Mike Vlahovich

When Central Valley and Mt. Spokane met with the final berth at stake in next week's four-team Greater Spokane League wrestling championship playoffs, the outcome figured to be anybody's guess. But several young Bears came through at home with victories. The resulting 36-21 outcome gave them outright possession of second place in the American Division of the league with a 5-1 record.

The Ferris-West Valley boys basketball game between teams with the Greater Spokane League's best records proved what coaches have been saying all year: No lead is safe when GSL teams meet. But the home-standing Saxons (10-2, 4-1) took it to extremes, losing a 17-point first-half lead before recovering for a 65-54 victory Tuesday night in a game important to both.

Olympians and local collegians fill the field of 2004 finalists compiled for this year's Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters (SWABS) awards. Former Post Falls and Washington State University discus thrower Ian Waltz and University of Idaho hurdler Angela Whyte both competed in last summer's Athens Olympics. Whyte finished sixth in the 100 meter hurdles finals.

East Valley and University wrestling teams, both 5-0, wrapped up the championships of their respective Greater Spokane League divisions on Wednesday and earned berths in the league's end-of-season four-team high school championship playoffs. The two teams still have outside business to attend to. U-Hi and Central Valley are in Missoula today for the annual Rocky Mountain Classic. Thursday the two district rivals wrestle in the Battle of the Bone.

Unlike last year, University had no problems finding its shot Friday night in front of a capacity Stinky Sneaker house during a convincing 68-44 victory over rival Central Valley in Greater Spokane League play. The Titans hit 68 percent of their first-half attempts, five of them 3-pointers. They parlayed six successive turnovers into points for a 16-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

In the spirit of the basketball season, Friday is the annual Stinky Sneaker game when University hosts Central Valley. Along with the distraction for the four teams playing amid the sold-out bedlam of the high school spirit competition and trophy chase, much is at stake for them during plain old Greater Spokane League basketball games.

The good news for Mt. Spokane, early in its Greater Spokane League girls basketball win Tuesday at North Central, was that the team was overwhelming on the offensive boards. The bad news was that for every offensive rebound – and there were 18 alone in the first half – there was a corresponding missed layin.

The hosts showed their mettle in more ways than one during University High's Pacific Northwest Classic wrestling tournament. U-Hi, by sending five wrestlers into the finals and winning four titles on Saturday, scored 216 points to hold off Flathead (Mont.) of Kalispell (197) and Stanwood (171.5).

Talented athletes and state championship teams and coaches made this year's field of finalists for the 27th Youth Awards Luncheon. The annual showcase of the Spokane Regional Sports Commission (SRSC) will play before a packed audience of area student athletes. This year's event will be at noon on Feb. 9 in the Ag Trade Center.

Cold shooting following a quick early start undid the University Titans in their bid to remain atop Greater Spokane League high school boys basketball. The Titans got strong, early inside play from Calvin Jurich and Nate Thompson and a couple of 3-point baskets to lead 12-5 in the first quarter of its home game Thursday against Gonzaga Prep.

Gonzaga Prep's Ryan Murphy is the first to admit that he's a basketball player in a football player's body. But the burly Bullpups player knows his way around the court as readily as the gridiron. When it comes to making a clutch play, no one in the Greater Spokane League is better.

A Greater Spokane League wrestling match in which as many as eight unbeatens or postseason veterans could potentially have wrestled each other promised plenty of intrigue. Mead and Mt. Spokane delivered, with the Panthers hanging on for a suspenseful 34-33 win that denied Mt. Spokane's bid for a first win over its district rival.

Gonzaga Prep's girls took the road to Seattle during Christmas break and throttled defending 4A state basketball champion Roosevelt 75-48. Mt. Spokane's girls beat two other Seattle-area teams, Kentridge 62-38 and Kennedy 54-47, for an unprecedented holiday tournament title.

Prior to the season there was a buzz in wrestling circles about the potential at University High. Coach Don Owen called the Titans his deepest team ever in a program that has annually been among the Greater Spokane League's best, including three league titles.

Freshmen basketball players have already been a staple at the banquet table of Greater Spokane League basketball. But the piece de resistance so far has been Shadle Park frosh Zack Humphrey, whose three-quarters court shot defeated Mead 43-40 on Monday.