Jud, Stockton to be inducted

John Stockton and Jud Heathcote (in photo) will be inducted into the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame during halftime of the University of Portland-Gonzaga basketball game Feb. 4 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The two were elected in the 2009 class, but have yet to be inducted.

Stockton played at Gonzaga and went on to a Hall of Fame career in the NBA with the Utah Jazz.

Heathcote, a former head coach at West Valley High and assistant coach at Washington State, guided Michigan State to the NCAA men’s title in 1979.

Chiefs back on ice against Ams

Hockey: Four more road games remain in the Chiefs’ eight-game stretch away from the Spokane Arena and they will play those in a five-day span beginning tonight in Kennewick against Tri-City.

The Chiefs should be well-rested. They haven’t played since their 4-3 loss last Saturday at Kootenay.

“This week has been very important for us,” Chiefs coach Hardy Sauter said. “Guys that were hurt are now healed, we’ve put in a little bit of work and mentally I think our guys are sick of practice and are now looking forward to a game.”

After tonight, the Chiefs will travel to Everett to take on the Silvertips on Sunday and then move into British Columbia for games on Tuesday and Wednesday against Kamloops and Chilliwack.

Spokane and Tri-City are 3-3 on the season against each other, with the home team winning on its ice twice in three meetings.

NWL moves to split season

Baseball: The Northwest League approved a new playoff format beginning this season with the schedule switching to a split-season format and four of the league’s eight teams advancing to the postseason.

The Northwest League has never had more than one round of playoffs.

The season will be split into two 38-game halves. The first- and second-half winners in each division will play a best-of-3 series to determine the division champion. Another best-of-3 series will determine the league title. Should the same team win both halves, the team with the second-best overall record advances to the division series.

The Spokane Indians have won eight NWL titles since 1987, including the 2008 title.

Everett Herald