WCC Tournament Preview, March 08 2019

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25 YEARS AGO: THE TEAM THAT ALMOST STARTED IT ALL

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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS 25 years ago, berth in NIT sowed seeds for GU’s era of excellence Before Gonzaga took up more or less permanent residence in the high rise that is the NCAA Tournament bracket, the Bulldogs had to get past the doorman.

And before that, they had to find the neighborhood.

The very notion seems so quaint now that the Zags are entering their third decade of consecutive NCAA appearances – and, often as not, winning the West JOHN BLANCHETTE Coast Conference Tournament and the automatic bid SPOKESMAN that goes with it is COLUMNIST but a goal and not a necessity.

In fact, no one truly understands the implausibility of Gonzaga’s basketball self-actualization as well as those it bitterly escaped.

And never was it quite so bitter as it was 25 years ago.

Jeff Brown still carries the taste around with him – even as he relishes the best takeaways from his time at Gonzaga and especially that senior year. Teammates who remain his closest friends. Being part of the first Bulldogs team that won a WCC regular-season championship. And making the first postseason appearance in the school’s Division I history.

“But I’d love if it had been in the varsity games,” he said, “and not the JV games.”

Big rivers begin as mountainside trickles, and while the watershed moment of Gonzaga’s charge into national prominence is distinct – the Elite Eight run of 1999 – it’s less clear just when the first drops began to pool.

The Zags’ emergence as a 20-win program in the 1990s is obviously significant, along with the bite-the-bullet moment that birthed it.

‘‘

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME WE’D BEEN IN THE POSTSEASON, SO IT MEANT A LOT TO GO AND PLAY – AND WE CERTAINLY HAD SOMETHING TO PROVE. JEFF BROWN FORMER GONZAGA CENTER, ON MAKING THE NIT IN 1994

That was former coach Dan Fitzgerald’s decision to redshirt a promising group of transfers (Eric Brady, Jarrod Davis), walk-ons (Geoff Goss, Matt Stanford, Marty Wall) and a single scholarship freshman (Scott Spink) for the 1989-90 season – and endure what would become an 8-20 slog on game night.

The next fall, Brown – the Greater Spokane League career scoring leader during his days at Mead – returned to Spokane after an unsatisfying freshman year at Washington, and sat out while the Zags bounced back to the .500 mark.

The program would fail to win 20 games just once in the next five years, after not having done so since 1967.

In 1992, in fact, the Zags got within three points of the NCAA breakthrough.

“We played Pepperdine in the WCC final – Doug Christie and those guys – and we were up probably for two-thirds of that game, playing well, and end up getting beat,” Brown recalled. “The rumor was we’d be in the NIT playing Kelvin (Sampson) and Washington State down in Pullman, and I remember Fitz coming in and telling us we didn’t get the invitation.

“And I remember looking at the seniors and being crushed for them, and crushed as a team. But I told myself I never wanted to be a senior and not go to the tournament.”

But pledges like that have a lot of moving parts.

The 1992-93 Zags finished a game behind Pepperdine in the WCC thanks to four losses by a total of eight points – and lost another two-pointer to Steve Nash and Santa Clara in the tournament semifinals.

But in 1993-94, Gonzaga won the WCC by four games over Pepperdine and San Francisco, in the old 14-game round-robin. Victory No. 21, over Loyola Marymount, came in the tournament’s first round at what was then known as Toso Pavilion on Santa Clara’s campus, setting up a semifinal date against San Diego.

Which, ominously, had beaten GU in the regular season finale at USD. Even more ominous: Brown going to the bench with his second foul barely seven minutes into the game.

“I remember the exact play,” he said. “A kid just cut through the key See BLANCHETTE, 6

TOP: Gonzaga's Scott Spink, assistant coach Mark Few and head coach Dan Fitzgerald leave the floor after their season-ending loss at Kansas State in the NIT on March 22, 1994. ABOVE: Jeff Brown shoots during a game against Pepperdine earlier that season in Spokane.

