The Prep Blog

Spanaway Lake & Emerald Ridge Soccer

Emerald Ridge's Stephanie Riley avoids the ball and cleats during a 9-0 win over Spanaway Lake. For photo gallery. Click here.

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Bethel lineman commits to Oregon State

Bethel senior Happy Iona, a 6-foot-3 and 285-pound defensive tackle, gave a verbal committment on Wednesday evening to play at Oregon State University.

Bethel head coach Gavin Kralik said the Beavers are getting an excellent player.

“He’s extremely athletic for being 285 pounds,” Kralik said. “He runs very, very well. He’s very good at being a run stuffer and a pass rusher.”

Iona enters his senior season as a two-year starter — he played defensive end and outside linebacker as a sophomore and defensive tackle as a junior — but he missed half of last season because of disciplinary issues. Kralik said he has “worked hard to get ready for this season” in the classroom and the weight room.

Iona, who chose OSU over UW, WSU and Idaho, isn’t the only Brave to be offered a scholarship by a Division-I program. Running back Anthony Meray, the SPSL’s leading returning rusher, has been offered by Air Force and Kralik expects more opportunities for Meray as the season unfolds.

Lakes hoops star commits to D-1 school

Lakes High School’s Andre Wintson Jr., a 6-foot-1 guard, has given a verbal commitment to play basketball at James Madison University, Lancers coach JoJo Rodriguez has confirmed.

“He had a few other schools after him, but James Madison was the first and they were the only school to give him an offer,” Rodriguez said. “They wanted him.”
Washington State, Eastern Washington, Portland State, Nevada and Montana State showed interest in Winston, the coach said.

Winston averaged 19 points, 5 assists and 4 steals per game for the Lancers in the 2008-09 season. This summer, he played on the Seattle Rotary Select team with Kentwood center Joshua Smith, Kentridge guard Gary Bell and Garfield guard Tony Wroten Jr., among others.

“Andre is going to be a super player,” Rodriguez said. “He’s going to be really good and the schools around here missed out on this.”

James Madison, which is located in Harrisonburg, Va., plays in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes reached the semifinals of the conference tournament and finished the 2008-09 season with a record of 21-15.

Tacoma baptist hires boys hoops coach

Tacoma Baptist alumni Jeremy Lebow has been hired as the boys basketball coach at his alma mater.

Lewbow played at Western Baptist College and has previous coaching experience. He was the head coach at Willamette Valley Christian High School and led the Tacoma Baptist junior high program.

Lebow, who is the youth paston at Portland Avenue Evangelical Free Church, replaces former coach Rich Hamlin.

Josh Smith will play in Boost Mobile Elite 24 event

Kentwood senior-to-be Josh Smith has been selected to play in the Boost Mobile Elite 24 basketball game August 21 at Rucker Park in New York City. The event will be televised on ESPNU AT 4 p.m. August 22.

Smith, a 6-foot-9, 280-pound center is one of the nation's top recruits in the Class of 2010. He has scholarship offers from Washington, UCLA, Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and others.

Garfield guard Tony Wroten, a 6-foot-5 junior-to-be, will also play.

State AA American Legion Baseball Tournament

The tournament starts Saturday.

At Cheney High School
Game 1: 9 a.m. Graham-Kapowsin Eagles vs. Kennewick Dusters
Game 3: 11:30 a.m. Anacortes Steamers vs. North Kitsap Bodylink
Game 2: 2:30 p.m. Ferris Saxons vs. Lakeside Skyline
Game 4: 5:00 p.m. Hanford Flames or Kennewick Jr. Bandits vs. Cheney Summer Hawks (Host)

At University High School
Game 1: 9 a.m. Olympic Tigers vs. Lakeside Newport
Game 3: 11:30 a.m. Capital Baseball Club vs. Burlington Sox
Game 2: 2:30 p.m. Mt. Spokane Wild vs. Chehalis Sobe Toyota Lizards
Game 4: 5:00 p.m. Yakima Valley Peppers vs. Kimmel Athletic University Titans (Host)

Two hoops stars choose schools

A pair of South Sound basketball standouts have made verbal commitments to play at two Pac-10 schools.

Vashon High's John Gage, a 6-foot-10 center, has selected Stanford and Auburn Riverside guard Mercedes Wetmore will play at Washington. Gage, who picked the Cardinal over Cal and Washington, helped the Pirates win the Class 1A state title in March. Wetmore has been a mainstay in the Ravens' lineup the last two seasons, helping Auburn Riverside win the Class 3A title in 2008 and place fourth at the 4A tournament this year.

Gage and Wetmore were selected to The News Tribune's All-Area boys and girls first teams.

Senior Legion baseball tournament in Tacoma

The Senior AAA American Legion baseball tournament is returning to Heidelberg Field on Saturday.

The eight-team, double-elimination tourney begins Saturday and games will be played everyday until Wednesday. You can view the complete schedule here.

Last year, the Twin City Titans defeated Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak for the title. Both teams are back and will be joined by Centralia Sobe Toyota Lizards, Yakima Beetles, Spokane Blue Devils, Lakeside of Bellevue and Vancouver Athletics.

No team will experience a home field advantage because no Pierce County teams qualified for the tournament.

Washington Premier team playing for national title

Washington Premier F.C.'s boys U-16 soccer team will compete for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy national championship beginning on Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

You can read about and see the roster here.

2008-09 All-Sports Tabulations

Here they are, The News Tribune's 21st Annual All-Sports Championship tabulations.

The winners are:
Class 4A: Mead
Class 3A: Seattle Prep
Class 2A: Burlington-Edison
Class 1A: King's
Class 2B: Colfax
Class 1B: Almira/Coulee-Hartline

To see the complete standings, click below.

[...] Read more!

Brawl near Colorado ballfield

Boys aren't the only ones getting into fights on ball fields.

The Denver Post reported that the Cheyenne Mountain and Wasson High School girls softball teams were involved in a 30-person brawl on Monday night. According to the article, "a woman who was at the game is suspected of third-degree assault...and two juvenile girls are being investigated for fighting."

The fight happened in the parking lot after the game. I'd guess that parents were involved, too. I don't care what happened on the field to spur the fight, there is never an excuse to arm yourself with a bat, like the article says happened.