Stout defense sparks Wildcats to victory

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The snowy Kittitas Valley landscape might well have made Montana State Billings feel at home Monday night.

That said, the Yellowjackets might have been better served spending their first-round GNAC Tournament game against Central Washington outside Nicholson Pavilion, because very little that happened inside the Wildcats’ venue was to their liking.

“Our defense,” CWU coach Greg Sparling said minutes after the Wildcats’ 79-59 rout, “took them out of everything they wanted to do. If we continue to defend like that, the sky’s the limit.”

Or at least the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament, which Central will host if it wins two more GNAC contests.
Central’s next step toward that end comes Wednesday night at home against Northwest Nazarene. The fifth-seeded Crusaders rallied late to win 77-75 at No. 4 Western Washington on Monday, ending the Vikings’ season.

The regional tournament is scheduled for March 12-15 at the site of the regionally top-ranked team, a spot CWU presently occupies.

“We’re good — we have a lot of weapons offensively,” said Jamar Berry, who scored a game-high 19 points as 11th-ranked Central (24-3) won for the 15th time in 16 games and dominated in a manner one would expect of a No. 1 seed going against a No. 8. “We know we can score and so does everyone else. But when we D it up like we did tonight … ”

To a man, the Wildcats called the defensive performance their best of the season and their overall play not far from that level after setting a devastating early tone.

“What did we have, four blocked shots in their first three possessions?” Sparling asked. Smiled power forward Roby Clyde, who played perhaps the best two-point game in Central history, “Pretty impressive, wasn’t it?”

In the process of holding MSUB to 30 percent shooting during a first half that ended with Central up 39-24, Clyde keyed the Wildcats’ pressuring, trapping man-to-man defense that seemed to operate at warp speed.

Over the first 20 minutes, the 6-foot-5 junior from Connell twice ignited CWU fast breaks by exploding into passing lanes for steals. He blocked two shots, one in which he seemingly corkscrewed the shooter into the floor, and also grabbed four rebounds.
That Clyde hadn’t scored by intermission was not a source of concern to Central’s coaches.

“The thing people don’t understand,” Sparling said, “is he’s just now getting his legs back. He had a stress fracture in one before the season started and shin splints in the other.”

While 6-9 center Chris Sprinker was limited to eight minutes by effects of the flu, Coby Gibler produced 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks and ex-Yakima Valley Community College star Jody Johnson was his usual smoothly-efficient self, coming off the bench for 11 points, four boards and two steals.

Drew Harris added 10 points and five assists as Central missed neither a free throw (in 19 attempts) nor a beat in its quest to duplicate its regular-season dominance of the conference.

Berry showed no ill effects of a knee injury sustained last Thursday night, connecting on 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range, while Humberto Perez made 2 of 4 en route to an eight-point, seven-rebound night.

“I was probably a little careful with it (the knee), and that might have helped,” Berry said. “I was going to dunk once on a fast break and ended up missing a wide-open layup. But who knows — sometimes when I’m at full speed I get out of control and mess things up, so maybe I’ll just stay this way.”

Robert Mayes scored 14 points to lead MSUB (8-18), which got within 45-35 in the second half before the Wildcats surged to their biggest lead, 74-45 with 4:29 to play.

“We were focused tonight,” said Perez, clutching a large bottle of Gatorade to help eliminate the remnants of his own struggle with the flu. “It’s probably the closest we’ve come to a full 40 minutes of playing defense the way we’re capable of.”

MSU BILLINGS — Robert Mayes 6-15 2-3 14, Raason Young 5-9 2-3 12, Henning 3-10 1-1 7, DeAndre Chambers 3-5 5-5 11, Myaer 3-9 0-0 8, Sutton 0-1 0-0 0, Trabing 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0, Barnes 2-4 1-2 6, Hickman 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-53 12-16 59.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Jamar Berry 8-12 0-0 19, Clyde 1-5 0-0 2, Sprinker 3-5 0-0 6, Perez 3-5 0-0 8, Drew Harris 2-4 6-6 10, Scott 1-4 4-4 6, Lieser 1-2 1-1 3, Dunn 0-1 0-0 0, Coby Gibler 6-13 0-0 12, Jody Johnson 2-6 6-6 11, Nelson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 27-59 19-19 79.
Halftime — CWU, 34-29. 3-point goals — MSUB 3-9 (Young 0-2, Chambers 0-1, Myaer 2-4, Sutton 0-1, Barnes 1-1); CWU 6-12 (Berry 3-4, Perez 2-4, Harris 0-1, Scott 0-2, Johnson 1-1). Fouled out — Myaer. Rebounds — MSUB 27 (Chambers 6); CWU 36 (Perez 7, Gibler 7). Assists — MSUB 13 (Chambers 5); CWU 14 (Harris 5). Turnovers — MSUB 16, CWU 13. Total fouls — MSUB 17, CWU 14.

