could take it back. She knew something was wrong with her daughter.

Dr. Arnold Peterson is alarmed that he’s treating more knee injuries in athletes. “The older I get and the longer I do this, it worries me,” said Peterson, a Spokane orthopedic surgeon. “I don’t think we have the problem under control.”

Mead junior basketball standout Delany Junkermier was in eighth grade the last time the Panthers beat the University Titans. The lone blemish on second-ranked Mead’s record going into Greater Spokane League play Friday was put there by University.

Only in high school basketball. The Gonzaga Prep boys had a 34-point turnaround, knocking off the second-ranked and previously unbeaten Central Valley Bears 62-46 Tuesday in a showdown between the Greater Spokane League’s top two teams at G-Prep after the Bullpups lost 58-40 to the Bears last month.

The start and the finish more than pleased University boys basketball coach Garrick Phillips. Now if Phillips’ Titans can clean things up in between, they will be a difficult out when postseason rolls around.

If Mt. Spokane basketball coach Melissa Allen had one wish, it would be that Brooke Reilly would be more selfish. “It’s a fine line,” Allen said. “Looking for good opportunities and being aggressive is not the same thing as being a ball hog and forcing (shots).”