With six new players this year, the Washington State University men’s basketball team is looking to find some cohesion before it begins Pac-12 Conference play on Jan. 5 at the University of Washington.
I took in the Cougars’ game Sunday against Montana State University — a game in which the Cougs lost 95-90 to drop to 5-3.
Here are a couple of observations:
The Cougs, rightfully so, depend on Robert Franks to do a lot of scoring. He was 5 of 9 from the 3-point line and finished with a team-high 25 points.
He will definitely play professionally somewhere next season if he wants to, whether that’s in the NBA, the G League or somewhere overseas.
- Freshman CJ Elleby added 20 points, and while he was 3-for-4 from the 3-point arc, he looked especially good slashing to the basket.
- The 1,807 fans in attendance at the Toyota Center, while disappointed in the loss to a Big Sky Conference school, were enthusiastic enough that WSU Coach Ernie Kent said after the game he’d like to come back again. “We’re gonna continue to come over here,” Kent said at the post-game press conference. “I think the fans were fantastic. The facilities here are excellent. The crowd was excellent. We just didn’t show up to play for the first 10 minutes of the game.”
- Brian Fish, head coach at Montana State, said he was impressed with the Cougs. “That team scores,” said Fish. “Robo (Franks) can score. Elleby is going to be good. But Robo is a load.”
- I asked Fish, whose team is 3-6 with losses on the road at Indiana and Arkansas, to take it easy this season against my alma mater, EWU. “I’ve taken a lot of (butt) kickings from them.” I think that’s a no.
- Forgot my two-pairs-of-socks rule when covering basketball in the Toyota Center. With the ice just underneath the floor, the cold radiates through and my feet were frozen for an hour after the game.
College football
Kamiakin grad Darreon Moore was named Eastern Washington University’s Special Teams Player of the Week after the Eagles beat UC Davis 34-29 in the FCS quarterfinals Saturday in Cheney. Moore had two tackles in the game.
Offensive lineman DJ Dyer (Kennewick) and WR Dre’Sonte Dorton (Chiawana) also played for the Eagles, who now play host to the University of Maine at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cheney in one semifinal.
The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Top seed North Dakota State hosts South Dakota State in the other semifinal on Friday. The semifinal winners will me in Frisco, Texas, for the title at 9 a.m., on Jan. 5.
High school to college
- Royal linebacker Jack Diaz announced that Dakota Wesleyan University has offered him a spot on the football team’s roster. The school, based in Mitchell, S.D., (home of the Corn Palace!), has made an effort to recruit kids from Washington state and it has a handful of them on the football team’s roster — including freshman Brennan Bence of Tri-Cities Prep.
- Southridge standout Hilary Petersen, who was named Mid-Columbia Conference Swimmer of the Year, signed a letter of intent to swim next season for WSU.
- Kennewick senior Cheyanne Posey will dive next year for the University of Idaho. WIAA Scholastic Cup The WIAA released its Scholastic Cup standings after all fall sports were completed, and Kamiakin is the highest ranked Mid-Columbia school, sitting in third in Class 3A. Richland is the only other top-10 local school, with the Bombers tied for eighth in Class 4A.
The WIAA Scholastic Cup recognizes “performance in the classroom as well as on the playing surface,” according to its website. Schools earn points by finishing at the top of their classifications in state athletic competition and team academic performance. Points can be deducted with ejections from contests, thus adding sportsmanship as a factor. At the end of the year, the school with the most points in their classification will be awarded the Scholastic Cup.
Notes
- I got the date wrong on Columbia Basin College’s annual Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet. It’s actually Friday, Jan. 25. But it’s still sold out.
- Keeper Cydni Cottrell (Chiawana) played well enough this season at Eastern Oregon University that she was named an NAIA Honorable Mention selection for the All-American Women’s Soccer Team.
- EOU sophomore Dempsi Talkington (River View) helped lead the Mountaineers women’s wrestling team to a 24-9 win over Warner Pacific on Friday. Talkington moved up a weight class to 155 and beat her opponent in a 10-0 technical fall.
- MCC Bowling standings through Dec. 9: Kennewick 7-1 Pasco 7-1 Walla Walla 6-2 Chiawana 5-3 Hanford 4-4 Richland 4-4 Hermiston 1-7 Kamiakin 1-7 Southridge 1-7