Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 146
CHENEY - The one-loss Colton Wildcats girls basketball team, fresh off a 1B District 9 title, opened the proceedings of the WIAA 1B state tournament against the three-loss Moses Lake Christian Lions. It took an overtime period, but Colton was able to get it done, beating Moses Lake Christian 61-58. Early momentum belonged to the Lions, who opened the game with a 9-0 run that remained uninterrupted until 4:04 to go in the first quarter, when Sidni Whitcomb made one of two free throw attempts to...
CHENEY - The Colfax Bulldogs girls basketball team walked into Cheney on Feb. 25 for the first round of the WIAA 2B girls basketball state tournament. The first round marked Colfax's first obstacle in its journey of redemption after coming in second in last year's state tournament, in addition to being the first step of chasing history as, potentially, the first undefeated Colfax girls basketball team in (at least) the last 16 years. That obstacle was hurdled by the Bulldogs, who dominated the...
CHEHALIS - The Oakesdale Nighthawks began its bid for a state 1B girls basketball crown on Feb. 25 at W.F. West High School in Chehalis as the seventh-seed against the second-seeded Mossyrock Vikings. Oakesdale couldn't secure the upset and lost to Mossyrock 52-48 to drop to the round of 12 on March 1 in the Spokane Arena. In the opening quarter, defense was on the display for both squads, with the Nighthawks owning the slight edge in the (at that point) defensive battle. The Vikings trailed 12-...
On Feb. 18, Colfax High School freshman Cooper Phillips took fifth place in the 1B/2B boys 120-lb. wrestling bracket at the Mat Wrestling Classic state tournament in Tacoma. Phillips was the lone wrestler representing the Bulldogs at the Classic. Phillips medaled as a freshman, already an impressive accomplishment made all the more impressive given the fact that other 1B/2B schools allow eighth-graders to participate in wrestling, while Colfax doesn’t – making Phillips a medalist in a bracket with a year of high school wrestling experience ove...
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — The same day his alma mater of Pullman High School won the WIAA 2A swimming state championship for the first time in school history, Gabe Brannan was inducted to the Washington Swimming Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a swimmer for Pullman High School during the 90s. As a member of the Pullman swim team, Brannan set several school records as well as the state record in the 100-meter butterfly and won four first-place medals during his tenure on the swim team, and was named a high school All-American. Some of those r...
SPOKANE – After all three teams completed their first-round state tournament games on Feb. 25, the Oakesdale Nighthawks, Colton Wildcats and Colfax girls basketball teams all will advance to the Spokane Arena in Spokane to continue their efforts at a state championship. Colton and Oakesdale will compete in the 1B tournament while Colfax will compete in the 2B tournament. Colfax and Colton will be playing in the quarterfinal round today (March 2) after winning their opening-round games on Feb. 25 . Oakesdale faced Wellpinit in the Round of 12 o...
COLFAX — When I was hired by the Whitman County Gazette at the end of August, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that I would be covering prep sports in the area (with the occasional Washington State story sprinkled in) and I knew that I was going to start right smack-dab at the beginning of the fall season with football, volleyball and cross country. What I didn’t know was everything else that would happen. I didn’t know that I would be able to sit front-and-center and cover one of the best high school volleyball programs in the state....
DAYTON - The Colton Wildcats girls basketball team withstood a competitive Yakama Nation Tribal Eagles team to win 46-40 and secure a 1B District 9 title and a top-seed in the upcoming WIAA 1B state basketball tournament. Colton had played Yakama Nation Tribal earlier in the season, winning 60-23 on Dec. 17. If there was any expectation that the game on Feb. 17 would be a repeat of December, those expectations were quickly erased. The Eagles started with a 6-0 advantage over the Wildcats, before...
