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Thomas Clouse

Thomas Clouse

Current Position: reporter

Thomas Clouse joined The Spokesman-Review in 1999. He is currently the business reporter. He previously worked as an investigative reporter for the City Desk and covering federal, state and local courts for many years.

Email
tomc@spokesman.com
Phone
(509) 459-5495

All Stories

Sports

Hoopfest to add practice courts for a little check-in Friday shoot-around

The world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament is about to get something never before offered at Hoopfest: practice. Organizers plan to have a few courts open on June 26, which is registration check-in day, so that teams will have the chance to get a feel for Spokane’s pavement and how the ball bounces off the backboard, Hoopfest executive director Matt Santangelo said.
Sports

Bats go quiet as Whitworth eliminated from NWC tournament

Whitworth’s magical softball season ran out of tricks Saturday as the Northwest Conference regular-season champion Pirates lost to George Fox 3-0 in the league tournament. The Pirates (31-12) set a school record for wins while taking its first conference crown. But Whitworth must now wait to see if the selection committee will choose it in May for an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Sports

GSL baseball: Mt. Spokane rolls past Rogers

While it may have not been a statement game, Mt. Spokane took on a Rogers team threatening to make a run in the Greater Spokane League and trounced the visiting Pirates 17-2 Thursday in 4 1/2 innings. Mt. Spokane’s Tyler Bailey led the offense, finishing 4 for 4 with a three-run triple and six runs batted in.
Sports

GSL baseball: Tigers rally twice, beat Highlanders 6-3

On a day with weather made for baseball, Lewis and Clark twice came from behind and beat Shadle Park 6-3 in nine innings Tuesday in a Greater Spokane League showdown at Avista Stadium. The Tigers (7-5 GSL) came back and scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game. Shadle Park’s Zaq Munson singled in Logan Kurucz in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, but LC’s Connor Eakin scored on a throwing error in the top of the seventh to force extra innings.
Sports

Five schools within a game of one another atop GSL baseball

After two years of Gonzaga Prep dominating the Greater Spokane League with consecutive 17-1 records, the Bullpups all of a sudden look tame as five teams remain within a game of the conference lead at the halfway point. Mt. Spokane leads the league at 6-2 and the Wildcats are followed by Gonzaga Prep, University, Mead and Rogers, who all have 5-3 league records as the teams resume play today after spring break.
Sports

Whitworth softball team comes together after assistant coach’s heart attack

Whitworth’s softball season got a jolt before it even started when the team nearly lost an assistant coach in late January to a heart attack. But the Pirates (25-7, 16-4) played through adversity as the coach improved. They currently reside atop the Northwest Conference. Whitworth now heads into a weekend series against fourth-place Linfield (22-9, 11-8), which has won the league title for the past 11 seasons.
Sports

Family chooses motocross event at Arena to honor brother

A high-octane motorcycle race is coming to Spokane and a local family is using the event to honor a brother who made motorcycles his life before he tragically decided to take it in 2009. For the first time, the AMSOIL Arenacross will bring 170 truck- loads of dirt into the Arena to create a racetrack for a couple different classes of riders who compete in races all night long starting Saturday at 7.
News >  Spokane

Aaron Leetch, former Whitworth athletic director, killed in plane crash

A private plane returning from the NCAA basketball tournament in Indianapolis crashed in a central Illinois field Tuesday, killing all seven people on board, including former Whitworth University Athletic Director Aaron Leetch. Illinois State University’s associate head basketball coach also was on board.
News >  Spokane

Ex-Whitworth A.D. Leetch among 7 dead in Illinois plane crash

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — A small plane returning from the NCAA basketball tournament in Indianapolis crashed Tuesday near the city of Bloomington in central Illinois, killing all seven people on board. One of the dead is Whitworth University's former Athletic Director Aaron Leetch.
Sports

Terps to Tampa

Maryland’s Lexie Brown hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 7:45 remaining and the Terrapins outscored Tennessee 14-4 the rest of the game Monday to win 58-48 in Spokane and earn their second straight trip to the Final Four. The No. 2 seed Lady Vols hit only one of their last 11 shots and lost a heartbreaker after coming from 17 points behind in a thriller Saturday to beat Gonzaga 73-69 in overtime.
Sports

Maryland wins Spokane Regional

Maryland’s Lexie Brown hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 7:45 remaining and the Terrapins outscored Tennessee 14-4 the rest of the game Monday to win 58-48 in Spokane and earn their second straight trip to the Final Four.
Sports

Terps, Lady Vols face off in regional final

The battle tonight in Spokane to reach the Final Four pits two teams that have been on a collision course ever since Maryland upset Tennessee last year in the Sweet 16. While the roles are reversed, somewhat, with the Terrapins as the No. 1 seed and the Lady Vols as the No. 2, the game promises to deliver fireworks.
Sports >  Gonzaga women

Faulty finish

Six minutes and thirty-four seconds. That’s how long it took Saturday for Gonzaga’s 17-point lead to turn from another glorious upset into one of the biggest NCAA tournament comebacks in Tennessee history. The No. 2 seed Lady Vols used intense pressure and 21-of-22 shooting from the free throw line to will themselves into overtime and then pull out a 73-69 victory over No. 11 seed Gonzaga in a Spokane regional semifinal.
Sports

Lady Vols rally to eliminate Gonzaga in Sweet 16

Cierra Burdick scored 22, including four late free throws for the winning points, as Tennessee beat Gonzaga 73-69 in overtime on Saturday in the Arena to advance to the Spokane regional final of the NCAA tournament.
Sports

Tough task for Gonzaga, and its fans, against Lady Vols

For Spokane, March doesn’t get much madder than this. The No. 11 seeded Gonzaga women’s basketball team fought its way into the Sweet 16 and earned a chance to play in front of thousands of its fans today at the Spokane Arena.
News >  Spokane

Taking charge: First-year women’s coach Lisa Fortier puts stamp on Zags

A near sellout crowd stayed behind Feb. 19 and cheered as the Gonzaga women each climbed the ladder to cut down a piece of the net. Athletic Director Mike Roth stood at midcourt of the McCarthey Athletic Center as first-year basketball coach Lisa Fortier walked up and cut down the last strand after a record 15-0 run that earned the team’s 11th consecutive West Coast Conference championship.
Sports

Georgia Stirton makes big strides to lead Gonzaga women from the point

One of the answers to how the Gonzaga women’s basketball team reached the Sweet 16 came from halfway around the world. The pressure of replacing a graduated Zag point guard, and running a foreign offense for a brand new coaching staff, fell squarely on the shoulders of a feisty transfer from Australia.
Sports

GU women heading home to play

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Gonzaga pulled off its biggest upset of the year on basketball’s biggest stage Sunday and the Bulldogs are now dancing home to Spokane to play in the Sweet 16. Facing Ruth Hamblin, Oregon State’s dominating center from Canada, the No. 11 seed Bulldogs turned to their own Canadian post player, Emma Wolfram, who scored a career-high 17 points and led Gonzaga to a 76-64 NCAA tournament victory over the third-seeded Beavers.
Sports

Gonzaga women downplay role as giant killers against OSU

CORVALLIS, Ore. – With one upset in the books, the Gonzaga women’s basketball team seeks another today on the home court of the Pac-12 champions for the chance to play in Spokane for the Sweet 16. No. 11 seed Gonzaga (25-7) plays No. 3 seed Oregon State (27-4) in Gill Coliseum at 4 p.m. today in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The No. 10 Beavers beat No. 14 seed South Dakota State 74-62 on Friday to advance.