West Valley a surprise at top

West Valley boys basketball coach Jamie Nilles, as accustomed as he has been to success, is amazed.

His Eagles are 10-0 and have a three-game Great Northern League lead with four games left to play and he can’t pinpoint why.

“I wouldn’t have guessed it in the world,” he said. “Not 10-0 or even being on top of the league. Taking a junior varsity group to the varsity level – I don’t care what league – you don’t expect it.”

WV dropped from the Greater Spokane League, where it had several State 3A qualifying teams, to the GNL. But there was only one player with varsity experience.

This year’s group, 14-2 overall with only two seniors, is a melding of veteran Casey Sherrill, JV players who also sat the varsity bench, a precocious sophomore and transfer newcomer.

Yet they have three double-figure scorers, junior Bryan Peterson (16.6 points per game), one of four who played JV last year, sophomore Jordan Lupfer-Graham (13.3) and Sherrill (11.6). They received help from the addition of Detroit transfer Glenn Akers, and have had a penchant for great escapes.

“Some games we shouldn’t have won, but we scrapped and found ways to win even when I felt there was no reason to,” said Nilles. “It’s weird how tradition can play into your hands.”

Included was Friday’s second two-point win this year over Cheney, 60-58, after trailing by 14 in the third quarter. Lupfer-Graham scored all 10 of his points in the second half and Sherrill added 12 of his 15 to ignite the comeback.

And so, though the Eagles are a win away from at least sharing the GNL title and have secured a district playoff bye, Nilles remains cautious.

“As I’ve been saying all year there’s not a lot of difference between the first- and sixth-place teams,” he said. “There’s two weeks to go and then we get down to it. We’ll see how it ends up the rest of the way.”

District basketball next

While the GNL still has two weeks of league play remaining, Class 1A and 2B get down to it this week as they begin state qualifying.

Tonight, the District 7 2B girls tournament begins at Spokane Falls and Spokane Community Colleges. The boys get started on Tuesday.

Class 1A tournaments start Friday at Mead with loser-out games between the Nos. 3 vs. 6 and Nos. 4 vs. 5 teams.

Wrestling eye-openers

As stunning as the East Valley and University district championships in its subregional and district championships were respectively, so were the number of total placers.

The Knights, competing against a tough contingent of seven Columbia Basin League schools, still managed 19 top-six finishes and 10 of them will return next year. Among the regional qualifiers (that included six finalists and four champions) was surprising junior Alaric Park at 215 pounds. He was EV’s No. 2 entrant behind champion Jimmy Martin.

Sophomore Nic Price was third at 140. Junior Matt Mehlbrech beat freshman teammate Sean Biltoft for a regional berth at 119.

“There were a couple of surprises,” coach Craig Hanson said. “We set a goal of 14. We set it high on purpose. Except for losing (285-pound) Nic Weyrauch, I was ecstatic with everything that happened.”

University had 20 top-six placers in the 4A district and advanced a whopping 10 No. 1 or 2 seeds and 16 total to regionals this weekend at U-Hi. Titan numbers are nearly evenly split between seniors and underclassmen.

Central Valley led GSL schools with five individual champions and advances 11 wrestlers out of 16 top-six finishers.

The Bears champions: Tanner Teeples (112), Jeff Croskrey (135), Josh Renfro (152), Jake Neumann (189) and Tyler Cochran (215). Four are juniors

Gonzaga Prep and University had three each. Bullpups winners were David Hall (103), Kevin (130) and Jon Healy (145); Titans champions were Brian Owen (125) in a 3-2 thriller against Lewis and Clark’s Trevor Powell, Greg Mitchell (171) and Brad Peterson (285).

Other champions were LC’s Anthony Varnell (140), Mead’s Philip Smith (119) and Ferris’ Andre Rivera (160).

At U-Hi the GSL 4A teams will face a formidable task in the 4A regional against Pasco and Moses Lake which had 10 of 14 champions, 19 finalists and 31 qualifiers combined. Pasco scored 446.5 points at the CBL meet with seven champions, 10 finalists and 17 total qualifiers. Moses Lake had 394.5 points, three champions, nine finalists and brings 14 wrestlers.

At least this year there are four state berths per weight.