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW PHOTOS

Extend Roof Life 5 Years ON THE COVER: The iconic photo of the Rat Pack standing in front of the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1960 served as inspiration for Molly Quinn’s illustration on the cover of today’s West Coast Conference basketball tournament preview. The original photo featured Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop.

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WCC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

MY KIND OF TOWN

GU has won 8 of 10 WCC Tournaments played in Las Vegas

By Jim Meehan THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

For two-plus decades, the West Coast Conference Tournament has mirrored the WCC regular season.

Gonzaga has ruled both, only slightly less so COMING UP when it comes to Monday: the conference Gonzaga vs. TBD tournament. in Las Vegas, The Zags have 6 p.m. won 16 WCC TourTV: ESPN or ESPN2 nament titles datRadio: 1510-AM ing back to 1999, when Gonzaga launched an improbable run to the Elite Eight and started the program’s soon-to-be 21 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

Gonzaga has played in the WCC Tournament championship game the past 21 years. The Zags have won or shared 19 regular-season titles in that time span.

Gonzaga won’t know its opponent in Monday’s semifinals at Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena until Saturday night.

If the seeding holds up, No. 1 Gonzaga (29-2, 16-0 WCC) will face No. 4 San Francisco (21-9, 9-7) or No. 5 Loyola Marymount (20-10, 8-8).

LMU beat the Dons 74-69 in San Francisco in the regular-season finale last Saturday.

While the top-ranked Zags usually get everybody’s best shot during the regular season, there’s even more motivation for opponents in the WCC Tournament.

“It’s a totally different feeling when you go down there, and a totally different environment,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “It’s definitely Gonzaga-friendly, but the urgency all of those teams are playing with, in many cases their season is going to end, and obviously the dream of playing in the NCAA Tournament is on the line.

“It’s very important we go down there and play with a sense of urgency, too, and we play with a positive desperation defensively and offensively.”

Gonzaga is heavily favored, with a See WCC TOURNEY, 6

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr. celebrates as the Zags surge ahead of BYU last March in the WCC Tournament final in Las Vegas.

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JOSH PERKINS BREAKS GONZAGA’S CAREER RECORD FOR ASSISTS

Gonzaga men into the WCC To heels of historic

TO DO

2018-19 MOMENTS

First order of business

Gonzaga knocked off a No. 1-ranked team for the first time on Nov. 21 with an 89-87 thriller over Duke in the Maui Invitational championship game, arguably the biggest nonconference win in program history. Rui Hachimura hit the go-ahead basket and Hachimura and Brandon Clarke combined to block four shots in the final minute.

“What a basketball game,” coach Mark Few said.

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THE SPOKESM

Top of the charts

The victory over Duke propelled Gonzaga into the top spot in the AP poll for the third time in program history. The Zags reached No. 1 in 2013 and returned in 2017 after a 22-0 start. Gonzaga stayed in the top spot this season for two weeks before falling to Tennessee. The Zags returned to the top spot Feb. 25, again replacing Duke, which lost to North Carolina.

GONZAGA

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One-two punch

And not in a good way. Gonzaga lost consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 2014 when it fell to Tennessee 76-73 on Dec. 9 and North Carolina 103-92 on Dec. 15. The setback to the Volunteers knocked Gonzaga from the No. 1 ranking. The loss at North Carolina dropped the Zags to No. 8 in the AP poll. “We lost it on defensive rebounding,” Hachimura said after the UNC loss.

“It was kind of similar (to Tennessee).”

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs finished a perfect 16-0 in West Coast Conference play and won the WCC by five games.

The only losses for the 27-2 Zags came against Tennessee and at North Carolina.

Rui leashes Huskies

Hachimura buried another game-winner Dec. 5, this one in more dramatic fashion. His mid-range jumper with less than a second remaining lifted Gonzaga past rival Washington 81-79 at the Kennel.

Hachimura finished with 26 points.

