Riley Lupfer, Madison Hovren, Caelyn Orlandi shine in college basketball
Three women who were high school basketball standouts in the area made headlines with their college teams last week.
Riley Lupfer, a Boise State guard from Lewis and Clark, was selected to the Mountain West Conference All-Freshman team. Madison Hovren, an Army West Point sophomore forward from Central Valley, was named to the All-Patriot League first team. And Caelyn Orlandi, a senior guard at Lewis-Clark State from Coeur d’Alene High School, was the Frontier Conference Player of the Year.
Lupfer followed her senior season last year at LC, in which she was the Greater Spokane League MVP and first team All-State, with a breakout freshman year at Boise. And she continued that strong play in the first two rounds of the Mountain West playoffs.
She scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the fourth-seeded Broncos to a 65-61 semifinal victory over top-seeded Colorado State on Wednesday after contributing eight points, most on a couple of 3-pointers, in a 64-62 quarterfinal win over New Mexico.
As Boise rallied from behind against Colorado State with a 28-21 margin in the final period, Lupfer fueled her outburst with a 3-for-3 effort from behind the 3-point line, prompting Rams head coach Ryun Williams to comment, “and I like that Lupfer kid; we got ‘Lupfer’d’ in that fourth quarter. She was outstanding. We tip our hat to Boise. They beat us tonight.”
In the Mountain West championship game Friday night, a 66-53 Boise victory over Fresno State that earned the Broncos a trip to the NCAA Tournament, Lupfer had an off-shooting night. She was just 1 of 9 from the field, 0-of-5 on 3-pointers, but hit both her free throws and had four points, two assists and a rebound as the Broncos improved to 25-7.
During the regular season, Lupfer had 10 games with double-figure points and led the team in scoring three times. She averaged 8.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.8 steals in 19.6 minutes per game. She ranked sixth in the Mountain West in 3-point percentage at .371 and seventh in 3-pointers with 143.
Hovren, the Patriot League leader in scoring and rebounding and a six-time player of the week, was one of just two unanimous first-team selections. The other is a senior and the league player of the year.
Hovren averaged a double-double – 18.5 points and 10.3 rebounds – during the regular season, compiling 15 double-doubles in 29 games as the Black Knights took a 21-8 record into the Patriot League playoffs. The double-doubles rank third in the school record books since it started compiling the statistic in 1990-91.
She had season highs of 35 points and 22 rebounds, the rebounds tying the Army and Patriot League single-game records.
Hovren added her 16th double-double Friday in the Patriot League playoff semifinals – 11 points, 10 rebounds – but it was to no avail. The Black Knights dropped a heartbreaker, 54-53, to Navy on a fade-away 3-pointer with .5 seconds left. It left the Cadets with a 22-9 record and Hovren with 571 points and 316 rebounds. The rebounds set an Army single-season record by a sophomore. The points rank second.
Army will have to wait until Monday to see if it is selected for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Orlandi, the “engine” that makes the Warriors go, has led L-C State to a 31-1 record, a No. 1 seeding in the NAIA Division I National Championships that begin Thursday in Billings, Montana, and the Frontier Conference regular season and tournament championships. L-C State plays William Penn, Iowa (18-13) in the first round.
“I’m happy for Caelyn. It’s a great honor and well deserved,” said L-C State coach Brian Orr. “She’s the engine that makes us go. She has worked so hard and has improved every year she has been here.”
Orlandi, who leads the NAIA in assists with 215, a 6.72 average, and scored 14 points a game, was the Frontier Freshman of the Year, an all-conference second-team choice as a sophomore and a first-team selection as a junior and senior. She wrapped up her Frontier career by scoring 30 points in the playoff semifinals last weekend and 16 in the championship game.
She is one of three L-C State players from North Idaho honored by the conference. Former CHS teammate Brittney Tackett, a 6-foot junior post/forward, repeated on the All-Frontier first team after averaging 13.9 points, 5.66 rebounds and leading the NAIA in field goal percentage (.676).
Brooke Litalien, a 5-7 senior guard from Post Falls, received honorable mention for a second straight season. She averaged 9.2 points and is seventh in the NAIA in 3-point percentage (.429).
College scene
Josh Hawkinson, Washington State’s senior forward from Shoreline, Washington, was named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball.
A three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection and one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, Hawkinson completed an undergraduate degree in business in three years and is working on his master’s in business administration. He has a 3.42 GPA.
Hawkinson joins Robbie Cowgill (2008) and Taylor Rochestie (2009) as the only Cougars to receive the Pac-12 honor.
—-Whitworth swept the track and field awards and Bella Hoyos received the women’s tennis honor when the Northwest Conference passed out its student-athlete of the week awards for the week of Feb. 27-March 5.
Hoyos, a senior from Bellingham, Washington, playing No. 1 singles and doubles, collected four points for the Pirates with sweeps against Willamette after hard-fought wins against Pacific rivals. The highlight was a 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) win over fellow 2016 All-NWC selection Kaitlyn Lomartire of Pacific in singles.
