Vince Grippi

There were few, if any, surprises when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's Executive Board released the final enrollment figures and the makeup of its six classifications for fall 2006 on Tuesday. The Greater Spokane League will remain a 4A/3A combined league with only three 3A schools – East Valley, Mt. Spokane and North Central – out of 11 members. The GSL will lose Cheney, Clarkston and West Valley to the 2A Great Northern League after four years of league membership. Starting next fall, the GNL will have eight members.

The Big Nine Conference principals voted Wednesday to convert the former 4A league into a combined 4A/3A league split into two divisions by classification. The decision came a day before the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association-mandated deadline for schools to declare which of six high school classifications they will compete in starting in fall of 2006. The league, which also added West Valley of Yakima and Hanford on Wednesday, would consist of seven 4A schools and seven 3A, if Sunnyside accepts an invitation to join.

There's undefeated and there's undefeated. Lewis and Clark is the latter, after a 20-1 opening run ignited a 70-29 blowout of previously unbeaten Shadle Park in a non-league game Tuesday night.

The West Valley Eagles entered the basketball season with high expectations. Coming off a fourth-place finish in the State 3A basketball tournament, the Eagles return all five starters and seven of their top eight. They were ranked second in the first Seattle Times poll and that was before top-ranked Rainier Beach lost its opener.

RENTON-Central Valley High came close, but the Bears lost this one. The WIAA Executive Board, after spirited discussion, voted narrowly not to accept CV's appeal of its basketball forfeitures dating back to last season.

RENTON – The WIAA Executive Board moved a step closer Monday to finalizing the makeup of the new six classification system in the fall of 2006. The WIAA released a preliminary breakdown of schools by classifications, and it included a few surprises (see accompanying list).

The WIAA's Executive Board heard an appeal from Central Valley High principal Mike Hittle on Sunday, but decided to wait until today to make a final decision on the Bears basketball forfeiture dating back to last season. "We think the wrong individuals are being punished for this infraction," Hittle told the board. "It was an administrative error and we feel the administrators should be held accountable, not necessarily the players or the coaches."

One of the most important meetings of the WIAA's Executive Board will be held today and Monday at the organization's headquarters in Renton. The WIAA governing council will announce the makeup of the new classifications Monday, capping more than a year of moving to a sixth classification, brought about by a desire to split the B class in half and a wish to even out the other four classes. The board will decide today what to name the new classification.

Look through Washington's 11-man high school football record book and one school just keeps popping up. DeSales.

A 10-point run midway through the second half lifted the Whitworth Pirates to an 85-76 non-conference win over the Montana Tech Orediggers on a snowy Tuesday night. But the 625 who braved the icy roads to get to the Whitworth Fieldhouse saw something more in the Pirates' first home game of the season. They saw the essence of this Whitworth team.

Every college coach knows at the end of each season you lose some players. The next year, you replace them.

KENNEWICK – Revenge was the dish, and yes, it was cold at Lampson Stadium. But not cold enough to keep Reardan from avenging its lone loss this season. Or cold enough to keep DeSales from its do-over, though the Irish have been lusting after theirs for 51 weeks.

Late last season, the Whitworth men's basketball team showed it could rebound from a mediocre spell and finish strong. This season, the Pirates just need to show they can rebound.

The Davenport and Reardan high school football teams may have traveled 135 miles today for their State B-11 semifinal, but this one could have been played on any field in Lincoln County. That's because the schools are closer than the 13 miles that separates them.

DAVENPORT – If defense is the cornerstone of a championship football team, its no wonder the Davenport Gorillas are considered one of the B-11 favorites. They dominated the Waterville offense Friday night, and handed the Shockers a 40-0 defeat in a first-round state playoff game.