Cyclones Third In Nation

Tue., March 24, 1998

Third in the country.

That’s the designation the Spokane St. Luke’s Cyclones brought back from the Final Four of national wheelchair basketball tournament during the weekend in Nashville, Tenn.

The Charlotte Hornets defeated the Cyclones 72-56 in the semifinals and went on to beat Virginia Beach, Va., in the finals, earning Spokane the No. 3 spot. The Chicago Bulls, Virginia Beach’s semifinal victim, finished fourth. There is no consolation final.

Lew Tomlinson of Spokane, who scored 36 points, was named to the all-tournament first team.

“It was a good experience for us,” said Cyclones coach John Rees, noting this is the 50th anniversary of wheelchair basketball. “We felt good” about the third-place finish.

Rees said, “we ran up against a buzz-saw in Charlotte. The first six shots they took were 3 pointers by the same player… . He made all six. We played them even the second half, but we couldn’t make up the difference.”

Stars to nationals

Six Spokane Stars girls basketball teams qualified for national AAU tournaments and a seventh has a chance to go after regional tournaments last weekend.

The 18U, 17U, 16U, 14U and 12U teams won tournaments at West Valley. The 15U team won a tournament in Yakima.

The Stars’ 10U team finished second to the West Valley Thunder in Yakima, but the Thunder is not going to nationals in Orlando the first week of August, giving the Stars the option of representing this region.

The national tournaments for the three oldest groups are in Indianapolis June 27-July 4.

The 15U tournament is in Des Moines, Iowa, July 4-11. The 14U is at Lafayette, La., July 18-25.

The Tri-City Triple Threat qualified for the 13U nationals July 10-17 in Orlando. The 12U Stars are headed for Nashville July 17-25.

Brewster Heights Packing took the 11U tournament, qualifying for Kenner, La., July 4-11. The Spokane Stars were second.

The boys regional tournaments are this weekend.

, DataTimes

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Cyclones Third In Nation

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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