Elk count shows strength in numbers

YAKIMA, Wash. — Elk hunters will like the numbers that came out of last month’s Yakima elk herd surveys, which will almost certainly result in more permits this fall. Whether those permits will translate into a greater harvest — or even more hunters in the field — remains to be seen.

The official Yakima elk herd count this year, determined from counts at the various winter elk-feeding sites operated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and from helicopter surveys, is 10,550. Because that’s about 1,000 higher than the WDFW’s management goal for the herd, the number of antlerless permits will almost certainly go up. Maybe even way up.

Biologists have recommended more than 1,000 antlerless permits for modern-firearm hunters in the Yakima game management units (GMUs). If approved,  that would represent more than twice last year’s antlerless permit total of 485.

The presumption would be that more permits would result in a higher harvest, but that’s not necessarily the case, said Yakima-based WDFW wildlife biologist Jeff Bernatowicz. Last year’s antlerless harvest in the Yakima GMUs was only 97 in the modern firearm, while muzzleloaders drew 495 antlerless permits and took only 62 elk.

While the mild winter and heavy fog for the early part of the Yakima elk season almost certainly impacted the harvest, so did the number of permitted hunters who didn’t hunt their permits. Of the 397 modern-firearm hunters who submitted their hunt reports on time, only 256 actually hunted on their permit.

“I’m still trying to figure out what happened (with the low antlerless harvest),” Bernatowicz said. “I look at two things — hunter success rate and permit success rate. This year, just looking at the raw report, it looks like the number of people who didn’t hunt their permit went way up. When I look at that, I ask why?

“Last year for the first time you could apply for and get drawn for multiple permits. You could only shoot one elk, but you could possibly have been drawn for a branch-antler permit and an antlerless permit. The hunter success rate really wasn’t that low. But when you look at the permit success rate — total harvest based on the number of permits — that was really low.”

So, too, was the overall harvest. While spike bull harvest numbers haven’t been compiled yet, the number of first-year bulls that were observed and counted during the surveys was way up.

“They made it through the (hunting) season and they made it through the winter,” Bernatowicz said. “It’s the most (spike bulls) we’ve seen in a long time, which correlates to what hunters were saying — that they weren’t seeing them, which means (the spikes) didn’t get shot.”

Bernatowicz said that while WDFW staff was recommending issuing more permits for the 2011 Yakima elk season, overreacting with excessive limits in response to the low 2010 harvest could have disastrous ramifications.

“The last three years it’s been bizarre,” he said. “In 2008, we had very low harvest. In 2009 it skyrocketed and then last year it dropped off to almost nothing.

“If you have a fairly tight success rate on those permits and it’s not jumping all over the board, it’s easy to set the permit numbers. But when you see a year like 2009 with very high success rates and then you issue a lot of permits on top of that, hey, we’re going to slay them. You’re going to overharvest.”

The WDFW staff’s recommended permit increases for the Yakima herd were weighted heavily to Population Management Unit 33, which includes the GMUs 336 through 346 north of State Route 410. Elk numbers in that area, which includes Cleman Mountain and the Wenas, were very strong in this winter’s count, Bernatowicz said.

Permits aren’t expected to up in the Oak Creek area (GMUs 352, 356 and 360, comprising PMU 35) between S.R. 410 and Highway 12, because the elk population in that area is still a little below management objectives.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to review staff recommendations on its the big-game hunting package in its March meeting and act on it in the April meeting.

Anglers rejoice as season kicks off today

YAKIMA, Wash. — The official start of spring isn’t for another three weeks, but with February in the rear-view mirror, it seems like we should be shedding that extra sweater and start thinking about planting the petunias and running the lawn mower around the yard. And we definitely should be thinking about doing some fishing!

With last week’s single-digit lows, that might be a little optimistic, but for anglers around the area, the arrival of March means there are some more fishing opportunities awaiting. Several lakes throughout Eastern Washington open today for trout fishing and, depending on how hard those cold temperatures hit, anglers should have some decent fishing.

Always popular with trout anglers come March 1 are the Columbia Basin lakes that open for fishing. And depending on how the fry stocks have come through the summer and fall, early-opening lakes like Martha, Dusty, Quincy, Burke and Upper Caliche may provide some good early-season fishing for trout up to 2 pounds.

