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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jones scores 37 in CCS defeat

Griffon Jones scored the first 18 points of the game for CC Spokane, but the Sasquatch fell to the Portland Panthers 81-79 in the first round of the NWAACC Crossover tournament Friday night at Spokane Community College.

Jones finished with 37 points on 16-of-22 shooting and also had 12 rebounds. Chris Pynch added 14 points.

Kenneth Kirkland of Portland (4-2) tied Jones for scoring honors, also with 37 points, while Kashias Lewis added 16 points and Guy Varsek 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Spokane (7-2) will play Olympic (2-4) at 3 p.m. today in the double-elimination tournament that concludes Sunday.

•BJ Shearry dumped in 18 points and teammates Renado Parker, Emeka Iweka and Steven Hodney each added 12 as visiting North Idaho College (12-2) rolled to a lopsided 96-54 win over Salish Kootenai Collge in Pablo, Mont. Shearry finished 8 of 11 from the field.

Women’s basketball

Brooks Randall scored a game-high 18 points, and teammates Clara Hull and Andrea DePaolo each added 11 as Community Colleges of Spokane drubbed Seattle Community College 83-50 in the opening round of the Skagit Valley College Women’s Crossover tournament in Mount Vernon, Wash.

The Sasquatch (5-1) roared to a 43-18 halftime lead over the Storm (1-6) and were never threatened.

CCS faces Mt. Hood (7-2), a 74-60 first-round winner over Pierce, today at 5 p.m. in a second-round showdown that will determine one of the teams in Sunday’s 3 p.m. title game.

College football

University of Idaho coach Rob Akey has been named the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year by both The Sporting News and Phil Steele’s College Football after leading the Vandals to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise.

The Vandals were picked to finish near the bottom of the WAC in every preseason poll.

The school also announced the signing of four junior college players to national letters of intent to play for the Vandals.

Expected to enroll this spring are Armauni Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver from West Los Angeles JC; Sam Tupua, a 6-3, 320-pound offensive lineman from Palomar (Calif.) JC; Ben Swarts, a 6-2, 285-pound defensive tackle out of Arizona Western; and Thaad Thompson, a 6-3, 215-pound safety from Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College.

ABA basketball

Chris Bond scored 44 points to lead the Spokane Sunz (1-1) to a 133-113 American Basketball Association victory over the Washington Raptors at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake.

Former Whitworth player Ryan Symes added 28 points and ex-Gonzaga University player Tony Skinner 17 for Spokane.

Arena football

The Spokane Shock added Quorey Payne, a 5-10, 185-pound wide receiver and kick returner, to their roster for the 2010 season.

Payne played for the Mahoning Valley Thunder of the af2 last season and scored a team-high 31 touchdowns.

•Arena Football One, the Arena football league set to begin play in 2010, has completed the purchase of assets from the AFL that folded last year, the AP reported.

The acquisition was made Friday through a bankruptcy court-mandated auction. Arena Football One can now use the team names, trademarks and logos of the former league.

Junior hockey

Chris Derochie had one goal and one assist in the second period to lead the Beaver Valley Nitehawks (18-13-1-1) to a 4-3 win over the Spokane Braves (21-15-0-2) in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League play at Eagles Ice-A-Rena. Uriah Machuga scored twice for the Braves.