Whitman County
Boys outlook
The league is pretty competitive this season, but St. John-Endicott (4-5, 3-0) has established itself as a front-runner. Tekoa-Oakesdale (4-3, 1-0) opened league play with a 56-49 win over Rosalia (4-4, 1-1) while LaCrosse-Washtucna (4-5, 0-1) lost 56-42 in its league opener to SJE. Colton (4-5, 1-2) is on a two-game winning streak, as it topped Sprague-Harrington (3-6, 0-3) in a league game on Tuesday. Despite no league wins, the Falcons’ Bryceson Charlton is leading the league in scoring, tied with SJE’s Justin Taylor. The seniors are averaging 14.3 points per game. Garfield-Palouse (5-2, 2-1), which was on a four game winning streak, has lost two straight. G-P’s last win was an 84-47 thumping of Logos on Dec. 18.
Boys scoring leaders
Charlton, Sprague-Harrington, Sr., 14.3; Taylor, St. John-Endicott, Sr., 14.3; Ryan Sparkman, Colton, Sr., 13.4; Thomas Jacobs, Colton, Sr., 13.1; Casey Cook, Tekoa-Oakesdale, soph., 13.
Girls outlook
The Colton (10-1, 3-0) girls are on a roll. Their only loss came to league opponent Sprague-Harrington (8-1, 2-1), a 54-44 defeat on Dec. 22 in a non-league contest. But Colton edged the Falcons the second time around, beating S-H 67-66 in double overtime Tuesday in a league contest. Colton junior Alisa Moehrle is leading the league in scoring, averaging 19.9 points. S-H’s Roni Jo Mielke is averaging 19 points a game, including a season-high 40 in Tuesday’s game. The teams meet for another league game on Dec. 20 at Sprague. Tekoa-Oakesdale (4-3, 1-0) hasn’t played since a 66-36 loss to Colfax on Dec. 19 while St. John-Endicott (6-4, 2-1) has won two straight. LaCrosse-Washtucna (7-2, 1-1) is on a three-game win streak while Rosalia (4-4, 0-2) and Garfield-Palouse (5-3, 0-3) are searching for league victories. G-P started the season with four straight wins while Rosalia began the season 2-2.
Girls scoring leaders
Moehrle, Colton, Jr., 19.9; Mielke, Sprague-Harrington, Sr., 19; Alyssa Koller, LaCrosse-Washtucna, Sr., 18.3; Ellen Miller, St. John-Endicott, Sr., 17.5; Natalie Deking, Sprague-Harrington, Sr., 15.5; Rochelle Druffel, Colton, Sr., 12.5.
More scoring leaders in Scoreboard/C4.
B basketball previews by Jessica Brown