Before last week’s Arctic blast, most lakes in the region were at least partially ice-free, and hopefully the recent rains and warmer temps have them ice-free today or in the days to come.

Anglers heading to Burke and Quincy lakes this weekend might be fishing for more than a trout or two for the frying pan. This Saturday, the Quincy Valley Tourism Association is putting on a trout fishing derby at those two lakes, and there is big money to be had.

Several trout are going to be tagged and released  into Burke and Quincy prior to this weekend. One fish will be worth $3,000 if caught by a preregistered derby angler on Saturday; another will be worth $2,000 and a third worth $1,000.

There are adult and youth divisions, with other prizes being awarded—and, even if the $3,000 fish isn’t caught on Saturday, it will still be worth $500 if caught by June 30. Go online to quincyvalley.org for all the details.

If participating in a derby is more than you want in a day of fishing, other lakes in the George area, such as Martha and Caliche might be worth a try. On last year’s opener, my son Kyle and friends Dan McKimmy and Doug Jewett hit Martha and had a great afternoon catching trout.

Other lakes opening today — Lenice, Merry and Nunnally near Beverly — are known as quality lakes that should provide some good fishing in the weeks ahead. These lakes are typically thought of as fly-fishing-only lakes, but rules allow anglers to use both fly fishing and spinning gear as long as they use flies or lures with a single barbless hook. No bait is allowed and only one fish per day may be kept.

At Lenice, Merry and Nunnally, we have had excellent luck over the years by slowly row-trolling small FlatFish in green, brown, black or yellow colors. Rigged with a barbless, single-hook, small FlatFish, Rooster Tails and other popular lures are legal and productive.

Another lake opening today is Lake Lenore near Soap Lake. Lenore may still be iced over but should soon be ice-free, and the unique Lahontan cutthroat trout planted in the long, shallow lake should be in a biting mood. Lenore is also a “selective gear only” lake and gas-powered motors are prohibited. Fly casters are the predominant fishers at Lenore, but again, anglers throwing small spoons and spinners can and will catch fish.

Fly anglers will do well with a big black leech pattern, or a wooly bugger in black, gray, or brown.

Best lures there for me over the years have been 1/4 ounce or 3/8 ounce Vibric Rooster Tails in black, brown or pink. And we have also done well at Lenore with silver and orange Wob-Lures or FST Spoons. Again, all of these lures need to have barbless single hooks to be legal.

Of course, other lakes that are open year round have been already offering up some decent fishing to anglers wanting to knock the rust off the old Fenwick. Several lakes around Yakima and Kittitas Counties have started to receive trout plantings by the Department of Fish and Wildlife

Myron Lake at 40th and Fruitvale was planted several days ago. Myron is also a quality lake, where no bait is allowed. But the fish have been hitting flies and lures cast from shore.

Other lakes in Yakima County that have been planted recently or will be soon are Rotary Lake, I-82 Pond No. 4 and No. 6 and Granger Pond.

In Kittitas County, popular Fio Rito and Fio Rito South are set to be stocked with some 4,700 catchable sized trout, and another 700 jumbo trout.

Mattoon Lake, McCabe Pond and Woodhouse Pond in Kittitas County are also scheduled to be planted in the next few days.
It’s time to shake off the late February cold spell, and get out and enjoy some early trout fishing. Or you can get out and plant some flowers and mow the lawn.

I’m going fishing.

• Rob Phillips is a freelance outdoor writer and partner in the advertising firm of Smith, Phillips & DiPietro. He can be reached at rwphillips@spdadvertising.com.

Adorable owl a ferocious predator

In his “Essential Field Guide Companion,” prolific birding author Pete Dunne references an anonymous beginning birder who, upon seeing for the first time a northern saw-whet owl, exclaimed, “You just want to put it in a shirt pocket and take it home with you.”

Yes, the little saw-whet is as cute as can be — unless you’re a mouse or a small bird. In which case you might find yourself on the saw-whet’s dinner menu. Though adorable-looking to humans, this is one ferocious predator.

Why you might find one here: Winter snow forces this bird down out of the Cascades or north to less snowy areas such as the Yakima Valley because its diet small rodents, become tough to locate when the ground is snow-covered. Good habitat around Yakima includes riparian woodland along the Yakima or Naches Rivers, orchards, and cemeteries. Their typical daytime roost is deep within dense branches of conifer trees.