One-two punch

And in a good way. Hachimura and Clarke have been the epitome of scoring consistency. They reached double-figures in all 31 regular-season games. The closest call was in the first meeting with Pacific, when each finished with 10 points. In the rematch last week, Hachimura scored 27 and Clarke added 21. Their best combined performance was 49 points against Creighton.

Passing fancy

Josh Perkins took over the top spot on Gonzaga’s all-time career assists list in the second half against Pepperdine. It seemed fitting that the record-breaker was Perkins’ lob pass to Brandon Clarke for a layup, a combination that has connected all season. The assist moved Perkins past Matt Santangelo, who had 668 assists. Perkins is closing in on Santangelo’s single-season record of 225. Perkins has 205. “He’s in the midst of a heck of a senior year,” Few said.

Unbeaten WCC

The Zags rolled through the conference season undefeated for the fifth time in program history.

Gonzaga’s closest game by point differential was a 12-point road win over San Diego, followed by 13-point road victories over San Francisco and Loyola Marymount. Gonzaga’s 27-point average margin of victory established a new WCC record. It’s believed to be the highest margin of victory in any conference since UNLV’s 29.6 in the Big West in 1991.

Clarke throws block party

Clarke showed early on he was going to provide rim protection with six blocks versus Duke. The junior forward kept right on swatting, breaking the program’s single-season record against San Francisco with seven regular-season games remaining. Clarke has 99 blocks – that ranks sixth on GU’s career list – and he’s 15 from breaking the WCC single-season record set by USF’s Hondre Brewer in 2001. “There have been so many great bigs and players (here),” Clarke said. “To have my name even near them means (a lot) to me.”

Historic offense

PLAYER TO WATCH: RUI HACHIMURA The 6-foot-8 forward has been a force both inside and out for the Zags this season, averaging 20.6 points per game while shooting more than 61 percent from the floor. He’s also averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.

Gonzaga is putting up record numbers offensively. GU averages 89.8 points (previous best was 83.5 last season), shoots 53.4 percent (previous best 52.0 in 2015) and 18.3 assists (previous best 17.9 in 2004).

The Zags lead the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency (127.5). That’s Gonzaga’s best since Pomeroy starting crunching numbers in 2002. Only Villanova (127.8) last season and Wisconsin (129.0) in 2015 have finished a season with a higher figure.

PHOTOS: SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, ASSOCIATED PRESS

STARTING FIVE

OFFENSIVE TOTALS

Rui Hachimura

20.6 ppg

6.7 rpg

1.6 apg

Brandon Clarke

16.6 ppg

8.5 rpg

1.8 apg

Zach Norvell Jr.

15.7 ppg

4.3 rpg

3.1 apg

Josh Perkins

11.0 ppg

2.9 rpg

6.6 apg

Corey Kispert

8.2 ppg

4.0 rpg

1.1 apg

DEFENSIVE TOTALS

53.4

36.7

77

38.5

30.7

Field-goal percentage

3-point percentage

Free-throw percentage

Opponents’ field-goal pct.

Opponents’ 3-point pct.

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GONZAGA’S NONCONFERENCE RECORD OF 11-1 IS TOPS IN GU HISTORY

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LISA FORTIER PICKED WCC’S TOP COACH FOR FOURTH TIME IN FIVE YEARS

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The 14th-ranked Bulldogs finished 16-2 in West Coast Conference play, one game ahead of second-place Brigham Young. The Zags finished 27-3 overall and enter the conference tournament on a four-game win streak.

EHAN AND JIM ALLEN

BY MOLLY QUINN

MAN-REVIEW

2018-19 MOMENTS

Stockton can dish it

Just like her father, John, senior Laura Stockton knows how to make her teammates look better. With a seven-assist performance at Santa Clara on Feb. 21, Stockton moved into third place in career assists at GU. She now has 461, trailing only Courtney Vandersloot (1,118) and Shannon Mathews (600).