TACOMA - Colfax's lone representative at the Feb. 17-18 Mat Wrestling Classic in Tacoma, Cooper Phillips, earned fifth-place in the boys 1B/2B 120-lb. weight class. Phillips started the tournament on Feb. 17 with a bye, instantly advancing to the quarterfinals of the first-place bracket against Cohen Hartley of Adna High School. Phillips pinned Hartley in just 40 seconds, advancing to the semifinals of the bracket against Ivan Bailey of Kalama High School. Phillips wasn't able to get the...
SPOKANE VALLEY — The Colfax girls basketball continued its undefeated season and punched its ticket to state after a 59-14 win against Liberty Bell in a 2B Girls District 6/7 Crossover game on Feb. 18. The Lady Bulldogs dominated the 2B District 7 tournament, going 3-0 in the bracket and winning by an average score of 31 points. This dominance carried against Liberty Bell. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 30-2 lead against the Mountain Lions and, by halftime, were leading 44-8. Liberty Bell broke double-digits in the third quarter, but Colfax h...
DAYTON - After both teams won their own Feb. 15 consolation bracket semifinal games by single digits, the Pomeroy Pirates beat the Oakesdale Nighthawks 51-39 on Feb. 17 in the 1B District 9 boys consolation bracket final in Dayton. As a result, Pomeroy heads to the 1B state tournament while ending Oakesdale's season. Oakesdale would begin with control of the game, breaking a 5-5 tie with 2:50 in the opening quarter off a Jackson Perry 3-pointer to take a 3-0 lead. Pomeroy would be unable to...
DAYTON - After beating Garfield-Palouse on Feb. 15 to advance to the girls 1B District 9 consolation final, the Oakesdale Nighthawks punched their ticket to state with a 30-29 win against the Sunnyside Christian Knights. Oakesdale had won its previous meeting with Sunnyside Christian 54-35, but the Knights had a game plan to isolate the Nighthawks on the defensive end, making it harder for Oakesdale to employ the fast-break offense that had won the team so many games this season. "That's what...
DAYTON - After both teams led by double-digits, the Pomeroy boys came back to beat Tekoa-Rosalia 67-60 in a 1B District 9 consolation bracket game Feb. 15 in Dayton. Pomeroy opened the game with a 10-0 advantage, leading by double-digits with 4:32 to go in the first quarter. Braxton French was able to get the Tekoa-Rosalia on the scoreboard after making one of two free throw attempts. Isaac Bone joined his teammate and made a free throw attempt to convert and and-one play and cut the Pirates' le...
DAYTON - Two familiar Whitman County foes in the Garfield-Palouse Vikings and Oakesdale Nighthawks girls basketball teams faced off on Feb. 15 to determine who would face Sunnyside Christian in the 1B District 9 consolation bracket final. The win would go to Oakesdale, who beat Garfield-Palouse 54-23 in a dominant showing. The Lady Vikings opened the game with a 4-0 advantage, keeping the Nighthawks offense to the perimeter and limiting opportunities for points from inside the paint. Oakesdale...
DAYTON - On Feb. 15, the Oakesdale Nighthawks boys basketball team beat the Yakama Nation Tribal Eagles 55-53 off a Jackson Perry buzzer-beater to advance to the Feb. 17 consolation bracket final against Pomeroy. Oakesdale held the advantage early but Yakama Nation Tribal was able to keep within reach and the Nighthawks went into the second quarter up 14-8. The Nighthawks scored seven quick points in the first 2:30 of the second quarter to go up double-digits and help the Eagles scoreless until...
TEKOA - For the third time this season, the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves and St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles faced off, this time to determine who would advance to Dayton in the 1B District 9 tournament and who would have their season end. The victory went to the Timberwolves, who improved to 3-0 on the season against the Eagles with a 78-59 win. "It's always an accomplishment to make District," St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse coach Mike Stubbs said. "Being truthful, at the start of the season I had...
