Mike Vlahovich

Long-time friends and Rogers High wrestlers Daryl Groom and Daryn Steenek face a test of their relationship when they square off against each other on the mat. Photo by Dan McComb/The Spokesman-Review

While West Valley was coming through the first weekend of Frontier League basketball unscathed, Sabron Stone could hardly stand not being a part of it. Stone, who had been averaging 13.3 points and 9 rebounds per game before he broke his wrist in a fall against Sandpoint, is not a good bench sitter. "I don't like it at all," said Stone of his injuryforced hiatus. Scheduled to miss five weeks of the season, he expects to be back sooner. "I can't wait that long," Stone said. "I'm going to cut the cast off in two weeks." Coach Joe Feist hopes he's right. "He was the one thing that made us special," said Feist. "We're not as quick as we were and can't pressure the point anymore on defense." Still, the Eagles got off to an impressive start. WV beat Clarkston 57-34 by limiting the host Bantams to 11 second-half points, and cofavorite Pullman 65-50 by outscoring the Greyhounds 19-7 in the game's final nine minutes. "It was a good weekend for us," said Feist. "Neither win was pretty, but I thought we competed hard." During the two wins the Eagles canned 21 three-point baskets, getting a 24-point first night from David Schillinger and 25 the next night (on seven treys) from Brian Lindley. The Eagles also had a huge rebounding advantage over the Greyhounds, led by Greg Jones' 15 and Joe Bonner's 11. Although Schillinger struggled offensively, Feist said his play against Pullman's double teams and trapping defense was instrumental in victory. "I thought David did a great job of taking care of the ball," Feist said. "That might have been the key.' WV girls untrack at right time West Valley's veteran girls basketball team had struggled with three wins in nine nonleague games. Last weekend's season-opening sweep of their first two league games revitalized the Eagles at the right time. This weekend the team has games against Colville at home and at unbeaten Cheney. "The first game is the one we are most concerned with, it is really big for us," said Coach Mark Kuipers of the impending showdown. "The second game we'll deal with when it comes." He credited improved defense with West Valley's 45-35 win in Clarkston and 50-45 victory over the defending league champion Greyhounds. "We gave them a lot of stuff in the preseason and it was a matter of picking out what they ran best," he said. The Eagles were also playing at full strength with Kaci Stansbury recovered from an ankle injury and two others back from suspension. "For a while we were disrupted," said Kuipers. "The girls played hard and played well but those we were missing were worth 20 points a game." WV outscored Clarkston 13-7 in the second and fourth quarters, capitalizing on Bantam foul troubles. They outscored Pullman 16-11 in the fourth quarter to win the next night. Dawn Salfer scored 16 points, including two critical 3's in the final period. Stansbury was 8 for 8 from the free throw line. "We're not near where we want to be," said Kuipers after the weekend. "But I can't be any more satisfied than to be 2-0 in league play." Freeman ambushed in Kettle Falls Kettle Falls hasn't been kind to Freeman. First the football team, now the basketball team has been ambushed by the Bulldogs. Strange things, football coach John Custer had said, can occur there. Like the 74 percent field goal shooting that beat Freeman despite the fact the Scotties themselves scored 80 points. "Kettle Falls is a difficult place to play," said Coach John Nelson. "And we ran into a team that shot well and got on a roll." Coming on the heels of a huge 61-45 victory at Riverside, the loss prevented the Scotties from sharing second place in the Northeast A. The focus obviously was on the Riverside game in which the Scotties broke a 25-25 halftime deadlock to run away from their hosts. "We made some adjustments after struggling in the first half," said Nelson. "We slowed Riverside to a point where on offense they were standing around." Next night Kettle Falls couldn't be stopped despite having won just one game previously. The Bulldogs outscored Freeman 44-36 in the first half and held on. "It's hard to prepare for two games back-toback, expecially when you have a biggie on Friday," said Nelson. "The Riverside win was really gratifying." Travis Goldsmith had a big weekend, scoring 51 points in the games. He's averaging 17.1 points for the year. Freeman hosts league runnerup Medical Lake on Friday. Still chasing Bi-County elite Valley Christian's boys and girls basketball teams have experienced their share of success. But the Panthers still find themselves chasing the Bi-County League's best teams. The boys have lost only once in the preseason but are just 2-5 against league foes. They led unbeaten Sprague-Harrington into the fourth quarter before losing 67-62 and were beaten in Ritzville. After 11 games, Travis Harken is averaging 15.8 points, Austin Gerrells 13.4 and Aaron Asbury 12.9 per outing. The girls have a school-record four victories overall this year and are likely to win nearly as many more in league. Key performers in the first 11 games have included scoring leaders Stacey Hudson, Carmen Evans and Nicole Monforten, averaging nearly 8 points per game each.

