Youth sports notebook: Eastern Washington boys basketball teams excel in Houston tournament

Five of eight Eastern Washington Elite boys teams won bracket championships, three of them going unbeaten, in the Kingwood Classic boys basketball tournament in Houston.

EWE Red capped a 5-0 run to the U17 Platinum bracket championship with a 65-62 win over FYN All-Stars of Houston. EWE Blue (5-0) defeated the Katy (Texas) Raptors 58-45 for the U15 Platinum title. EWE Built4Ball (5-0) won the U14 Platinum 73-59 over Elevate (New Orleans).

EWE White (4-1), coached by Ryan Peplinski, triumphed 66-46 in the U16 Gold bracket and EWE Gold (3-2), coached by C.J. Johnson, won the U15 Silver bracket 57-48 over Texas Heat.

EWE U17 Red area players: Zach Fleming (Ferris), Colby Gennett (Post Falls), Kyle Karstetter (Moses Lake), Cole Omlin (Ferris), Tyson Rogalette (Mead), Jayce Simmons (Central Valley). Coaches: Jim Psomas and Jamie Nilles.

EWE U15 Blue area players: Trayce Atkins (Mt. Spokane), Dylan Darling (Central Valley), Kaz Melzer (Gonzaga Prep), AJ Newcomb (Mt. Spokane), Aiden Prado (Mead), Luke Russell (Mead), Jayden Stevens (G-Prep), Coach: Mike Hamilton.

EWE U14 Built4Ball area players: Jackson Floyd (Chase), Nathan Hocking (Chase), Zach Johnson (Canfield), Sherrell McCullum Jr. (Salk), Jamil Miller (Salk), Kolton Mitchell (Woodland), Boen Phelps (Freeman), Kruz Wheeler (Chase). Coaches: Ryan Floyd and Vince Grippi.

• Spokane-based Northwest Blazers girls select basketball teams collected a lot of hardware in different age brackets at two recent national NCAA-certified events.

In the Adidas Gauntlet-Dallas/Heart of Texas National Showcase, NW Blazers Sparks’ 15U team won its division, finishing 5-0 against teams from Georgia, Texas and California, and Blazers Orange went 5-0 to win its 17U Platinum division.

17U Blazers Sun finished 4-0 in the Adidas Gauntlet Gold Division.

15U Blazers’ Sparks area players: Mckenna Reggear, Colville; Alicia Suggs, Mead. Coach: Nars Martinez.

17U Blazers Orange area players: Jayda Noble, Mt. Spokane; Maisie Burnham, Liberty; Ashlyn Wallace, Clarkston. Coach: Steve Klees.

The Orange, Sparks and Sun were among six Blazers teams that compiled a 25-5 record in the Arizona Elite Spring Classic that drew 100 teams from across the country

Blazers Orange went 6-0 and won the 17U National Division. Two Blazers teams, Fierce and Sparks, played each other in a 15U division championship game. Fierce won 58-49 to cap a 5-0 tournament. Sparks finished 4-1.

Sun finished 4-1 in the 17U Regional bracket.

Blazers Heat went 4-1 in the 17U Regional bracket, losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion by three points, and Blazers Fire was 2-2 in the 17U Gauntlet bracket.

Heat area players: Niveya Henley, Mt. Spokane; CarolAnn Edwards, University. Fire area player: Olivia Moore, Mead.

Baseball

In the 12-team AA Legion National division, in games reported through Thursday, Colville was 2-0, North Idaho Lakers Post 1-0, Ferris Saxons 3-2 and Deer Park Stags 2-2. In the 10-team AA American in games reported through Wednesday, Gonzaga Prep Bullpups and University Titans were 2-0, Mt. Spokane Wild 1-0 and West Valley 1-1.

• In the 12-team A Legion National, in games reported through Wednesday, Deer Park and Lewis and Clark were 2-0, Colville was 1-0 with Moscow Blue Devils 2-1. In the nine-team A American in games reported through Tuesday, West Kootenay was 4-0, Prairie Cardinals 3-0, Mt. Spokane Wild 2-1 and University Titans and Newport both 1-1.