Spokane tournament showcases top girls basketball teams

The lone girls basketball tournament in Spokane sanctioned by the NCAA begins Wednesday.

The Summer Heat 2014 tournament will be held at The Warehouse. There are two divisions – elite and all-star.

Two of the area’s top teams, the Spokane Stars Blue and Sandpipers Black, headline the elite division.

The all-star championship game is Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with the elite title game to follow at 11:45.

Admission is $7 for a single-day pass and $12 for a tourney pass.

The NCAA-sanctioned tag means all college basketball coaches may attend the tourney for recruiting purposes.

• The Stars Blue team recently competed in the End of the Trail tourney in Oregon City, Oregon, and the Seattle Midsummer Night Madness tourney.

At Oregon City, the Blue finished 5-1 and in third place in its 32-team pool. The Blue lost to eventual tourney winner Hoop Dreams of Boise 61-45.

Playing for the Blue are: Lexie Hull (Central Valley), Joy Cleveland-Akaegbu (Gonzaga Prep), Jordan Rodriguez (Sunnyside), Jessie Loera (Moses Lake), Shyler Sullivan (Southridge), Brooke Bailey (University), Lacie Hull (CV), Mallory Kessler (Lind-Ritzville/ Sprague), Madison Hovren (CV), Darbi Pink (Chiawana) and Jamie Loera (Moses Lake). They’re coached by Ron Adams and Steve Ranniger.

Hovren and Jessie Loera were named to the all-tourney team in Oregon City.

At the MSNM in Seattle, the Blue finished 6-1 and sixth overall.

• Sandpipers Black took second in its pool at the End of the Trail tourney and finished 5-1.

Otiona Gildon (Gonzaga Prep) was named co-most valuable player and Laura Stockton (G-Prep) and Oona Harrington (G-Prep) were on the all-tourney team.

Other team members are: Tayler Drynan (G-Prep), Hailey Higashi (St. George’s), Brenna Junkermier (Mead), Molly McDermott (G-Prep), Kierstyn Russell (Mead), Lauren Weir (G-Prep) and Maysun Wellsandt (Kamiakin). They’re coached by Kerry Pickett and Mark Bowman.

At the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chicago, the Sandpipers finished 4-1.

Gildon and Stockton each averaged more than 20 points, Pickett said.

Softball

Rylee Thomas tripled and scored what proved to be the winning run on a passed ball in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Spokane Crash 2001 rallied from a five-run deficit after four innings to defeat the Wolfpack from Belgrade, Montana, 12-11 Sunday and win the ASA 12-U B Northwest Region 15 softball championship at the Merkel Sports Complex.

Thomas, who went 2 for 3, got offensive help from Emma Gray, who had a triple and three RBIs, and Kylie Van Vleck, who was 2 for 3, for the Crash. Coach Scott Thomas’ team put together a seven-run fifth inning after trailing 9-4. Cheyenne Gleave got the win in relief, striking out seven in 3 2/3 innings as the Crash completed a 4-0 tournament run.

Spokane Diamonds-Butler and Coeur d’Alene Crush ’01 tied for fifth place and Crash ’02 and Diamonds-Cushner were in a tie for ninth.

The Tri-City Fuzion won the 12-U A regional at Merkel, defeating Northwest Speed ’02 from Seattle 8-3 in the title game to complete a 4-0 tournament.

In other ASA Northwest Regionals:

10-U A/B at Merkel: Jaden Donohoe went 11 for 17 and drove in eight runs and Makenzie Nelson was 11 for 15 with three RBIs to lead the Spokane Stealth to a second-place finish. Coach Carla Bischoff’s Stealth went 3-2, losing the championship game 8-2 to the Lil Lakers after forcing an extra game with a 7-6 win over the previously unbeaten team from Polson, Montana.

14-U A at Coeur d’Alene: Spokane Crash ’99, which had won its first three games, wound up third with a 3-2 record, falling 15-6 to the Selects from Great Falls, Montana, in the game that sent the winner to the championship game. Meredith Clark homered for the Crash. Hannah Bell hit her first home run for the Crash earlier in the tournament.

The Selects won the regional championship, beating the Raptors from Vancouver, Washington, 8-7 in the title game.

Six other area teams were in the tournament – Coeur d’Alene Crush ‘99, North Idaho Xtreme, Spokane Sliders, Spokane Stealth and West Plains Bandits.

16-U B at Beaverton, Oregon: Spokane Diamonds-Yearout, after winning its first three games, finished third after it lost 4-1 to the Oregon City Nightmare in a game that sent the winner to the championship. The Lakesiders from Nine Mile Falls, which strung together three wins after losing its opener, was fourth.

16-U A at Seattle: The North Idaho-based Northwest Wildfire had a 1-2 tournament record.

Baseball

The U10 Spokane Indians Pony All Stars won the Mustang Northwest Regional Championship in Lacey, Washington, qualifying for the Mustang West Zone Championship in Los Alamitos, California, which runs Thursday through Sunday.

The Indians won six straight games over the weekend, earning the right to represent the state at the championships.

Players include Lucas Erickson, Dayton Wells, Jon Busch, Jordan Hockett, Sterling Lipscomb, Jack Meade, Evan Mallory, Carson Coffield, Robert Burgess, Mason Muchlinski and Levi Nicodemus. Coaches are Cole Hockett, Sterling Lipscomb and Kevin Busch.