Andrew Bloom, a senior from Stanwood, Wash., the defending NCAA Division III javelin champion, collected field event honors after opening the season in a meet at Puget Sound with a toss of 218 feet 1 inch, the best in the nation by 14 feet.
NWC track honors went to Jacob Sturtevant, a junior from Beaverton, Oregon, who won both the 100 and 200, ran a leg on the Pirates’ 4x100 relay that placed second D-II St. Martin’s and made the finals in the long jump.
—- Match Burnham, a Carroll sophomore from Liberty, received honorable mention on the All-Frontier Conference men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-8 center averaged 11.7 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Saints.
High school scene
Holden Ellsworth, a Pullman freshman, collected two gold medals to lead the showing by area athletes at the State 2A boys swimming and diving championships last month at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Ellsworth won the 500-yard freestyle, placed fourth in the 100 backstroke and had a hand in a winning relay for the Greyhounds.
He timed 4 minutes, 41.11 seconds in the 500 free as senior teammate Cameron Larsen finished fifth in 4:51.72 and sophomore Josh Joireman was 10th in 4:55.16, placing second in the B final. That trio, joined by sophomore Sean Li, combined to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:16.63. Ellsworth swam 52.31 for fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Trevor Babcock, a Cheney sophomore, finished second in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.73 and third in the 100 freestyle in 47.63, to lead the Blackhawks.
Freshman Ethan Downing scored all of East Valley’s points as he placed 12th in the 500 free (5:04.04) behind the trio of Greyhounds and 16th in the 100 butterfly (57.25).
Kingston won the 2A team title with 225 points. Pullman was fifth with 154, Cheney 14th with 55 and EV 34th with 6.
Other top-16 finishes for the only area schools at the 2A event:
Pullman – 200 medley relay (Ellsworth, Joireman, Larsen, Li), 5th, 1:41.74; Larsen, 4th 200 freestyle, 1:45.97; Li, 11th, 200 freestyle, 1:53.45; Ben Reilly, jr., 14th, 200 freestyle, 1:54.81; Joireman, 11th 200 IM, 2:03.69.
Cheney – 200 medley relay (Tre. Babcock; Jared Geschke, fr.; Trae Babcock, fr.,; Zach Jongeward), 13th, 1:49.20; 200 free relay (Tre. Babcock, Jongeward, Matt Christianson, Tra. Babcock), 12th, 1:36.04; 400 free relay (Tra. Babcock, Matthew Norman, Jacob Devine, Steven Freeman), 15th, 3:47.94.
In the 4A meet, senior Kyle Jorgensen had a sixth in the 100 freestyle (48.10), a seventh in the 50 free (21.81) and swam the anchor on two placing relays to lead Moses Lake to 107 points and an eighth-place finish. Camas won the meet with 302 points.
Other Moses Lake placers: Noah Heaps, soph., 14th 200 IM, 2:01.28; Ryan Madrishin, sen., 16th 50 free, 22.65; Isiah Zeller, sen., 15th diving, 278.65 points; Eric Kemper, fr., 11th 100 butterfly, 53.95; Ander Molitor, jr., 10th 100 free, 48.72; Heaps, 10th 500 free, 4:54.30; 200 free relay (Molitor, Heaps, Madrishin, Jorgensen), 3rd, 1:28.37; 400 free relay (Molitor, Kemper, Heaps, Jorgensen), 7th, 3:18.21.
Letters of intent
Carroll College women’s soccer - Hannah Mitchell, F, Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls), two-time first-team All-Northeast A.
Lewis-Clark State men’s cross country & track – Cooper Haney, Lakeland (Rathdrum), three-time state cross country, two-time state track qualifier (1,600), National Junior Olympic cross country All-American (2015).
Shooting
Three members of the Spokane Junior Rifle Club received first-round invitations to the USA Shooting National Junior Olympics based on their performances in the 2017 Washington State USA Shooting Junior Olympic Air Rifle Championship in mid-December at the Spokane Rifle Club.
Taylor Christian, 15, Spokane Valley Tech, and Maliya Hillman, 18, Lewis and Clark, were invited in the women’s category. Christian shot 383 out of a maximum 400 to finish third and Hillman was fourth with a 378. Winning score was 387.
Mayson Maystrovich, 15, Northwest Christian, was invited in the men’s category after he shot 556 out of a maximum 600 to finish 12th. Winning score was 582.
The trio will travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, next month for the National Junior Olympics.
In the team event, SJRC Gold – Christian, Hillman and Cassidy Wilson, 16, home schooled – shot 1,137 to place third out of 16 teams. Winning score was 1,145.
Soccer
Conner Bevans, who played at Gonzaga University from 2012-15 and was second-team All-West Coast Conference as a senior, has signed a professional contract with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks of the United Soccer League, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid.
Bevans, who was twice All-WCC honorable mention and a member of the All-Freshman team in 2012, had 12 goals, five of them game-winners, and eight assists in 72 career games for the Bulldogs. His 152 career shots rank sixth all-time at GU. He was also twice selected to the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll.