Blazers return home National champions
For 10 Spokane area 14-year-olds, nothing can feel any more special.
The Spokane Blazers, a 14 and under AAU girls basketball team, beat the Cardinal of Virginia 70-49 on July 11 to win the AAU Division II 14-U National Championship in Orlando, Fla.
The Blazers breezed through their competition, going 10-0 and averaging more than 70 points per game. In the championship game, all 10 girls on the Blazers roster scored.
The Blazers are coached by Steve Klees, whose 12-U Sparks took third place in their age group at the same tournament. After coming up short with the Blazers the past two years, Klees said the difference this year was that his team was healthy for the entire tournament.
“I think one of the biggest things is that we stayed injury-free,” said Klees, noting that in the past years the team has suffered from a couple of key injuries. “Injuries play a big part in this tournament.”
The Blazers made their 10-win run to the national championship seem easy. In championship play, the Blazers crushed FEBA (Chicago) 76-23. They then went on to beat the Indianapolis Falcons by 24 points and the Kansas City Shock by 13.
The Blazers played a tough semifinal against Dayton Metro, where they overcame a 10-point deficit to escape 53-49. Klees said that his team never lost focus, noting that they have played in many pressure-packed tournaments.
“They’ve got a lot of experience,” said Klees. “They’ve played in a lot of big venues before.”
The Blazers completed a heavy playing schedule that included winning their third consecutive city league title, third consecutive Las Vegas Easter Classic, Best in the West Tournament and AAU Super Regional Qualifier in Reno. They qualified for nationals by winning the Washington State Championships in April.
Spokane Blazers team roster: Maggie Thompson, Danielle Walter, Mary Blevins, Daisy Burke, Katelyn Loper, Tiffany Idler, Alexis Olgard, Jazmine Redmon, Kellie McCann-Smith and Katie Baker.
Assistant coaches are Laura Walter and Greg Presley.
Baseball
After beating West Plains 7-4, the Spokane North Junior League team earned a spot in the State Tournament to be held in Kirkland, Wash., July 15-22 where they will be playing for a berth in the Regional Tournament in Beaverton, Ore., and then for a chance to play in the Junior League World Series in Taylor, Mich.
Max Bertholf pitched a one-hit shutout through six innings, Cory Gallagher went 4 for 4 and Josh Lake and DeEstan Turner both added two-run singles in the win over West Plains.
Spokane North is comprised of 13 and 14 year-olds from the north Spokane and Mead areas.
Spokane North team roster: Travis Ruebush, Bertholf, Chase Plischke, Gallagher, Dylan Lemery, Leon Strawn, Stevie Turning Robe, Turner, Tanner Dixon, Lake, Christian Millard, Tanner Chaffin and Ryan Mendoza.
Dan Peck is the coach and his assistant is Randy Plischke.
Basketball
The select Spokane Stars Elite Blue 17U traveling team won its third straight MSMN-U.S. National Championship basketball tournament played in Seattle July 10-13.
The Stars went 7-0 during the tournament, beating the Columbia Cascades 44-42 for the title. Tara Cronin scored 18 points in the title game.
Mead player Kelli Valentine led the Columbia Cascades with 12 points in the MSNM finale.
“I wasn’t expecting to win this tournament, I was pleasantly surprised,” said Stars coach Ron Adams. “Brittany Kennedy was hurt in the quarterfinals and we had no Angie (Bjorklund). Tara (Cronin) and Katelan (Redmon) were phenomenal.”
Victory was the culmination of a busy nine days for the Stars, who went 11-1 overall, beginning with a fifth-place finish at the End of the Oregon Trail Tournament in Oregon City before moving on to Seattle.
Redmon led the team in scoring with a 14.1 average, including a 32-point outburst during a 82-75 loss to the Omaha Cruisers in Oregon City. The Cruisers made 13 3-point baskets in the game.
She scored 21 against Columbia Waves in the MSNM National quarterfinals. Redmon was in double figures in nine of the Stars’ 12 games and finished second in rebounding with 65.
Cronin and Kristi Kingma, from Jackson in Mill Creek, were the other Stars scoring leaders and Cronin’s 67 rebounds were the team high.
“I felt we played extremely well as a team in Oregon City,” said Adams. “Our three best games of the year were the last three in Seattle.”
Because of injuries, Shadle Park’s Lexi Bishop was added to the Elite Blue team, now 29-3 overall. Bjorklund has been cleared to play during the River City Classic in Memphis and the Nike Nationals near Augusta, Ga., beginning July 22.
Climbing
Spokane’s Bryan Brenize and Melissa Main returned home from the USA Climbing Nationals in Tigard, Ore., each with a fifth-place medal.
Brenize, a recent graduate of Gonzaga Prep, took 5th place in the Male Junior category while Main also placed 5th in the Female Youth A category.
Main, from Lewis and Clark High School, received an invitation to compete at the World Youth Championships in Austria, Aug. 24-27.
Both Main and Brenize will be headed to Colorado in November, where they will compete in the Continental Championships, which features climbers from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Golf
Junior golfer Chessey Thomas of Spokane will compete in this year’s Optimist International Junior Golf Championships July 22-24 at PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Thomas, a soon-to-be freshman at St. George’s High School, will compete in the girls 14-15 age division.
The best junior golfers from all over the United States and overseas will be competing in this event.
Motorcycle racing
Wyatt Anderson continued to represent Spokane well, this time at the AMA Amateur flat track Grand Championships.
After winning two West Coast Championships at the AMA Amateur flat track West Coast Nationals in Lodi, Calif., May 26-28, Anderson finished fifth overall on his modified bike and sixth overall on his DTX bike at the Grand Championships, held July 2-9 in DuQuoin, Ill.
Mountain biking
Two Spokane youth won medals at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, July 13-16 in Sonoma, Calif.
Sarah Clifton won first place in the Junior Beginner Women 14-and-under category. The 14-year-old Clifton, who got her first mountain bike and won her first race last year, beat the second-place finisher by 45 seconds.
Mark Cesal Jr. finished second in the Semi-Pro Men category. Cesal Jr., of Spokane, finished in a time of 2:18:02.58, just under 11 seconds off the first-place finisher.
Track and Field
After finishing first in the 1,500 meters and second in the 800 meters at the Junior Olympic Championships at Willamette University, Spokane’s Baylee Mires will be making the trip to Baltimore to compete at nationals July 26-31.
Mires, who broke the Inland Northwest Association girls youth record in the 1,500 with a time of 4:50.74, finished with a time of 4:54.94 at the Junior Olympic Championships. She also finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:24.76.