Just because two teams are guaranteed a trip to the state playoffs doesn’t mean that emotions won’t run high – especially among the fans. That was the case when the Shadle Park Highlanders faced the Kamiakin Braves Saturday at University High in the 3A regional softball tournament. The undefeated Braves won the game 8-2 to get the No. 1 seed to state. The Highlanders get the second seed.

Valley Christian guard Kolby Blew finally listened to his coach Chad Kimberley. He shot the ball more, and more and more. In heeding Kimberley’s advice, Blew lit up the scoreboard for a career-high 31 points Saturday, leading the Panthers past the Cascade Christian Academy Wolverines 69-47 at Shadle Park High.

The door to a berth in the Big Sky Conference basketball tournament for Eastern Washington isn’t shut, but with Thursday night’s 60-56 loss to Montana State the port of entry has become a little thinner. The Bobcats broke a tie in the conference standings with Eastern and moved a game up with a 6-8 record (12-16 overall). The Eagles fell to 8-19, 5-9.

It felt like trouble for Whitworth. The Pirates trailed Pacific University 8-3 with 17:58 left in the first half. That’s dire straits by Pirates standards these days. The slow start forced head coach Jim Hayford to call a timeout, and that wasn’t even a full one.

The double-digit lead the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team held for most of the second half Thursday never felt entirely secure. But despite making just 64 percent of their free-throw attempts for the game, the Eagles sank their last 10 attempts from the line and snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating Northern Arizona University 72-59.

If you’re looking for a nail-biting, suspenseful basketball experience, it may not be found at the Whitworth Pirates Fieldhouse anytime soon. However, if you want to see a nationally ranked team utterly dominate its opponent, shoot the ball well, play smothering defense and have the opposing coach pounding the scoring table screaming at referees as if they have some semblance of control over the outcome of the contest, then feel free to watch the No. 4-ranked Pirates leave their opponents behind.