Ferris Grad Jennifer Swinton On The Court For Portland Pilots

Jennifer Swinton played eight minutes in front of the home folks when her University of Portland Pilots played at Gonzaga University recently, but the Ferris graduate wasn’t really disappointed.

“It’s going pretty good, considering I’ve been off for a while,” she said after Gonzaga upset Portland 77-65 in the Jan. 13 West Coast Conference game. “I don’t think I’m playing exceptionally well, but I just feel so good I’m playing at all.”

Swinton, a 6-1 post, has battled knee injuries since going to Portland after helping the Saxons to a third-place finish in the 1996 state tournament. She averages four points and five rebounds in 13 minutes, but she’s still not 100 percent.

“Pretty close,” she said. “I have some trouble getting my leg extended all the way.

“I’m still a bit slow. I’m relearning my instincts.

“All through preseason I had to stop and think, `I’ve got the ball. Now what do I do with it?”’

She’s more worried about the team.

After the loss, she was looking forward to the rematch three days later in Portland.

“That wasn’t us tonight,” Swinton said. “I wish I could fly everybody down to Portland to watch us on Saturday, because we’ll be a different team.”

She was right. The Pilots avenged the Wednesday loss with a 75-59 win Jan. 16 in Portland.

Ferris girls shock CV

Ferris sophomore Heather Coombs admitted she was nervous after she hit back-to-back baskets to put Ferris ahead of Central Valley late in the fourth quarter of the Saxons’ 48-44 upset of the fifth-ranked team Tuesday night.

“I just blanked everything out,” she said. “It was a team thing.

“We all came together and played like a team. We came out scared but finished strong.”

To beat the league co-leaders on their own floor, the Saxons rebounded from a bad second quarter. All nine players who got into the game scored.

“Defensively, once in a while we got a little passive,” Ferris coach Art Rojas said.

“They shred you if you do that. They shoot well and pass well.”

The Saxons are now 6-5 in league games, 6-7 overall, not bad after losing their first five games.

“I think it’s us,” said Kelly McCaffery, who led all scorers with a career-high 16 points. “In the first part of the season we didn’t have a lot of confidence; we got intimidated a lot.”

The win over CV came hot on the heels of a 56-45 victory over then fourth-ranked Gonzaga Prep, when the Bullpups were tied with the Bears and Mead for first place.

“We beat a No. 1 team twice in five days. It’s exciting,” Rojas said.

Saxons boys drop close one

A second loss to Central Valley probably means a league title is unlikely for the Ferris boys, but that might not be bad news - or even true.

The second-ranked Bears are now 11-0 in the Greater Spokane League after Tuesday’s 45-43 win at CV, while Ferris is 9-2 and tied with Gonzaga Prep for second.

“In the big picture, we wanted to win the league title,” Saxon coach Wayne Gilman said. “I don’t think that will happen. But the Ferris state champion (1994) was not a league champion.

“We’d like to be assured of second place in the league and go from there.”

So, how exactly do things stand?

Assuming there are no upsets by teams below third place, the Saxons are in good shape.

Ferris has two wins over Prep, which, thanks to a quirk in scheduling, has not played CV yet.

If CV and Prep split, or if CV sweeps, Ferris has second place and the coveted automatic berth in the regional tournament. Should Prep sweep, the three-way tie would mean the Saxons had a share of the league title and a chance for a playoff game to get one of the top two seeds in the district tournament.

Still, the Saxons were disappointed they couldn’t pay back CV for the 48-40 win the Bears had at Ferris.

“This is what I hoped for,” Gilman said. “I hoped we wouldn’t be trailing the whole time like we were the last game.”

But unlike a thrilling win over Prep before a packed house at Ferris last Friday, it was the other team that made the clutch plays down the stretch.

LC gymnasts young

First-year Lewis and Clark gymnastics coach Michele Peterson liked the improvement she witnessed in her young team over Christmas break, when the squad worked out at Spokane Elite Gymnastics.

“It helped to see who’s really dedicated and who has their heart in it,” Peterson said.

The Tigers have just one win so far this season and are last in the GSL. But they have a strong junior varsity team, Peterson said, and she isn’t stressing winning with either squad at this point.

“I don’t tell the girls, `You need to go out there and score the highest score,”’ she said. “I tell them, `Just do what you can.’

“We have worked hard on new techniques.”

It’s been an adjustment for Peterson in her new head coaching role. She was an assistant last season.

“It’s busy busy,” she said. “It’s been quite an experience, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

“There is a lot to do as head coach, a lot to learn. I’ve learned a lot from the girls, and they’ve helped me to grow, too.”

Ferris hosts LC in wrestling

The Ferris and LC wrestling teams face off at 7:30 p.m. today at Ferris in the final GSL meet for both schools.