How to spot one: As with most owls, it takes detective work and patience to discover one. This unobtrusive bird never shows itself, keeping well-hidden by day in the dense branches of conifer trees. To find one, look below conifer trees for
a pile of white droppings and brown pellets (regurgitated bones and fur).

Look up in the tree and you may see this cute owlet snoozing away, its eyes half-open. Often, they use the same roost tree for weeks at a time. I have three birds “staked out” in my yard and nearby orchard right now. If you are too close, this exceptionally tame bird may glare at you with wide-open eyes and “stretch” itself, perhaps an attempt to appear smaller and less conspicuous.

The saw-whet is about 8 inches long, olive brown above, whiter below, with chestnut streakings. Its wide head lacks the “ear” or feather tufts that screech owls have. It has a very short tail and its eyes are yellow.

Chow time: Small mice, especially voles, are the saw-whet’s main diet. These rodents are abundant in most habitats with trees in our area, so prey is usually easy to come by. Small birds are hunted, too, up to the size of a robin or flicker.

Social life: In winter the saw-whet is very antisocial, keeping much to itself and quiet, for the most part, only occasionally uttering a sneezy “chew- chew.” Rarely, it may give its whistled “song,” a monotonous series of whistles humans can easily imitate.

Most saw-whets depart from their Yakima Valley winter quarters by mid-March for their nesting habitats in conifer forests in the Cascades or north into Canada. The male advertises for a female by tooting its whistled “song,” often for hours on end. When he has suitably impressed a female, they pair and the male promptly becomes quieter as they set to work nesting.

They choose a cavity in a tree, most often excavated by a woodpecker such as a Northern Flicker or Pileated Woodpecker. The female lays and incubates five or so eggs for about 28 days while her mate brings her food.

Once hatched, the female stays with the young for almost three weeks, the male bringing all the food. After that, she may help in bringing food to the youngsters or leave this work to the male and find another mate to nest a second time in one year!

What you may not know: This species was named for its monotonous whistled song which reminded pioneers of the sound of a whetstone sharpening a saw.

Want to learn more about saw-whet and other owls? Join an evening class on March 11 sponsored by the Yakima Area Arboretum by calling 509-248-7337. This three-part class features live owls by the Raptor Rehabilitation Center, a program on Washington Owls by the Yakima Valley Audubon Society followed by an “owl prowl” into the arboretum natural area, where you will search for owls in their natural habitat.

• Wildlife Moment, focusing on native wildlife, typically runs in Outdoors on the first Tuesday of every month, with the cooperation of the Yakima Valley Audubon Society.

3/1 What’s Happening

Basin water expert to speak to TWIG
The guest speaker at tonight’s monthly meeting of the Trails and Wilderness Interest Group (TWIG) will be Wendy Christensen, a technical projects program manager from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Columbia Cascades office.

Christensen will update the TWIG attendees on the Yakima River Basin Water Enhancement Project, particularly the aspects related to the Bumping Reservoir. District Ranger Irene Davidson will be on hand to spell out the Forest Service’s role in this process.

Naches district staffers will also introduce the district’s current grant proposals seeking funding for motorized and wilderness trail maintenance, off-highway vehicle education and enforcement, campsite maintenance and replacement of the Pyramid Trail bridge (on Trail 941 near Road 1903).

The doors won’t be opening until close to 7 p.m. because of a blood drive being held earlier in the same meeting room. Attendees should park in the rear parking lot at the Naches Ranger Station and enter through the back door.
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Pheasants Forever sets March 19 event
The Yakima Valley Chapter of Pheasants Forever will hold its annual fundraising banquet March 19 at the Yakima Convention Center, and tickets are now available from chapter members.

Banquet admission is $90 for couples, $65 for singles and $30 for ages 15 and under. The banquet will feature more than 20 guns to be auctioned or raffled off, along with fishing trips, wildlife art, hunting clothing and other outdoor gear.

Proceeds will support local habitat projects that benefit upland game and wildlife. Since the early 1990s the chapter has raised and spent some $400,000 on habitat enhancement projects around the Yakima Valley.

For information and tickets, call Kyle Phillips at 509-961-3668.

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Waterfowl talk set at Toppenish refuge
Hunters interested in the waterfowl hunting program at Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge are encouraged to attend a March 17 post-season hunt meeting, where refuge officials will be seeking feedback from waterfowl hunters and will discuss potential changes and volunteer opportunities related to the refuge’s hunt program.

