Locally: Spokane select basketball team coached by Dan Dickau wins CaliLive Summer Showcase tournament
Spokane Flight won its 17U division of the CaliLive Summer Showcase basketball tournament in Irvine, California, over the weekend.
The team, coached by Dan Dickau, finished second in pool play then won both of its playoff games, defeating Arsenal Elite from Los Angeles 53-51 in the title game, avenging a loss in pool play. Gonzaga Prep’s Henry Sandberg hit a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Spokane Flight went 4-1 in the tournament and also won a “Showcase” exhibition game prior to the official event.
The NCAA certified tournament featured 80 teams in the 17U classification. Teams were divided into four-team pools, with the top two teams in each pool playing the top two from another pool in a single-elimination “Final Four.”
The team is comprised of Sandberg, Evan Stinson of Cheney High, Drew Rayment and Lucas Dickau of Mt. Spokane, Shane Skidmore of University High and Asher and Avi West of Northwest Christian. Whitworth women’s basketball coach Kenny Love is an assistant coach.
Track and field
Eastern Washington’s Natalie Ruzauskas finished fourth in the U20 3000-meter women’s steeplechase at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
Ruzauskas, who completed her freshman season at EWU with a ninth-place finish at the 2023 Big Sky Outdoor Championships, had a season-best time of 10:53.98 for the Eagles, good for sixth place in program history.
At nationals, she finished with a time of 11:27.05.
Angelina Napoleon won the event in 10:15.09.
Former EWU athlete Parker Bowden competed at Senior Nationals in Eugene. Bowden, who ran for EWU from 2017 through 2021, set the EWU record of 13.58 seconds in the 110 hurdles in 2021. The Central Valley graduate, now running for Tracksmith, posted a time of 13.74 at nationals and did not advance past the first round.