ROSALIA — 1B Southeast Grape division’s third-seeded boys basketball team, the Yakama Nation Tribal Eagles, upset the Wheat Division’s second-seeded Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves 73-62 on Feb. 9, spurred on by a 21-point third quarter. Yakama Nation Tribal ended the first quarter with a narrow lead, 20-17. The Eagles followed with another 20-point quarter to end the first half while Tekoa-Rosalia put up 19 in the same frame, resulting in a 40-36 Eagles’ lead going into halftime. “We knew we had to shut down (Morgun Martin) and (Isaac Bone),” Yakam...
PALOUSE — After giving up a double-digit lead during the game, the Garfield-Palouse girls basketball team fought back to beat the Liberty Christian Patriots 49-34 on Feb. 10 to advance to the next round of the consolation bracket of the 1B District 9 tournament. Garfield-Palouse began the game with a healthy balance of offense and defense. The Vikings opened with a 5-0 run that would initiate a quarter that saw Liberty Christian held to one total point in the entire frame. The Vikings would go into the second quarter up 11-1. Then the Patriots...
COLTON - After weathering a competitive first quarter from the visiting Liberty Christian Patriots, the Colton Wildcats distanced themselves from the visitors enroute to a 69-39 win to advance to the second round of the WIAA District 9 1B tournament. Liberty Christian held an 8-7 lead with 3:33 to go in the first quarter. The Patriots spent the majority of the first quarter closing out on long shot attempts, forcing the Wildcats to take their shots early from the paint. Grace Kuhle made both fre...
REARDAN — On Feb. 11, several wrestlers from Whitman County and the greater Eastern Washington area competed for an opportunity to go to the Mat Wrestling Classic state wrestling tournament in Tacoma. Colfax’s Cooper Phillips had the most dominant showing of the Whitman County representatives, winning his first two matches in the 120-lb. bracket to advance to the first place match against Sam Drake of Kettle Falls. Phillips beat Drake via fall in 1:32, earning the only first-place finish for Whitman County and punching his ticket to Tacoma. Tri...
Turner and the rest of the players preach about the program is teaching life lessons with the sport, something that Davis said was an important factor for her in making her college decision. "When I first thought of L-C as one of my top choices, I wasn't necessarily looking for volleyball, but the people who came with it," Davis said. "The coaches and the players both showed a really positive atmosphere and I was in love with how much support I felt. I actually had a visit down there before I...
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) released December’s Monthly Wolf Report on Jan. 6. Among the issues discussed in the report are: statistics of wolves involved in livestock death in the year 2021 and classes and directives involving strategic ranching on land with wolves and current population numbers around the state of Washington. Here is a summary of the report. WDFW staff as well as the Defenders of Wildlife and Strategic Ranching held a workshop titled “Strategic Ranching on a Landscape with Wolves.” The works...
PULLMAN — The Whitman County Special Olympics Team held its practice at Smith Gym on the Washington State campus in Pullman in preparations for its regional basketball tournament being held on Feb. 12, also at the Washington State campus. The Cougars practiced several drills in preparation for the tournament, namely dribbling, passing and shooting, all with smiles on their faces, smiles that weren’t visible the past couple years due to precautions taken for the COVID-19 pandemic “I really like basketball because I like to be with all my frien...
OAKESDALE - The Tekoa-Rosalia and Oakesdale boys basketball teams faced each other in a competitive matchup on Jan. 13, a game that the Timberwolves won 63-57. The Nighthawks got even with Tekoa-Rosalia on Feb. 3 with a 65-54 win, and secured the third Wheat Division seed in the upcoming District 9 tournament. Oakesdale and Tekoa-Rosalia spent the first half of the opening quarter exchanging leads, with Nighthawks senior Alex McHargue giving his team a 7-5 lead with 6:00 left, before Isaac Bone...
COLTON - For many small towns, there is often one building, business or establishment that serves as an epicenter of sorts for the community. Fundraisers, events, reunions or weekend gatherings between friends (new or old) or even weddings are not uncommon to these epicenters. For Colton, that place is the local Gun Club. On Sundays, the building located on Church Street (the first left from U.S. Route 195 after entering the city limits), one can see dozens of people outside, often aiming down...
