Quick hits
Heady player, gutsy play
North Central was trailing West Valley by two points, 5 seconds to play, and NC guard Eric Beal was inbounding the ball beneath his basket.
He was struggling to find an open teammate so took the next available option, bouncing the ball off the back of an inattentive WV Eagle, picking it up once back in play and scoring the tying basket himself.
NC went on to an overtime victory.
The move wasn’t by design. NC coach Jay Webber said they had another play set up.
“It was a just heads up on his part, recognizing that the person wasn’t paying attention to the ball,” Webber said. “Not just anybody would be thinking about that. And it was dramatic because of the situation.”
The game was on the line between two 3A classification teams with state aspirations, even if it was non-league.
One final honor
The final PrepVolleyball.com national poll crowned Assumption High of Louisville, Ky., the preseason No. 1 team, the mythical national champion. But the top-10 team that made the biggest jump from its preseason ranking is one we know well: Mead High.
The Panthers, who won their third consecutive State 4A championship, were ranked 54th before the season. After their 33-0 year, they were ranked ninth nationally.
PrepVolleyball.com ranks the top 100 teams (3A champ Selah was No. 90 and State 4A runner-up Eisenhower was 100) and lists another 600 teams deserving recognition. Lewis and Clark and 2A champion Pullman were in the latter group.
Renz leads swimming rankings
In the current USA Swimming IM Xtreme Rankings, a University senior tops the list for 17- and 18-year-olds.
Marshel Renz leads his age category by nearly 200 points. The rankings combine six different events (200 IM, 400 IM, 400/500 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly) and assigns points for the times in each event. He competes with the Spokane Area Swimming Club
Another U-Hi student, Lee Nelson, is 25th in the rankings.
Tri-State tournament at NIC
They’ll roll out the mats for a 34th time at the Wrestler’s World Tri-State tournament Friday and Saturday at North Idaho College.
The tourney will have to go a long way to top last year’s tightly contested tourney. University and Lake Stevens finished tied with 189.5 points.
Lake Stevens went home with the title trophy based on criteria with three individual champs to U-Hi’s two. U-Hi went on to win the State 4A title.
Lake Stevens, which has won three Tri-State titles in the last seven years, and U-Hi return. But they’re expected to chase Auburn, the preseason favorite to capture the State 4A title. Battle Ground and Kelso also will be in the mix.
Six individual champs return. They are: Brian Owen of U-Hi (103 pounds last year, 119 this year); Kelly Kubec of Lake Stevens (112/130); Joey Fio of Sandpoint (119/125); Levi Jones of Lakeside-Nine Mile (125/140); Andrew Johnson of Tahoma (145/152); and Adam Hall of Bonners Ferry (152/152). Six runners-up also return.
The meet begins at 10 a.m. Friday. The second round gets under way at 3 p.m., followed by the quarterfinals at 7:15. The semifinals Saturday are at 12:15 p.m., with the finals about 5:30.
Admission is $15 for an all-sessions pass for adults, $10 for students. Individual sessions are $5. Children six and younger will be admitted free.
“The Prep Page takes a holiday break and will return Jan. 5.