Mead and Cheney soccer teams are entering the Lion's den for Saturday state quarterfinal matches. The Panthers (16-4) will play the Bellarmine Prep Lions (14-1-2) at Gonzaga Prep at 1 p.m. in a 4A tourney contest. The Blackhawks (16-4) will host the Lakeside Lions (13-0-4) at 3 p.m. in a 3A match.
Area track athletes depart en masse for the Region 4A and 3A meets beginning Friday in Richland. Some 90 athletes at four Spokane Valley schools will be chasing three spots per event to state the following weekend in Pasco.
Championship soccer may seem to be a game of thrust and parry with occasional scoring bursts. And two such explosive goals lifted Cheney past West Valley-Yakima 2-0 in the first round of State 3A play.
Catcher Kyle Krustangel and pitcher Caleb Rath are making their third state baseball appearances in four years with Ferris. Saturday's come-from-behind 4-2 victory over University at Avista Stadium, however, makes it Ferris' first as District 8 4A champions since 1999. The Saxons battery was a reason why.
Thursday's first day of Greater Spokane League 4A and 3A district track and field was about qualifying for next weekend's regional meets. Numerous athletes at Spokane Valley schools qualified, one of them an early event champion.
Barry Olson is back in basketball. Ferris' head boys coach in 2005 will be the Saxons girls coach next year, pending board approval by Spokane Public Schools said Bob Crabb, the Ferris activities coordinator.
Central Valley High School's softball team had not beaten University since early in 1999. Halfway through their game Monday, the Bears had hope. Brilliant third-base defense by senior Ashley Mayhle kept the game close, and a three-run fourth inning that included a run-scoring single by sophomore Stefani Siddoway, and a long RBI triple by junior Mickenzie Alden gave CV a 6-5 lead.
Gonzaga Prep prolonged Mt. Spokane's history of playoff baseball futility with a District 8 4A tournament upset. Seven sixth-inning runs by the No. 6-seeded Bullpups eliminated the No. 3 Wildcats 12-9 at Avista Stadium in Wednesday's opener.
Mitch Phillips faced an difficult situation during the Greater Spokane League/Mid-Valley 3A baseball regionals. But as he had earlier in the game, West Valley's senior center fielder produced. The result was a 5-3 Eagles comeback victory over visiting Selah that, coupled with North Central's 7-1 road win at West Valley-Yakima, assures the GSL at least two state berths.
Two years ago West Valley qualified for state in baseball as the third regional seed. The Eagles were third again last year, losing 2-1 to East Valley, but only two teams advanced to the 3A tournament. This year, the odds are in the Eagles favor. They are a veteran team, the region has three state berths again and bulk of the tournament is in Spokane.
East Valley and Central Valley gave it the ol' one-two Thursday afternoon during the Greater Spokane League track championships at Mead. The Knights won their first GSL title with nearly identical 77-68, 78-67 and 76-68 victories over the Bears, Lewis and Clark and Mead in the four-team meet.
Give away enough extra outs in baseball and it prolongs innings. In Gonzaga Prep's case it prolonged the regular Greater Spokane League season. Misplayed balls cost the Bullpups' (8-10) a 2-1 loss to Rogers' "Kiddie Corps", dropping them into a tie for sixth place and Saturday playoff game against Central Valley for the final District 8 4A tourney berth.
Elite area basketball players, including prep All-American Angie Bjorklund from University and Washington State 4A MVP Heather Bowman from champion Lewis and Clark, will take part in the annual Jack Blair Memorial Girls AAU All-Star Basketball Classic. The game is named in memory of Jack Blair, former Central Valley girls basketball coach, LC administrator and co-founder of the Spokane Stars select summer basketball program.
Elite area basketball players, including prep All-American Angie Bjorklund from University and State 4A MVP Heather Bowman from champion Lewis and Clark, will take part in the annual Jack Blair Memorial Girls AAU All-Star Basketball Classic. The game is named in memory of Jack Blair, former Central Valley girls basketball coach, LC administrator and co-founder of the Spokane Stars select summer basketball program.
The Greater Spokane League high school baseball season ended for the Central Valley Bears on Monday, but they're keeping their playoff fingers crossed. CV (8-10) is a game up on two teams, Gonzaga Prep and Lewis and Clark (both 7-9 with two games remaining).
Ferris and Mead crammed a season's worth of thrills into one half of their District 8 4A championship soccer match Wednesday at Spokane Falls Community College, won 2-1 by the Saxons. There was a ricochet goal and a third-effort score by Ferris in the first 20 minutes of the second half. There was also a score on an open goal by Mead when fearless Saxons goalie D.J. Bray tried to corral a loose ball.
Members of University's baseball team consider themselves a high school version of the Boston Red Sox "Idiots." So loose are the Titans that it even prompted coach Don Ressa, typically a no-nonsense baseball purist, to turn hip-hop poseur, if only for a moment. "We're goofy," senior outfielder Mike Conrad revealed. "If you went to anybody's practice and went to ours, you'd be scratching your head."
Ryan Fitzgerald, Liberty's boys basketball coach for the past two seasons, is the new head coach at Cheney. He replaces Dave Baird, also an ex-Lancers coach, who resigned from the Blackhawks post after the 2005-06 season.
Andy Greenslitt had not hit a home run in his Ferris High School baseball career. His first, hit into a howling cross-wind, picked up the Saxons and led them to a 9-3 victory at Central Valley on Monday.
East Valley and Central Valley boys barely lost this year for the titles in their respective divisions in Greater Spokane League track. But that doesn't mean that one or the other won't be the league champion.
East Valley didn't take the suspense out of the match, but in holding off visiting Central Valley 3-2 in their regular-season soccer finale, took the suspense out of the Greater Spokane League title race. The win gave the Knights (12-1) their second straight championship, but first outright title. They won, as they so often have, because of the brilliance of Ben Funkhouser.
University High basketball player Angie Bjorklund has accepted an invitation to try out for USA Basketball's U-18 team. She will be one of approximately 30 United States hopefuls participating in the tryouts, June 16-19 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Good pitching may beat good hitting, but then West Valley had a little bit of both Thursday in a 10-5 Greater Spokane League baseball victory over Mead. WV hurler Alex Stanley was superb for six innings and Greg Bradley's fifth-inning grand slam proved the final indignity for the visiting Panthers.
First place was on the line for University in Tuesday's Greater Spokane League baseball and softball games. A stirring rally lifted Titan baseball (11-2) to an 11-7 win over Ferris for a share of first place with the Saxons and Mead.
The accolades abound for East Valley soccer standout Ben Funkhouser. Coaches from high school through college can't say enough good things about the fourth-year varsity player.