The meeting, set for 6 p.m. March 17 at the refuge headquarters (21 Pumphouse Road, Toppenish), will be the first hunt meeting for refuge manager Shannon Ludwig. Anyone who can’t attend the meeting but is interested in commenting can e-mail input to mcriver@fws.gov. To reach the TNWR headquarters, take Highway 97 south from Toppenish, turn right on Pumphouse Road, go through the gates and travel one mile on gravel road.

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Club champion tops ninth Button Shoot
Dave Thacker, the Yakima Valley Sportsmen trap club’s 2010 champion, showed the senior division how it was done in Sunday’s ninth round of the W.K. Button Shoot, breaking 24 of 25 targets to capture the division.

Don Seipel took the second button in the seniors, while Gary Ekstedt and Joel Froehlich survived a four-way shootoff in the men’s division to take the two buttons in that class.

This Sunday will be the final round of the 10-week W.K. Button Shoot, named for the late Wayne Klingele, the event’s longtime organizer. Shooting takes place every Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Pomona range in Selah, and shooting is open to the public. For more information, call Paul Klingele at 509-575-0017.

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Weather postpones river clean-up event
The 12th annual Yakima River Clean-Up Day scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed because of uncertainty about the mountain-pass weather.

Guides and employees at the Worley-Bugger Fly Company have been planning the event for several weeks, with volunteers from losing fishing organizations set to participate. But because many of the volunteers planning to participate would be bringing boats over the mountain passes, this week’s weather prompted Worley-Bugger officials to postpone until further notice.
Check their website, www.worleybuggerflyco.com, for the reschedule date.

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David Sharp soars in Afton hillclimb
David Sharp of Moxee racked up his initial first place of the early Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Hillclimb Association over the weekend, capturing the pro master improved class at the Afton Hillclimb in Afton, Wyo.

Sharp also finished second in pro master modified and fourth in pro master stock,. His brother, Brad, had a strong weekend as well, placing second in pro 600 stock and in pro master improved; third in pro master mod; fourth in open mod; and sixth in pro master stock.

David Sharp’s son, David Jr., has been one of the dominant riders on the tour as a mere teenager, but he finally had one of the few rough weekends of his burgeoning career, placing fifth in pro 1000 improved stock and seventh in pro 1000 stock.
Josh Koreski of Yakima placed sixth in pro 800 improved stock, 10th in pro 600 improved and eighth in pro 1000 stock.

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Commission to look at big-game seasons
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will accept public comments on big-game hunting seasons and other issues during its March meeting this Friday and Saturday at the Spokane Convention Center, convening at 8:30 a.m. each day.
A complete agenda is available online at wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html.

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BIRD ALERT
If you haven’t had the chance to bird at Snow Mountain Ranch, you might want to give it a go. Last week birders tallied an impressive winter list of 38 or so species there, including a good mix of birds of prey with bald eagle; sharp-shinned hawk; Cooper’s hawk; northern goshawk; red-tailed hawk; golden eagle; American kestrel; a Merlin was perched high in a tree with a notably very full crop; great horned owl; a northern pygmy owl, perched about 15 feet off the ground fighting a stiff wind; and northern shrike.

Lewis’ and downy woodpeckers were also seen at the ranch along with Steller’s and western scrub-Jays. Plenty of the little guys were also found, including black-capped chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, Bewick’s wren, Pacific wren; and both golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglet and several bohemian waxwings were foraging in the black cottonwoods.
An immature Harris’ sparrow and a rusty blackbird, two birds that can be hard to find in the Valley, were observed along Marion Drain road this week. The rusty blackbird was in a large flock of 800 to 1,000 birds that also held several cowbirds and yellow-headed blackbirds.

A trip to the Terrace Heights landfill provided a local birder a brief but incredible look at a northern goshawk as it cruised through the trees less than
20 feet away. A walk along the Union Gap Canal yielded white-throated and golden-crowned sparrow. Birders also counted almost 5,000 American robins flying into their night roost at the SunTides Golf Course.
Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 509-248-1963.

— Kerry L. Turley

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AROUND AND ABOUT
WOLF-KILLING INVESTIGATION: State wildlife officials are investigating the case of an adult male gray wolf shot more than a year ago near Rainy Pass (west of Winthrop in North Central Washington) and then skinned and dumped in eastern Skagit County. It’s illegal to kill wolves in Washington, but this case comes after another 2008 incident of possible wolf poaching in that same part of the state.

BRUCELLOSIS IN MONTANA ELK: Twelve of 100 cow elk captured early last month in Montana’s Ruby Valley have tested positive for exposure to brucellosis in an initial screening, the Billings Gazette reported last week. The elk were captured west of the Gravelly Mountains as part of a five-year study on assessing the risks to livestock
by brucellosis-exposed elk.

