W-C Star Sidelined By Injury
By the time the District 7-B tournament ends Saturday, exactly half of the entered teams will have more basketball to play.
Whether the Wilbur-Creston girls are among that bunch will depend on how they respond to a season-ending injury to their floor leader.
Senior post Mindy Bandy, who averaged 13 points and eight rebounds per game, has broken her left hand and can’t play for the third-ranked Wildcats at district, which begins today at Spokane Falls Community College.
Four boys teams and four girls teams from the eight-team fields will advance to the State B Tournament, March 5-8 at the Arena.
Bandy injured her hand last Thursday while scrambling for a loose ball in the Bi-County League tournament championship game against Ritzville. Another player apparently stepped on Bandy’s hand.
Bandy underwent surgery Friday afternoon. She has two pins inserted near the ring finger, between the knuckle and wrist. Healing time is estimated at two months.
“Basically, it’s the way sometimes things go in life,” said W-C coach Steve Jantz, who will install junior Ronee Deahl as Bandy’s fill-in.
“It’ll be really interesting to see how these kids bounce back. ” Jantz comforted Bandy with the story of how he met his future wife while coaching W-C’s boys at state in 1992. After star player Jon Allen injured his knee during a game, Jantz went searching for Allen’s cousin, Donna Koch. He found the cousin and his bride-to-be at the same time.
District play matches teams from the Bi-County and Panorama leagues.
Today’s openers are: W-C’s girls (18-4) vs. Selkirk (21-3), 1:30 p.m.; Sprague-Harrington’s girls (14-9) vs. Northport (21-2), 3:15; Ritzville’s boys (21-3) vs. Curlew (17-6), 6; and Reardan’s boys (22-0) vs. Selkirk (17-6), 7:45.
Tuesday’s schedule is: Reardan’s girls (15-7) vs. Northwest Christian (11-12), 1:30; Ritzville’s girls (19-3) vs. St. George’s (14-10), 3:15; Almira/Coulee-Hartline’s boys (17-4) vs. Springdale (17-7), 6; and Valley Christian (15-9) vs. Republic (21-2), 7:45.
, DataTimes