Zags topple the Trees

It was a signature win with everyone’s hand on it. Unranked Gonzaga’s 79-73 takedown of No. 8 Stanford on Dec. 2 was the product of grit inside, laser-like outside shooting and calm down the stretch as a sellout crowd at the Kennel roared its approval. “I’m just really proud of this team,” coach Lisa Fortier said.

Rice has power in the paint

Senior Zykera Rice recently recalled being a freshman “who couldn’t run a play, but now they run plays for me.” The Zags’ go-to player down low, Rice is shooting 52 percent from the field, and won back-to-back WCC Player of the Week honors earlier this year. She also leads GU in scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounds (5.9 rpg).

Shoot, that was fun

With the loss of Jill Barta and Emma Stach, perhaps the Zags’ biggest concern coming into the season was 3-point shooting. No worries: junior Katie Campbell was among the national leaders all year long, finishing 55-for-120, or 45.8 percent. Sophomore Jill Townsend wasn’t far behind at 42.9 percent.

Just win, baby

The Zags’ final regular-season record of 27-3 works out to 90 percent, the fifth-best mark in the nation behind perennial powers Baylor, UConn, Louisville and Mississippi State. They’ve also held steady between 12th and 15th in the all-important Rating Percentage Index, or RPI.

Zags are winning big

Yes, the Zags are that dominant.

Even in a year when the West Coast Conference ranked seventh overall (out of 32 leagues), GU won 10 of its 18 games by 20 points or more.

Rested and ready

How’s this for depth? Eight Zags average at least 20 minutes of playing time, but none has more than the 28.2 logged by Smith Chandler Smith.

Interestingly, backups Jesse Loera (23.1 minutes per game) and Jill Townsend (21.5 mpg) average more than some of the starters.

For starters, that was a great one

For sheer wins, this was the best nonconference season in Gonzaga history. The Zags went 11-1, beating No. 8 Stanford and losing only to top-ranked Notre Dame. They didn’t stop there, going 16-1 until falling at BYU on Jan. 17.

Locked down and loaded

A full Kennel

On Senior Day, players gave a big thanks to the crowd, and why not?

Gonzaga led the nation this year in attendance capacity. This season, the Bulldogs have averaged 5,608 fans per game at the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, which equals 93.47 percent.

It’s trite but true: Defense wins championships. The Zags are only second in offense in WCC games, but in scoring defense, their 58.1 points given up is five points per game better than No. 2 BYU. GU also leads the league in field goal percentage defense (at 37.5 percent) and defensive rebounding percentage.

PLAYER TO WATCH: ZYKERA RICE The 6-1 senior forward from Tacoma has been the Zags’ most consistent scorer, scoring a team-best 14.2 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor. Rice is also tops in rebounds, grabbing nearly 6 per game.

PHOTOS: SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, ASSOCIATED PRESS

STARTING FIVE

OFFENSIVE TOTALS

Zykera Rice

14.2 ppg

5.9 rpg

1.5 apg

Chandler Smith

9.3 ppg

5.2 rpg

2.6 apg

Laura Stockton

9.1 ppg

3.2 rpg

4.3 apg

Katie Campbell

8.1 ppg

2.4 rpg

1.2 apg

LeeAnne Wirth

6.5 ppg

4.4 rpg

0.6 apg

DEFENSIVE TOTALS

45.9

37.7

75.2

37.1

29

Field-goal percentage

3-point percentage

Free-throw percentage

Opponents’ field-goal pct.

Opponents’ 3-point pct.

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WCC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW WCC TOURNEY Continued from 3 lineup that features WCC Player of the Year Rui Hachimura and fellow first-teamers Brandon Clarke, Josh Perkins and Zach Norvell Jr. The only certain route to the Big Dance for the nine teams not named Gonzaga is to win the WCC Tournament and claim an automatic berth. Second-seeded Saint Mary’s is in familiar territory, extending its annual March rite of residing on the NCAA bubble. The Gaels are listed in ESPN’s First Four Out. The Gaels don’t have the sleek record of recent Saint Mary’s teams that were often passed over for at-large berths, but do carry a strong No. 38 NET rating, one of the selection committee’s primary evaluation tools.

