Fore! Here Comes Another Brick

The debut of high school basketball at the Arena wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t bad for the first run of the double-court setup.

The Greater Spokane League boys and girls opened league play as if they were trying to help build the Arena, brick by brick.

However, factoring in the new building, the new league season and the fact that only a net was dividing the two courts which were set up end-to-end, the poor shooting can be forgiven.

While the combined 157 of 294 foul shooting in the eight games was poor, the 275 total fouls were worse.

The best free-throw shooting belonged to the Mead girls (13 of 16), followed by the Gonzaga Prep girls (18-27) and Ferris girls (12-18). On the other end, the Rogers and Shadle Park boys combined to go 17 of 47.

Coaches missed having chalk boards in the locker rooms, a situation which will be remedied in the future. Also, the dividing net will become a solid screen. Finding lockerrooms in the vast hallways also took some getting used to.

Only 10 of 18 scheduled GSL nights include games in the Arena and only once more - Tuesday, Jan. 23, when the second round of league play begins - will the two-court setup be in use.

Rough start for Dragons

Worry not for the 0-5 St. George’s Dragons.

When the Panorama League season opens, coach Ross Thomas believes a tough non-league schedule will pay off for his 1994 girls State B champions.

“We’re going back to our total-press look, with me yelling and screaming and jumping around,” Thomas said.

Thomas scheduled AAA Shadle Park and AA Ephrata and Cheney to prepare for the road ahead. Still, the Dragons aren’t accustomed to this kind of losing. In less than one week, St. George’s dropped as many regular-season games (three) as it had in five years.

St. George’s is waiting for guard Cherea Davis to return from a knee injury, perhaps by mid-January. Katie DeNiro, who also had a bum knee, just received clearance to play.

“(The difficult schedule) will help our team in the long run,” said Dragons senior wing Dawn Trowbridge. “It will be a confidence-builder.”

St. George’s has won 96 consecutive Panorama games. No. 100, if it comes, would be against Northwest Christian on Jan. 5.

, DataTimes