Grip on Sports: Some days in Reno are like Friday, though probably only a few have been worse
A GRIP ON SPORTS • That was a bad day in the world’s biggest little city. At least for teams from around the Inland Northwest. The Big Sky Conference basketball tournament, which held so much promise just 24 hours before, was a whitewash on Friday. Read on.
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• If your summer plans included a leisurely trip down the California coast on State Route 1, then you are out of luck. A bridge in Big Sur failed and it may be a year before it can be replaced.
If your spring plans included following Eastern Washington or Idaho in the NCAA tournament, then you are out of luck. They both washed out for the Big Sky tournament with semifinal losses yesterday – and were joined by the Eastern women.
If you are scoring at home on Friday, that was Inland Northwest teams 0, other folks 3.
Not what you would call a great day.
The Eastern women fell when Montana State scored in the final seconds. The Vandal men fell behind by a bunch, rallied to lead and then ran out of gas. The Eastern men went cold in the second half. And that’s how NCAA dreams disappear.
Which means this area has two team in the NCAA tournaments, and they are both from Gonzaga. But, more than likely, there should others playing in the postseason.
Idaho and Eastern should both be invited to play in one of the secondary tournaments. And there is a chance a local women’s team will also be still playing.
There is no way of knowing right now. We will have to wait until late Sunday or early Monday to be sure.
And after Friday’s trio of defeats, one thing is certain: There are no guarantees.
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Gonzaga: If you listen to the national analysts, and I do, then you know one of their themes this season is GU’s improved defense. Jim Meehan checked in with the Gonzaga staff members that keep their in-depth defensive statistics to find out where these Zags rank. … The Bulldogs have fans from all over the place, but Michael Gulledge found a couple that travels from a pretty far distance to watch home games. … Przemek Karnowski is one of five finalists from the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, given to the nation’s best center.
WSU: The Pac-12 tournament semifinals featured one tight game and one relatively easy one. They just weren’t the games you might have predicted. California, fighting for its NCAA tournament life, gave Oregon all it could handle before falling 73-65. The Ducks, hoping to be a No. 1 seed, didn’t look the part yesterday. … In the other semifinal, Arizona pulled away from UCLA and won 86-75 in a physical game that included a tension-filled postgame handshake. … Markelle Fultz isn’t coming back to Washington. I’m shocked someone would leave college after just one year. … Colorado hopes to hear from the NIT. … In football news, a former Cougar running back has some things to say about WSU in this column. … And Ted Miller has a lot to say in his weekly mailbag at ESPN.com’s Pac-12 blog.
EWU: Weber State controlled the second half and moved on to the finals with an 80-72 win over the Eagles. Jim Allen was in Reno and he has the game story. … Jim also was there for this story as the women couldn’t get a final shot to fall and fell to Montana State, 61-59.
Idaho: The Vandals fell behind by 17 points in the first half, rallied to take the lead in the second but still lost, 69-64 to North Dakota. Of course, Jim has the story.
Whitworth: OK, this story is really about the Pirates’ Northwest Conference rival Whitman, but it’s still worth sharing.
Empire: Spokane made some roster moves heading into the weekend.
Chiefs: The WHL season is winding down – the Chiefs have been eliminated from playoff contention – and will finish soon. Spokane couldn’t defend well enough last night and Portland took advantage, winning 4-2 at the Arena. Josh Horton has the story.
Preps: Earlier this week I looked for the all-league teams and couldn’t find them. Today they sort of fell into my lap. Here are the winter teams as well as the photographs.
Mariners: The M’s trailed big yesterday but rallied late and got past the Cubs, 11-10. … Mike Zunino is playing well again this spring. Will it last?
Seahawks: Offensive lineman T.J. Lang was reportedly in Seattle yesterday but whether or not he signs with the Hawks is up in the air. … Brock Coyle’s future is in San Francisco. … The Hawks are serious about adding help to the running back spot. … It may be harder to re-sign Kam Chancellor today.
Sounders: Seattle is back on the road and needs to bounce back on Montreal’s springy field.
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• Wasn’t yesterday around here just grand, despite the basketball results? It was warm enough I opened the house for a while and let the wind blow through. And then I sat and watched the piles of snow melt. Fun. Until later …