Fast Break

Fishing

Spokane Valley boy best in West

Despite below-freezing temperatures near Birmingham, Ala., Spokane Valley angler David Slater, 12, caught a 3.3-pound spotted bass Sunday at Lake Logan Martin to place first in the Western Division of the Junior Bassmaster Classic. The seventh-grader at Horizon Middle School placed fourth overall among 44 competitors in the World Junior Division, ages 11-14, which was won by a boy from South Africa.

On the winners’ podium, David described his day of fishing and hooking a spotted bass: “It was pretty cold out there, but I kept fishing. They were hitting pretty soft, but when this one hit and I set the hook it was like a smallmouth times two!”

Half the field caught no fish in the five chilly hours they fished during the competition last Sunday on Logan Martin Lake. Each competitor was paired with one of the professional anglers in the area for the Bassmaster Classic that’s wrapping up today.

Slater won his berth in the Junior Classic by winning his age division in the 2006 Junior BASS state Championships held at Potholes Reservoir on Labor Day weekend. He is the sixth junior member of the Inland Empire Bass Club to win a state tournament and represent Washington in the World Championship event.

College basketball

FSN picks up WSU-USC game

Washington State has reached an agreement with Fox Sports Northwest to televise the Cougars’ regular-season finale against Southern California on March 3. The game will start at 4 p.m.

A day before, CBS and ABC passed on the game even though it may end up having ramifications on the conference championship.

Amy Affeld, FSN’s director of programming, said Tuesday that the game would also be shown on a Fox Sports outlet in Southern California and could be picked up by others around the country.

The USC game will be the 15th Cougars game on television this season.

Football

Shock add, delete from roster

The Spokane Shock of arenafootball2 announced the addition of fullback/linebacker Wyatt Gayer to their roster.

Gayer was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as a non-drafted free agent in 2006. He was released after making it through three rounds of cuts.

Gayer played at Anderson (Ind.) University when Shock coach Adam Shackleford was on the coaching staff. He capped his senior season by recording nine tackles in the Magnolia Gridiron Classic All-Star game.

The Shock also announced that recent acquisition Marques Ledbetter, a defensive lineman, has signed with the Arena Football League’s Kansas City Brigade.