BEAR HUNT PERMITS: Bear hunters have until March 10 to purchase and submit an application to the state wildlife department in order to be eligible for a 2011 spring bear hunting permit. A drawing will be held in mid-March for 579 permits, 209 of which are east of the Cascades.

MULTIPLE-SEASON PERMITS: Deer and elk hunters have until March 31 to enter their name in a drawing for a 2011 multiple-season permit. The WDFW will randomly draw names for 4,000 multiple-season deer permits and 850 multiple-season elk permits.

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ON THE CALENDAR
TODAY: The tentative plan for the Cascadians’ “Tuesdays” is a beginner/intermediate ski-and-snowshoe outing in the Blewett Pass area. The group meets at 8 a.m. at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot and heads out from there. Come prepared for a long day with lunch and lots of water.

THURSDAY: The Cascadians’ Pokies will do their annual visit to the Larson Gallery on the YVCC campus with a guided tour of the current show, as well as a hike in town. For meeting time and place, call June Anderson at 509-972-0195.

SATURDAY: The Cascadians’ scheduled easy “discover Suncadia” hike last weekend was cancelled because of the frigid weather, and it has been rescheduled for this Saturday. The walk will take in some of the history of Roslyn Mining with a walk along the Prospector Golf Course, followed by lunch at the Hoist House Restaurant. Participants should call one of the trip leaders (Marilyn at 509-966-1841 or Pam at 509-698-4210 in advance.

Colleges: Opportunity knocks for CWU

YAKIMA, Wash. — Greg Sparling had just come in from the cold.

“I’ve been outside playing hoops with the kids,” the Central Washington coach said Sunday night, referring to his sons Coleman and Jacob. “It’s a little chilly.”

It also coincided with a message he’d delivered earlier in the day to his 11th-ranked Wildcats, who open GNAC Tournament play today at 7 p.m. in Nicholson Pavilion against Montana State Billings.

“I told our seniors,” Sparling said, “I said, ‘We’ve come too far to let this thing get away from us now. You’ve been playing basketball since you were 5 years old, and now you’ve earned this tremendous opportunity. Things like this don’t happen every day, so let’s keep it rolling.’”

Central, which at 23-3 has posted the program’s highest winning percentage since Dean Nicholson’s 1969-70 squad went all the way to the NAIA national title game in Kansas City and finished 31-2, dominated the conference during the regular season.

Its 16 GNAC wins were three more than second-place Alaska Anchorage and 10 better than MSUB, which secured the eighth and final tourney berth by winning its last three.

Should CWU prevail tonight against a team it beat on the road by 14 and at home by 12, it will host the winner of tonight’s Northwest Nazarene at Western Washington game at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a tournament semifinal.

The title game is set for 5 p.m. Friday at the site of the highest seed. The NCAA Division II West Regional, which the Wildcats will almost certainly host if they win this tournament, is scheduled for March 12-15.

Sparling said Jamar Berry, who went down with an apparent knee injury during Thursday night’s game against Western Oregon, had practiced the two previous days and would be ready tonight.

“He’s had some hamstring issues,” Sparling said, “and this actually happened behind his (left) knee.”

Sparling also said the flu, which had plagued players and coches, had mostly run its course.

“A couple of the guys are still struggling with it,” he said, “but for the most part, I think we’re getting to the tail end of it.”

Berry, a 6-foot-5 senior from Franklin Pierce High School who transferred this season from Chaminade, leads Wildcat scorers with 17 points a game and has scored 20 or more in his last five outings.

Asked Thursday if he expected this team to reach this level of success, Berry smiled and said, “I went down our schedule before the season started and I’d say, ‘We should beat this team and we might split with this team, and we could get a win against this other team if we play well.’ But man, I didn’t expect anything like this.”

Yakima’s Humberto Perez and Drew Harris, Central’s starting backcourt, both average more than nine points per game and ex-Yakima Valley Community College standout Jody Johnson has been an off-the-bench force averaging 10.5 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds.

Billings’ Yellowjackets (8-17), meanwhile, have seven players averaging double figures with 6-2 senior guard DeAndre Chambers the leader at 12.2 points.

Their coach, George Pfeifer, was the longtime head man at Lewis-Clark State before a brief tenure at Idaho. This is his third season at MSUB.

