Ev’S Horgan Opts For Griz

East Valley two-way standout Blake Horgan on Monday became the third area football player to commit to the University of Montana.

A linebacker-tight end, Horgan said he expects to play defensive tackle.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I played there my sophomore year on the varsity. I know I can put on the weight and contribute there.”

Horgan, 6-foot-3 and trimmed down to 220 pounds for basketball, said the fact Mt. Spokane kicker Chris Snyder and Medical Lake lineman Jonny Varona committed earlier to UM helped.

“I felt real comfortable knowing there were other kids from my hometown.”

Also, he has an aunt in Missoula. And Horgan’s coach at East Valley, Jim Clements, worked with new Montana coach Joe Glenn years ago.

Horgan, who played football at 240 pounds, was all-league both ways as a junior when East Valley was in the Frontier League. This past season the Knights went 1-7 in their first year in the Greater Spokane League.

Montana was in the Division I-AA playoffs for the seventh straight year.

“I got the best offer over there, plus it’s a good program, good school and good location,” Horgan said. “I’m ready to start winning, too. It was a good incentive seeing all the rings the coaches and players showed me, and all the trophies in the office.”

The official signing period for national letters of intent begins Wednesday.

High school basketball

The boys had a struggle while the girls waltzed, but the end result was a sweep for St. George’s in a Panorama League doubleheader in Springdale on Monday night.

The Dragons boys expanded a four-point lead inside the final minute by hitting free throws to pull out a 61-54 victory.

Drew Moser, in his first game back after missing two weeks with a broken finger, had a team-leading 16 points. Despite playing with his little finger taped to the ring finger on his shooting hand, he hit 6 of 12 shots, including two 3s.Lyle Norman (11 of 16) scored 27 points for the Chargers.

In the girls game, Alyssa Henley hit 9 of 10 free throws to lead a 20-of-26 effort from the line by the Dragons in a 96-63 victory.

St. George’s capitalized on 32 Springdale turnovers. Wenchi Liu had 28 points and Henley 19 to lead four double-figure scorers for the Dragons. Katie Tomsha led Springdale with 14 points.

Boys: St. George’s 61, Springdale 54

St. George’s 15 16 14 16 - 61

Springdale 11 14 11 18 - 54

St. George’s (13-6, 11-4) - Johnson 12, Longinotti 3, Dhillon 0, Holte 0, Moser 16, Thomas 8, Fix 0, Witherspoon 13, Golden 0, Hill 0, Wysham 9.

Springdale (5-14, 5-10) - Lane 2, Swearngin 7, Guistini 0, Lebret 4, Brigman 4, Stricker 2, Roll 8, Sanchez 0, Norman 27.

Girls: St. George’s 96, Springdale 63

St. George’s 20 22 23 31 - 96

Springdale 9 23 14 17 - 63

St. George’s (19-0, 15-0) - Wenc. Liu 28, Clarke 2, Philopant 2, Stothart 2, Henley 19, Blume 10, DePonty 9, Witherspoon 14, Bingham 8, Comar 2.

Springdale (8-11, 7-8) - Rij 6, Olson-Axtell 3, Stricker 9, Lyons 0, Hubert 11, Lebret 9, Tomsha 14, Adolph 11.