The Gaels played a tougher nonconference schedule, but their résumé lacks eyecatching wins. Gonzaga routed Saint Mary’s by 48 in Spokane and by 14 last Saturday, capping a 16-0 run through the WCC. San Francisco, No. 65 in the NET, was under consideration for an at-large berth early in the WCC season, but the Dons faded with a pair of three-game losing streaks.

Third-seeded BYU, No. 77 in the NET, lost twice to GU by a combined 64 points.

Loyola Marymount reached the 20-win mark for just the second time since 1990.

Gonzaga pounded every WCC team by double digits, the closest contests coming against fifth-seeded San Diego (combined 28 points) and LMU (31). San Francisco led Gonzaga inside the 4-minute mark before the Zags closed with a 17-2 run.

The Zags avoided the roller coaster rides experienced by the nine other WCC teams.

“We’ve been pretty rock-solid all year,” Few said. “We haven’t had many games all year, or even spaces of games, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, where we really weren’t dialed in. That’s why we’ve been able to win so many games so decidely.”

This will be the 11th WCC Tournament staged at the Orleans Arena, which typically is filled with at least 4,000 Zag fans.

Gonzaga has won eight of the 10, with both losses coming to Saint Mary’s in the championship game. The Zags have defeated the Gaels in five title-game matchups and BYU in the other three, including a 74-54 decision last March behind tournament MVP Killian Tillie’s 22 points.

BLANCHETTE Continued from 2 and I sort of, uh, checked his temperature with a forearm, trying to slow him down a little bit.”

But mostly, the Zags were playing in quicksand – shooting poorly, rebounding worse. They fell behind by 18 points in the first half, then dug in with a press and lengthened the game with some strategic fouls – except that four players would foul out, including Stanford, who scored 25 points. Gonzaga closed the gap to six points with two minutes left, but drew no closer in an 85-73 loss.

“It was just one of those

DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Gonzaga forward Killian Tillie can’t be stopped by BYU’s Dalton Nixon last March in the WCC Tournament championship game.

games, one of those days,” Brown said.

But even if Mama warned you there’d be days like this, she never said anything about them haunting you for 25 years.

This time, however, there was some consolation: the Zags’ romp through the WCC regular season was enough to earn a spot in the National Invitation Tournament against Stanford.

And the Bulldogs decided to look at it as an opportunity and not an insult.

“At some point, the NIT is about the team that pouts the least,” Brown said. “It was the first time we’d been in the postseason, so it meant a lot to go and play – and we certainly had something to prove. It was a

different time, obviously. We weren’t even in the conversation for an at-large (NCAA) bid. We didn’t have the platform or brand recognition – and we weren’t good enough to deserve it, frankly.”

Brown may have had more motivation than anyone.

“Coming out of Mead, Stanford is where I really wanted to go to college,” he said. “I remember Mike Montgomery pulling me aside after a summer camp down there and telling me they weren’t going to offer. So now I’m playing against a guy who took my scholarship, to some extent.”

Which made his 27 points and Gonzaga’s 80-76 victory feel that

much better.

The Zags’ season would come to an end five days later in a two-point loss at Kansas State.

And 51 weeks later, Gonzaga would make its first NCAA appearance – a first-round loss to Maryland – after a Zags team that had started WCC play 0-6 stormed through the conference tournament on the back of a stunning shooting exhibition by John Rillie, who had tasted the disappointment the year before.

“What was great about it was that the ’95 team was like the inverse of ’94,” Brown said. “I was playing in Argentina at the time and I was so thrilled – it was awesome seeing those guys make that history.”

It mirrored, in fact, the

feelings Brown had when he and his former teammates rendezvoused in Phoenix two years ago when theZags finally crashed another party: the Final Four.

