Stars win 3rd tourney of summer

The Spokane Stars completed an unprecedented summer basketball “triple crown” with last weekend’s 9-0 run through the Midsummer Night’s Madness Western United States basketball championships.

“Nothing in Spokane club basketball-wise has been close to what they accomplished,” said Stars coach Ron Adams. “It’s something I’ve never experienced before.”

And he’s been doing this for 26 years.

The Stars won the Oregon City End of the Trail Tournament, the MSNM National Championships and completed the trifecta with last week’s Western U.S. Nationals victory. Those three, said Adams, are the top three tournaments in the country, based on a rating system some publications use to determine the strength of tournaments. The rating is based on the number of teams that compete in the tournament and the number of college coaches in attendance.

It makes, he said, the Stars the nation’s No. 1 traveling team.

“There’s no question we have the best team in the country. It’s not even arguable,” Adams said.

The Stars finished 51-1, losing in overtime to Arizona Elite in an early-season tournament in Tempe before rolling up 36 straight wins. They averaged 68.7 points per game and allowed just 34.4 in the 52 games.

Among the victims this summer were longtime national power California Swish and the Orinda Black Magic in the Western U.S. semifinals.

In the finals the Stars beat East Bay Explosion 48-46 on Angie Bjorklund‘s buzzer-beating basket, a reprise of her heroics against the Swish in a 51-50 victory in Oregon City.

Jami Bjorklund (University High) led summer season scoring with a 16.2 average, was third in rebounding and the team’s best defender. Last weekend she was named MVP for the second time in the MSNM series.

Her sister Angie, highly touted nationally as an incoming sophomore, averaged 15.8 per game, Heather Bowman (Lewis and Clark) averaged 12.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and Angela Hartill (Riverside) scored at a 10.2 clip and led rebounding with a 9.1 average. Point guard Briann January (LC) averaged fewer than two turnovers a game and ignited the fast break. And the scoring of Stacey Cox (Ferris) off the bench, said Adams, “put us over the edge in the close games.”

What set this team apart from the others he’s coached, said Adams, was its unselfishness. And he credited the knowledge of his assistant, former University of Oregon player Steve Ranniger with contributing to the team’s success.

“This was not only the best team I’ve ever coached, but probably the most enjoyable,” said Adams. “They never had a down day. I had tears in my eyes when they left. I’ll never get to coach them again.”

Softball

The Spokane Sliders went a perfect 6-0 at the 18-U “A” fastpitch softball regional this past weekend in Salem, Ore., capturing their third straight regional title.

Behind the stingy pitching of Devlin Dougherty and Stephanie Trudeau, the Sliders gave up just 2 earned runs in 6 games. Clutch hits from Joanna Gonzalez, Francie Raffini, Christina Rios and Doughtery kept the Sliders offense rolling as they scored 25 runs, while giving up just 4. The Sliders have yet to drop a game at the regional level in the past three years, with a perfect 18-0 record.

The team is in Clovis, Calif., this week to participate in the national championships. Rounding out the Sliders’ roster Janeesa Roche, Christine Keeton, Halley Cey, Whitney McDaniel, Randi Sandifer, Jackie Purser and Tawyna Gutherie.

•The U-14 sliders fastpitch team grabbed a national bid at the 14-U “A” regional tournament in Spokane, finishing third. They qualified for the national tourney in Midland, Texas, which starts this week.

Samantha Skillingstad dominated on the mound for the Sliders, giving up just two earned runs and averaging 12 strikeouts a game. Clutch RBIs came from Danielle Lynn, Mickenzie Alden, Allie Berger and China Frost. Leading the team in runs scored was leadoff hitter Andy Hacker with five. Rounding out the roster is Mallory Mott, Genasee Aman, Alex Cey, and Krista Zappone.

Track

Fourth-place finishes were the order of the week for locals during the USA Track and Field National Junior Olympics in Eugene, Oregon, held July 27 through Aug. 1.

Cheney’s Robert Wilske cleared 6 feet, 3 1/2 inches in Intermediate Boys and Melissa Mauro, Spokane Stealth Track, reached 5-3 in Youth Girls for high jump fourth places.

Dana McClendon, Spokane Valley Track, was fourth in the youth girls shot put at 42-0 3/4 .

Fifth in the Bantam Girls shot put was Courtney Hutchinson of Cheney Track Club in 24-9 3/4 . Evie Baker of Spokane Stealth placed eighth in Youth Girls at 39-10 3/4 .

Mead discus thrower Corissa Hutchinson finished sixth in the Young Women’s discus at 130-1 and Cameron Elisara, Ferris, put 50-10 for eighth in Intermediate Boys shot put.

Spokane Mercury placed three of its eight athletes in attendance in the top eight of their events, a finish that marks All-American status. Justin Graff placed second in the 13-14 age group javelin with a distance of 150-4. Bryan Braman, also throwing the javelin, placed fourth in the 17-18 division with a distance of 185-9. Braman also placed 10th in the high jump with a height of 6-5 1/2 . Also reaching All-American status for the Mercury was Leigh Fredrickson, who placed sixth in the 17-18 division 2,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 7 minutes, 57.49 seconds.

Officiating

The Inland Empire Football Officials Association will hold its first organizational meeting of the year on Aug. 9 at the Gonzaga University School of Law Building’s second floor classroom. The meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. for last year’s apprentices and new officials for this year. The veteran officials will meet at 6:30 pm.

Anyone interested is urged to attend.

The Association supplies officials for 32 high schools, 32 middle schools, as well as the YMCA Grid Kids and SYSA programs.

A mandatory Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s State Rules Clinic meeting for all officials and coaches will be held at 6:30 pm, Aug. 16 at East Valley High School.

For Information, contact Dan Mencke 747-6290 or 218-8650.

–Correspondent Jessica Brown contributed to this report.