Paul Pfeifer of the West Valley wrestling team has lost more than 100 pounds to become a key member of the team. The wrestlers run in the halls of the school for 15 minutes before practices. Photo by Steve Thompson/The Spokesman-Review

The schedule maker couldn't have planned it better. Heading into this week, three Greater Spokane League girls basketball teams were still unbeaten. Now, in three successive outings, those teams - Shadle Park, University and Mead - play each other to complete the league's first round. "I don't know if it's good or bad, said Shadle Park coach Linda Sheridan. "At least it's not an advantage for one or the other." Shadle Park (7-0) met University (now 5-1) on Tuesday winning 57-43 to remain one-half game in front. The Highlanders have a bye before finishing first-round play against Mead next Tuesday at Spokane Falls Community College. "We probably have the best deal," said Sheridan. "We had a little time to prepare for University and have a week to prepare for Mead." Before playing Shadle, the Panthers (6-0) must travel to University on Friday. "We had time to kind of get ready for them," Mead coach Jeanne Helfer said of the upcoming games. "The schedule worked in our favor." Mead's wins have been by an average of 20 points per game, although the Panthers faced challenges in their first three. Helfer said her team has played 2 quality games since starting the season. "I think we kind of worked our way through tough spots," Helfer said. "We have a really young team." Mead has only two seniors on the roster and has been getting increased playing time from sophomores Holly Turner, Kelly Benad and Jennifer Bennett. Shadle, which has nine returning letter winners, including five seniors, won its first six games by a 24-point average. Only the Central Valley game posed a problem. "I have four seniors that have played with me for three years, and there are only two new kids on the team," said Sheridan. "Last summer they committed to basketball and are enjoying the rewards of this." Kelly Bartleson, Shawna Rainer, Kristen and Terrese Miller are all third-year varsity members. The other senior, Stephanie Short, made an auspicious debut last year in the playoffs and has gone from there. Although the series of games is the biggest both teams will have faced to this point, Helfer is keeping it in perspective. "I've been around the league a while and know you have to be ready every single week," she said. "Because the season is long, there is not an important game in January." Still Sheridan understands the significance of the moment. "In light of how the season has turned out, it's kind of an odd coincidence," she said. "And kind of neat." Lakeside win heads NEA surprises During a weekend of Northeast A League basketball upsets, Lakeside's victory over previously unbeaten Medical Lake was the most surprising. The Eagles opened eyes with the win which, coupled with a couple other upsets, changed the nature of the league race. "It's just a matter of it being anybody's game any night," said first-year coach Kevin Mulligan of Lakeside. "No one's a shoo-in. You've got to respect them all." He said Lakeside simply played four quality quarters against Medical Lake, using a man-to-man defense that limited the two leading Cardinal scorers to less than double figures. "We controlled the boards, which was a big key and forced them into shot selections I don't think they really liked," said Mulligan. Last week's wins, which included a victory over Kettle Falls, were Lakeside's third and fourth straight and left the team at 4-3 in league and 8-3 overall. Chevy Mathews has averaged 18.7 points per game during the run. Four teams are closely bunched behind the league's top two - Chewelah and Medical Lake - including Riverside and Lakeside. The former was beaten by Freeman on Friday. The same is true in the girls league, where four teams, including Riverside (5-1, 9-1) and Lakeside (5-2, 8-3) are chasing unbeaten Colfax. Riverside second in tourney Riverside's wrestling team finished third behind Cashmere and Connell in the Royal City tournament. Eight Ram wrestlers, including 115-pound champion Henry Peterson and 178-pound runner-up Randy Sadberry, were among the top six finishers. Placing third at 108 was Adrian Bojorquez and at 158, Dan Kruger. At fourth were Matt Turner, 135, and Joe Downing, 141. Between Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Saturday, Jan. 21, the Northeast A League championship will be determined with matches that include Lakeside at Riverside, Deer Park at Lakeside and Deer Park at Riverside.