“There were, like, 25 us – meaning, wives, kids, everyone – just from our era,” he said. “And that’s the best part of it. We still talk to each other nearly every other day. Guys have gone on to successful careers and are still incredibly tight. And there’s the feeling of having done something – first to win the (conference), first to go to the postseason, and just doing a nice job of representing Gonzaga.

“But what I wouldn’t give to go back and play that San Diego game again.”

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WOMEN’S WCC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

BEST IS YET TO COME

Top-seeded Zags seek a third shot at BYU

By Jim Allen THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

There were a lot of cheers Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Senior Zykera Rice drew one of the biggest after the Zags clinched the outright West Coast Conference regular-season title and the top seed in the postseason tournament.

COMING UP Monday: “We’re not done yet,” Gonzaga vs. TBD Rice told an eager crowd in Las Vegas, of 6,000. noon.

Far from it. With a 27-3 TV: BYU TV record (16-2 in the WCC) Radio: 790-AM and a No. 13 ranking in RPI, the 14th-ranked Zags are poised to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.

But first they have to stifle the rest of the conference. Do that, and there’s a good chance that the noise will take place back at the Kennel in the first round of the NCAAs. “I’d love to do that,” senior point guard Laura Stockton said after the Senior Day win over Loyola Marymount. “But first we have to take care of business in Vegas.”

That won’t be easy. The top-seeded Zags are slotted into a noon semifinal on Monday at the Orleans Arena, with an opponent yet to be determined.

The Zags’ half of the bracket includes fourth-seeded Saint Mary’s, fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount, No. 8 Portland and No. 9 San Francisco.

Saturday’s game against LMU went down to the wire, while Saint Mary’s gave the Zags all they wanted in both meetings, 74-62 in Spokane on Jan. 3 and 66-52 in Moraga, California, on Feb. 2.

Should the Zags advance to Tuesday’s final, they could face BYU for a third time after a pair of two-point losses to the Cougars.

Those defeats should be motivation enough.

“I can’t remember the last time we’ve lost to a team twice in one year,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said after falling 66-64 at home to BYU on Feb. 16.

For the record, it hasn’t happened since 2015-16, when an injury-plagued GU squad lost dropped three games to Santa Clara and two to Saint Mary’s.

Both GU and BYU are locks for the NCAAs (BYU is 23-6 and 33rd in RPI) but are chasing higher seeds.

Winners of six straight, BYU is the hottest team in the conference. GU has won four in a row.

All year, the Zags have excelled at the important things: They rank 18th in Division I (out of 349 schools) in field goal percentage (45.9 percent), 28th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.19) and 40th in rebounding margin at plus-6.3.

They’re also healthy, with no major injuries since conference play began, and they’re well-rested; no player averages more than 28 minutes per game.

“I think we’re one of the most balanced

‘‘

I’D LOVE TO DO THAT. BUT FIRST WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS IN VEGAS.” LAURA STOCKTON GONZAGA SENIOR, ON THE POSSIBILITY OF HOSTING NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES

COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Point guard Laura Stockton is averaging 9.1 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game in her senior season as a Bulldog. teams around,” Fortier said recently.

Fortier and her staff can count on the inside game of Rice (who shoots 52 percent from the field and averages a team-high 14.2 points and 5.9 rebounds), and the emerging twin towers, 6-foot-3 sophomores LeeAnne and Jenn Wirth.

Starting forward LeeAnne Wirth, whom Fortier calls the biggest surprise of the season, is coming off the best game of her career, a 13-point, 13-rebound outing against Loyola Marymount.

Jenn Wirth, a projected starter before a missing the first seven games of the year with a finger injury, has been consistent all year off the bench, averaging 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds.

The backcourt is even deeper, with

Stockton and backup point guard Jessie Loera both averaging better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

On the wing, versatile senior Chandler Smith averages 9.3 points and 5.3 boards – both second on the team. That versatility is matched by sophomore Jill Townsend, who averages barely 20 minutes a game and scores 9.1 points while snagging almost five boards and shooting 42 percent from long range.

