A Grip on Sports: After a long wait, WCC Tournament will finally include Gonzaga, the Cougars finally know their Pac-12 Tournament opponent and Whitworth moves on in the NCAA Tournament

A GRIP ON SPORTS • What is it Tom Petty once sung about? Something about waiting being the hardest part? Mr. Petty must have been a basketball fan.

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• Having grown up in Gainesville, maybe Petty would be upset to know Florida State won its first ACC basketball title yesterday. Rivals and all that. Maybe he wouldn’t care, considering the hometown university has a couple of semi-recent NCAA titles to its credit.

But he was right, you know. Waiting is the hardest part.

At least for Gonzaga hoop fans. The West Coast Conference Tournament has been going on for days, playing to half-full crowds at the Orleans Arena as everyone wearing a GU sweatshirt waits for the semifinals.

Those don’t begin until Monday. You can thank – or blame – BYU for the day off today.

Who will the Zags play tomorrow night?

The men will face the toughest draw they could have received, Charles Minlend, Jimbo Lull and USF. Both times Gonzaga and the Dons met this season, fifth-seeded San Francisco led at half. In the Bay Area, the game remained close to the end. In Spokane, it finished with the Zags running away.

The women will match up with the most physical team in the conference, rebuilt Portland, in their semifinal tomorrow. The first time these teams met, in the Kennel, the Pilots built a 20-point lead before GU came storming back for a five-point victory. They also played about a week ago, with the Zags dominating the second half and winning 56-42.

• Waiting is still on the table for Washington State, at least as far as the Pac-12 Tournament is concerned. The Cougars, who finished the regular season 15-16 (6-12 in conference), will face Colorado on Wednesday in Las Vegas. The game will be the last of the tournament’s first day, starting at 8:30 p.m.

WSU fans have been waiting for more than a decade for the Cougars to win another Pac-12 Tournament game, seeing that the last win came in 2009, Tony Bennett’s last season, and came in Los Angeles.

Since the tournament moved to Vegas, it’s been one-and-done each year.

• Speaking of one-and-done, that’s happened to Whitworth a few times in the Pirates most-recent NCAA Division III tournament appearances. Not this season.

Funny, it didn’t seem as if the NCAA would reward Whitworth with an at-large berth after it lost to Whitman at home in the finals of the Northwest Conference postseason tournament, but it did.

And the Pirates have made the most of it. They won Friday night to earn a matchup with the host school, Texas-Dallas, Saturday. Behind Ben College’s 24 points, the Whits (23-6) won 73-66 and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2013.

Next weekend they will travel to Philadelphia to face top-seed Swarthmore (28-1) with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.

• There is little wait time between State 4A girls basketball titles at Central Valley. At least recently. The Bears won titles in 2016 and 2018, behind the play of the Hull sisters, now at Stanford. This year’s team featured a different cast and a first-year coach, former Bear player Felice Orrell. The result was the same, however, with CV winning its sixth big-school girls title.

It was the 12th 4A title for a Greater Spokane League school this century. In other words, the league has won 60 percent of the championships, including five for CV, four for Lewis and Clark, two for Gonzaga Prep and one for Mead.

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Gonzaga: As we mentioned above, the Zag men will face USF on Monday night. Jim Meehan has more on the Dons’ upset (by seed) against Pacific last night. … Filip Petrusev is on the 15-player Wooden Award final ballot. Jim has that story. … Jim Allen has a look at Portland, which also got past Pacific. The big upset came on the other side of the women’s bracket as BYU lost to Pepperdine. … He also has a story on the Zags’ team doctor. … Las Vegas holds some tough memories for Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier and they have little to do with hoops. John Blanchette recounts last year’s WCC Tournament and the awful things that hit the team that week. … The baseball team split a doubleheader with Cal State Northridge. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the Saint Mary’s win over Pepperdine last night, in double overtime, probably has already clinched its spot as the tournament’s best game. … BYU and Yoeli Childs will face Saint Mary’s.

WSU: What do you know, football recruiting was not done. The Cougars signed a junior college defensive lineman yesterday. Theo Lawson has all the information in this story. … Theo also has a quick look at the upcoming conference basketball tournament after yesterday’s loss at Arizona State. … WSU’s honoree this year at the Pac-12 Tournament is Jeanne Eggart Helfer, who held the school’s scoring record for four decades. That news is atop our weekly local briefs. … The baseball team won at home. … Around the Pac-12, the matchups are set for the tournament. … The reason the Cougars are playing Colorado? The Buffs have been playing poorly lately. They lost at Utah on last-second free throws on a 3-point attempt. … Washington seems to be getting its act together. It won at Arizona last night and heads into the tournament on a roll. … Oregon won the regular season title and continued to shine with a win over Stanford. … Oregon State sent its seniors out on a winning note, defeating California. … USC hit a late 3-pointer to get past UCLA at home, depriving the Bruins of a share of the conference title. … The women’s tournament finals will pit top seed Oregon against Stanford. Again. ..

EWU: The Big Sky regular season championship resides in Cheney. The Eagles made sure of that with a resounding win over Weber State yesterday. Ryan Collingwood was at Reese Court and has this story. … The coverage also includes Ryan’s notebook, which leads with some sad news. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, what is going on at Montana? The Griz lost again at home, this time to Southern Utah. … Montana State also lost to Northern Colorado.

Idaho: The Vandals were able to end their regular season with a victory over Idaho State, sending the seniors out on a high note. Peter Harriman was in Moscow and has the story.

Whitworth: As we mentioned above, the Pirates win in Dallas sends them to the Sweet Sixteen.

Preps: Central Valley earned a split in the 4A finals, with the girls winning their sixth title and the boys falling to Mount Si, 58-47. Dave Nichols has both stories. … Mt. Spokane won to finish fourth in the 3A girls. Dave has that story as well. … Clarkston and West Valley reached the boys and girls 2A finals, respectively, but both lost yesterday. … Dan Thompson has the coverage as Liberty won its first girls 2B title. He also watched as Brewster won the 2B boys crown. … Odessa finished its undefeated season with a 1B boys title. Jason Shoot has that story as well as coverage of Inchelium’s 1B girls win over Oakesdale. … In Idaho, Post Falls and Moscow lost in the finals while Lakeside won the 1AD2 crown.

Chiefs: Spokane finished off its road trip with another victory, this one 6-3 at Calgary.

Mariners: The outfield will feature some young talent with lots of potential. … The bullpen was roughed up and the M’s lost.

Seahawks: The Hawks are intrigued by a XFL quarterback.

Sounders: Seattle played before a sparse home crowd and had to score late to salvage a draw against Columbus.

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• Once we get done here this morning, we may take a little time to rest. Then it’s back to hoops. It isn’t over. And it won’t be for a while. March Madness is just that. By the way, did you turn your clocks ahead? I did ours last night. That’s the only way I can remember, and it’s also the only time all year I stay up as late as 11 on a Saturday night. Until later …