Notes on Davis boys in 4A elite eight

With Davis’ impressive 78-69 elimination of second-ranked Ferris on Saturday, the
Pirates are headed to the Class 4A state quarterfinals for the first time since 1998.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s pairings in the Tacoma Dome with state rankings and
season records: 
 
7-Davis (20-4) vs. 3-Jackson (22-2), 9 a.m.
8-Olympia (23-3) vs. 4-Curtis (21-5), 10:30 a.m.
10-Puyallup (21-7) vs. 1-Garfield (22-3), 12:15 p.m.
9-Kentridge (20-8) vs. 6-Gonzaga Prep (20-3), 2 p.m.
 
It’s indeed an elite eight — all 20-game winners and all in the season’s final AP top 10,
which was topped by season-long No. 1 Garfield. These are obviously the first four
games of the day and precede the four 3A boys quarterfinal games. Something to
remember: The new state-tournament format awards only three trophies (1st-2nd, 3rd-
5th, 4th-6th) on Saturday. Friday’s two consolation losers will be eliminated with no
game for 7th-8th.
 
Davis’ victory over Ferris was led by the career-best 28 points of senior guard Jackson
Marquis and that’s highly appropriate since this elite eight has some serious star power
at that position. There’s a Division I guard in each of the four quarterfinals:
 
* Jackson’s Brett Kingma, a 6-2 scoring machine with an eye-popping 30.3 average, is
headed to Oregon. He has topped 40 points three times, including 42 against Monroe in
the District 1 title game on Feb. 18.
* Curtis’ 6-3 DaVonte Lacy averages 20 points and is headed to Washington State. He
has led the Vikings to 11 straight wins.
* Garfield’s 6-5 Tony Wroten Jr., a Washington recruit, is rated among the nation’s best
points with a 24.8 average. He led Garfield to the state title as a sophomore but was
sidelined with a knee injury last season.
* Kentridge’s 6-1 Gary Bell, who’s headed to Gonzaga, is averaging 28.8 points and had
47 in a winner-to-state win over Bellarmine. He hit nine of Kentridge’s 13 3-pointers in
Saturday’s win over Auburn.
 
Get the nets ready and enjoy the show!

4A boys: Seniors lift Pirates to Tacoma

RICHLAND, Wash. — Jackson Marquis and Markus McClurkin didn’t try to hide from or deflect the blunt, harsh reality. They faced it directly and reveled in it.

“We talked about it last night — as seniors we knew the position we were in,” Marquis said. “We both said we can’t go out like this, not with two losses. We’ve got at least two more games in us.”

Infused with such emotion and determination — and the discipline to harness them — the two Davis seniors produced the games of their lives Saturday afternoon, responding to looming elimination against the state’s second-ranked team with a 78-69 victory over Ferris in the Class 4A state playoffs.

Marquis poured in a career-high 28 points with six 3-pointers and McClurkin made three consecutive shots to spark a fourth-quarter breakaway for the Pirates, who earned a trip to Tacoma for the quarterfinals next Thursday.

“Oh man, it’s hard to explain just how good this feels,” said McClurkin, who equaled his season best with 14 points. “Today could’ve been it, we’re done, but we didn’t let that get to us. We truly had to fight with our backs to the wall and to play like this — wow.’

Play like this:

• One turnover after the first quarter and just five for the game.

• Eleven 3-pointers against a team that went 18-0 in its league.

• An advantage in rebounding, which was a huge victory within a bigger victory.

“When you spend every day with these kids something like this isn’t surprising,” said Davis coach Eli Juarez. “We had a few things not go our way Friday night (in a loss to Gonzaga Prep), but today they brushed it off and played a great game. Against the most odds, you saw how much heart they have.”

And grit.

Especially from two seniors who wouldn’t let the season end.

After Ferris tried to step on Davis’ throat early with an 8-0 start, Davis rallied back and the two teams traded leads 10 times in the second and third quarters.

The Saxons’ last lead was 57-55 with 49 seconds left in the third period. Marquis and McClurkin then scored 15 of Davis’ next 17 points and when the two-man blitz finally paused the Pirates were up 72-63 with 2:32 left to play.

“That 8-0 start, not exactly what we were looking for,” Juarez said, rolling his eyes. “But I knew if we got back in it and created a back-and-forth game, I liked our chances. I knew they would fight for it all the way.”

The well-conditioned Pirates provoked an up-tempo game and Ferris went along, shooting nearly 55 percent for a 59-57 lead after three quarters. But whether it was the pace or playing three games in five days, the Saxons hit the wall in the final period.