The only better long-range shooter is Katie Campbell, who has ranked in the top five nationally for most of the season. She finished the regular season shooting 55for-120, or 45.8 percent. That would rank sixth in the nation, but Campbell doesn’t meet the criteria (two made 3-pointers per

game) for the official NCAA list.

Looking for weaknesses that could cost the Zags in Vegas?

For one, they’ve been slow out of the gate the past few games. They’re also shooting a mediocre 71.5 percent from the line in the past three weeks.

Gonzaga also has been over-reliant on the inside game of late, attempting only about 10 3-point shots per game in the past five contests.

Interestingly, GU ranks only 277th nationally in 3-point shots attempted, but a lofty 11th in 3-point accuracy at 37.7 percent.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

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Go Zags!

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WHY IS MEDICAL AND MOBILITY EQUIPMENT SO DARN EXPENSIVE? It isn’t, if you know where to look!

Nearly everything in our store has been donated, so we are able to offer it at very, very reasonable prices. So everyone wins!

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THESE KNEE WE CARRY WHEELCHAIRS, SCOOTERS! ROLLATORS, INCONTINENCE SUPPLIES & OTHER MEDICAL SUPPLIES. Selection Changes Often

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SPECIAL 8

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MARCH 8, 2019

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Scott Shepherd climbs while Bevie LaBrie belays him at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area last December.

ELI FRANCOVICH/ THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

Guided climbing trips offer safe, cheap off-court entertainment

By Eli Francovich THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW

If you’re looking to get high while in Las Vegas, try stepping off the Strip.

Just 20 minutes from downtown Sin City is world-class rock climbing in the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It’s an adult playground made of sandstone and sunshine.

Best of all? There are guided services that will take you from the Strip to the rock and back again.

There are four permitted guiding services in the park. One, Red Rock Climbing Guides, is locally owned and based in Las Vegas. Another, Mountain Skills Rock Guides, was based in Las Vegas but shifted locations several years ago. The other two options are based in other states.

“We’ve been guiding in the park for a couple of decades,” said Jay Foley, owner and founder of Mountain Skills Rock Guides. “We always prided ourselves on being the guide service that can take someone who has

never climbed before.”

He’s also happy to take out more experienced climbers. But absolute beginners are absolutely welcome.

“We can take you if you’ve never even heard of a harness before,” he said. “Zero experience is fine.”

The company offers half-day (three-hour) trips and full-day (sixhour) trips. Foley’s guides assess the group dynamic, skill and confidence before the day starts, and tailors the climbing accordingly.

For those scared of heights, Foley said they should start slow: Going over the safety gear and demonstrating that it’s safe.

Participants meet outside the Conservation Area loop and drive in with their guides. The company provides entry to the park, which normally costs $15 per day per vehicle.

All climbing equipment is included.

Prices vary from $135 to $295 per person, depending on group size and the length of the trip. For groups larger than 10 people, Foley said he can offer discounted per-person day rates.

And for those who want to stay

firmly on the ground, Foley said he also offers scrambling trips exploring the area’s numerous canyons.

Red Rock Climbing Guides is also a beginner-friendly option, said climbing guide Dan Young.

“The bulk of our business has been gym-to-crag outings,” he said. “I think the most important thing is that people should not be intimidated, because we do make it safe and comfortable, regardless of the level of experience.”

Half-day trips start at $175 per person, with discounts for groups. Fullday trips start at $275 per person.

“It’s pretty amazing how easy we make it for everybody,” Young said.

For more experienced and ambitious climbers, both Red Rock Climbing Guides and Mountain Skills Rock Guides offer multi-pitch climbing excursions. Participants will scale a larger wall during a longer and more vigorous excursion.

CONTACT THE WRITER:

(509) 459-5508 elif@spokesman.com

N E VA DA Re d Ro c k Canyon N at i o n a l Conservation A re a

N 95

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Most of the climbing is done in this area

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Calico Basin 160

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miles MOLLY QUINN/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW