Grip on Sports: The long march toward high school state basketball tournaments has begun

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s see. It’s Wednesday. No college basketball tonight in the area. The NFL is finished. The NBA? No, not until Seattle has a team again. Which leaves us, what? High school hoops, that’s what. Read on.

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• The prep playoff season is upon us. Before you know it, folks from all over the eastern part of the state will be packing bags and descending on Spokane for the two B tournaments in early March.

And then the snow will melt away, the flowers will start to peek out and all will be right in the world again.

Happens every late winter.

The first baby steps toward the Washington and Idaho state basketball tournaments are beginning this week. There is district or sub-district or sub-regional or regional play underway (and if you don’t know the difference, don’t worry about it; just remember it is the first week and it will all shake out soon).

At the higher levels, Spokane schools face off with their counterparts from the central part of the state. Tonight there are games in Spokane and the Tri-Cities matching 4A teams from both areas. They continue throughout the weekend.

But they aren’t the only games in town. The smaller schools are marching toward Yakima or Spokane as well, meeting each other over and over again until the state participants are determined.

And in Idaho the same long march is underway as well, at least among the girls. The boys wait a bit longer to get started.

There is a goal, of course. The state title. There are serious contenders at all levels and both genders in the area. Central Valley’s girls will try to repeat as undefeated state 4A titlists. The Gonzaga Prep boys want to win one more game – the 4A title game – than they did last season.

There is one certainty. Someone from Eastern Washington or North Idaho will win a state title. Seems to happen every year, so it’s not a Joe Namath-like stretch to guarantee it will happen again in 2017.

But it’s how it happens that makes all the difference. And builds memories that won’t fade over time. When you think about it, it’s those memories that are at the core of high school sports. Winning memories, losing memories, road trips, challenges, adversity.

The story of high school sports.

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Gonzaga: The Zags never sleep. Or at least Jim Meehan doesn’t. He has a feature on freshman Zach Norvell Jr. (pictured), who is redshirting this season. … Jim also catches up with Kyle Dranginis, who is playing in Denmark. … Around the WCC, BYU guard Nick Emery is finally healthy but another Cougar has the flu. … A walk-on has given the Cougars a boost.

WSU: So who is going to win the Pac-12 basketball title? Will it be defending champion Oregon, who plays at No. 11 UCLA this week? Or is it the Bruins who will rally down the stretch? It could still be Arizona, which hasn’t had to deal in years with a loss like it was handed in Eugene recently. … Off-court issues are more the story about Utah right now. … Washington may be playing awful but its not because Markelle Fultz is too lackadaisical. … Colorado needs to turn its season around now. … ASU seems to have done that already. … Stanford is again middle of the pack. … A freshman is leading California right now. … In football, Oregon State’s defensive backfield coach is happy with his group. … Stanford’s success is costing its fans more. … USC’s Rose Bowl hero is in trouble.

EWU: The Eagles women’s team is hosting the two schools tied atop the Big Sky standings this week, North Dakota and Northern Colorado. Can third-place Eastern build some momentum for next month’s conference tournament? Jim Allen has the answer in his notebook. … Around the Big Sky, Weber State has another player who hopes to make the leap to the NBA.

Empire: The indoor football season is underway. Well, at least the practice part. Josh Horton has a feature on running back Trevor Kennedy, who broke his leg last season. Dan Pelle was also at the Empire practice and has this photo report.

Preps: The 5A Region I girls’ championship game was held at Post Falls last night and Greg Lee was there to document the Trojans’ 53-39 win over Lewiston. Post Falls moves on to state. Colin Mulvany also has these photos from the game. … Basketball playoffs are also front and center in these girls and boys area roundups.

Seahawks: The offseason isn’t the slow season, that’s for sure. … Atlanta came oh so close to a Super Bowl ring.

Mariners: Let’s see. The M’s have not had a decent offensive shortstop since Alex Rodriguez began his journey of discovery in Texas. And they didn’t have a bullpen going into last season. They have one ready this year.

Sounders: Clint Dempsey played the entire first half of the Sounders scrimmage yesterday.

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• I watched a little of the Patriots’ celebration yesterday. A whole bunch of people chanting “no days off” as they take a day off work to celebrate. Oh, the irony. Until later …