Stars place fifth at Nike Nationals

The Spokane Stars Elite Blue girl’s basketball team went 4-2 and tied for fifth place at the Nike Nationals in North Augusta, S.C., a tournament that featured the top 24 youth basketball teams in the country.

The Stars began the tournament by losing to Indiana 77-71, but then rallied for four straight wins. Katelan Redmon scored 17 points and Angie Bjorklund added 13 as Spokane beat New England 46-27 to earn their first win of the tournament last Friday.

In their third game, Spokane made 17 free throws out of 21 attempts and slid past Fairfax 49-44. In their fourth game, Spokane outscored Michigan 37-21 in the second half and won 58-44.

On Sunday, the Stars got revenge on the California Swish, winning a nail-biter 52-50. In their sixth and final game, the Tennessee Flight ended Spokane’s championship hopes, knocking them out of the tournament with a 72-59 win.

Before the Nike Nationals, Spokane reached the finals of its 32-team bracket of the River City Classic in Memphis, losing to overall champion and unbeaten California Swish, 50-44.

There were three such brackets and the game was, in effect, one of the tournament semifinals, coach Ron Adams said.

The Stars beat T-Town Express from Florida, Texas Blazers, Austin Elite and San Jose Cagers to reach the bracket final.

Redmon averaged 12.5 points and six rebounds, Bjorklund averaged 10.1 points, four rebounds and three assists in limited action, and Tara Cronin averaged 10 points and 3.4 rebounds. All were named to the River City Classic all-tournament team.

Spokane Stars team roster and their school: Redmon (Lewis and Clark), Bjorklund (University), Cronin (Gonzaga Prep), Jordan Loera (Moses Lake Middle School), Kristi Kingma (Jackson High School in Mill Creek, Wash.), Nikki Nelson (Mead), Lexi Bishop (Shadle Park), Brittany Kennedy (Lewis and Clark), Ali Geppert (St. Francis High School in Mt. View, Calif.) and Kia Gibson (Lakeside, Wash.).

Baseball

The American Legion State Tournament is well under way. In the AAA division, the Spokane Northstars beat Yakima 5-3 on Saturday and then lost to Lakeside 8-0 on Sunday. The Northstars were eliminated Monday when they lost to Centralia 9-1.

In the AA division, both Mt. Spokane and University won their games on Saturday, but both lost on Sunday. They played loser-out games Monday, with Mt. Spokane staying alive via a 5-4 victory over Liberty. University lost to Olympia 10-0.

In the A division, Freeman beat Burlington 8-6 on Saturday while Gonzaga Prep lost to Yakima 7-2. Sunday’s games were postponed due to rain and were made up Monday. Freeman bowed out, losing to Capital 7-2. Gonzaga Prep was eliminated in a 6-0 loss to Snohomish.

The State Tournament concludes Thursday, when the top two teams from each division play for the championship.

Golf

Spokane’s Ryan Jones, 17, was awarded the Joan Teats Inspirational Award from the Washington Junior Golf Association for 2006. This award is voted on by his peers and awarded based on character, attitude, sportsmanship and hard work.

“Spokane’s Chessey Thomas, 14, fresh off her second place finish at the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championships, placed 19th in the 14-15 age division at the Optimist International Junior Golf Championships at the PGA National Golf Resort in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Thomas shot scores of 80 and 79. There were 58 competitors in her age bracket. This tournament featured top junior golfers from all over the United States and the world.

Track and field

Colville distance runner Ryan Cloke received the Jeff Munroe Memorial $1,000 Scholarship Award during the East/West Senior All-Star Cross Country Race in Seattle.

Cloke finished eighth overall and was the top East finisher during the 3.1 mile race. He led Colville to the State 2A 2005 Cross Country title, placing third, and was second at 3,200 meters in state track in the spring.

Indians teammates Jake Wilson and Nathaniel Musson and Riverside’s Eric Kuno also represented the East. In the girls race, Ferris’s Becky Mackelprang finished second.

“Mt. Spokane graduate Megan O’Reilly is ranked No. 1 nationally among high school girls distance runners at 3,200 meters (10:05.81, fastest Washington prep time ever) and 5,000 meters (16:10.05) in results published by Track and Field News.

But because of an injury apparently incurred during the 1,600 race in state track, she was unable to compete in the U.S. Nationals in Indiana for a chance to run in the Junior Worlds in Bejing, China.

Softball

The Spokane Crash finished third out of 15 teams at the ASA 12-U Northwest Regional Championships in Spokane, July 21-23.

Devynne Johnson led Spokane, who finished 3-2 in the tournament, with a .733 batting average (11-15). LaVella Carlon earned all the victories for the Crash.

Crash roster: Devynne Johnson, Carlon, Sara Anthony, Whitney Johnson, Tiffany Lucas, Kenzie Reid, Aley Roberts, Kaitlyn Shukle, Kellsy Sledge, Katie Trageser, Amanda Wallace and Brea Warren. The team is coached by Sam Anthony.