With 3-pointers from Marquis and McClurkin, Davis opened the fourth quarter with a 10-1 burst and Ferris didn’t hit its first field goal of the final frame until 1:11 remained in the game.

Ferris coach Don Van Lierop, a former Eisenhower head coach, didn’t see fatigue. Just a big Davis effort.

“They shot well and rebounded well — the rebounding was a big plus for them,” he said. “We played well, probably a B. But give Davis an A.”

Rebounding, always an issue for the undersized Pirates, was a crucial part of Saturday’s win as Davis outboarded the bigger Saxons 35-31. Juarez credited a versatile effort on the glass and the final stats revealed it — Cooper Kupp, David Trimble, Devonte Luckett and Le Vonte Allen all had five or more rebounds.

“Our offense was better than last night and our rebounding definitely was,” McClurkin said. “We screened out and didn’t let their size intimidate us.”

With Trimble and Kupp also hitting double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively, the Pirates exceeded Ferris’ defensive average by 27 points.

And Marquis was proud to lead the way. His six treys were obviously a big help — his third came just before the break for a confidence-boosting 38-37 lead — and he was 8-for-10 at the foul line.

“It was awesome. I just felt comfortable and confident — we all played that way,” he said. “Some of those shots, they felt like they were going in before I shot them.”

The next stop for Davis (20-4) is Thursday’s quarterfinals and an early wake-up call for a 9 a.m. pairing with Jackson (22-2) in the Tacoma Dome.

“We held nothing back today,” said McClurkin, “and now we’re going to Tacoma.”

1A girls: Granger advances despite adversity

YAKIMA, Wash. — For the Granger Spartans, the prospects of advancing to the Class 1A quarterfinals and a return to the Yakima SunDome looked pretty dim.

A minute and 50 seconds remained. Italia Mengarelli, the Spartans’ one-woman press-breaker, chief ballhandler and the day’s top scorer, had just fouled out. The score was tied, but Lakeside’s best shooter, Lexie Zappone, was heading to the foul line, where she was already 4-for-4 on the day.

Clearly, the Eagles had to be liking their chances at that moment — which was precisely what Granger coach Andy Affholter was thinking just then.

PHOTO GALLERY Click here for more photos from this event. SPACER Click here for information on purchasing photos.

“It was really weird,” Affholter said. “So many times when that happens, when a team leader fouls out in a situation like that, a team thinks, ‘OK, we got it.’ That actually crossed my mind right then: OK, they think they’ve got it.”

But the Eagles did not have it. The normally deadeye Zappone’s two free throws each dribbled out, and Fantasia Reyes sank four of six free throws over the final 1:22 as Granger pulled out a 43-41 victory to reach the final eight. The Spartans (22-4) will face Bellevue Christian (24-2) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“We knew all of us had to step up (after Mengarelli fouled out). We’ve done it before,” said Reyes, who made up for a dismal 1-for-12 shooting day with her late-game heroics. “Everybody knows their role and what to do, and we got it done.”

Mengarelli had put together a solid all-around game with a game-high 17 points, six rebounds and a steal when she picked up her fifth foul, and Affholter immediately called a time out to remind his players the game wasn’t over.

“I told them, ‘If you don’t think we can win, let’s just go shake their hands and get it over with,’” Affholter said. “They just had to step up. And they know how to do that.”

The game had been back-and-forth all day, with seven lead changes and seven ties, but ironically enough it was only when things looked darkest that Granger (22-4) took the lead for good. After Reyes hit a free throw for a 40-39 lead, on the next possession the senior guard drove the lane, drawing a foul on a whirling move with 44 seconds remaining.

“I was hoping to get fouled and go to the line, because we were in the one-and-one and I could just put down the free throws,” Reyes said. “Then you just block everybody and everything out, just like in practice, and take the (foul) shot like you always do.”

Reyes drained both shots, giving the Spartans enough of a cushion to withstand Tayler Flemming’s 15-footer for Lakeside (17-11) and still maintain the lead. Reyes hit one of two foul shots at :14, and Zappone’s running 10-footer in the final seconds rimmed out.

Flemming and Zappone combined for 26 points for Lakeside, while Granger got eight points from freshman Lynndel Wapsheli and some heady play from Martay Gunnier and Alina Villa at critical moments.

“I can’t believe it,” Affholter said in the aftermath. “We’re in the final eight.”

Believe it.

2/27/11 Granger-Lakeside photo gallery

Photos from Saturday’s Class 1A state tournament, winner-to-quarterfinals game between Granger and Lakeside at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Wash.

Click here for information on purchasing any of these photos.

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