ThE mineR
Sports
b r i e f ly Almira/Coulee-Hartline in football finals BELLINGHAM – Almira/Coulee-Hartline beat Lummi 60-6 to advance to the finals game of the state 1B football tournament. They will play Sunnyside Christian at the Tacoma Dome Friday, Dec. 1, for the state 1B championship.
Newport basketball opens Dec. 6 NEWPORT – Newport boys and girls basketball have their season openers Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Newport. The girls game will start at 5:45 p.m., with the boys starting at 6:30 p.m.
Newport to wrestle at Reardan REARDAN – Wrestling will get underway for Newport High School in an away tournament against Reardan this Friday, Dec. 1, time to be determined. Read more about the Newport Grizzlies’ wrestling team in The Miner’s upcoming winter sports preview.
Selkirk opens against Priest River PRIEST RIVER – The Selkirk Rangers boys basketball team will open their season Friday, Dec. 1, with a game at Priest River. They will return home for a game with Chewelah the next night, Saturday, Dec. 2 and finish the three game home stand Tuesday, Dec. 5 against Valley Christian. The Friday game starts at 2:30 p.m., the Saturday game at 3:30 p.m. and the Tuesday game at 7 p.m.
Lady Spartans start basketball season PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Lamanna High School girls basketball season is underway. The Lady Spartans played North Idaho Christian Nov. 16 and Wallace Nov. 21, but results were not available at press time. They host Deer Park Thursday, Nov. 30 to play at 5:30 p.m., Selkirk Friday, Dec. 1, at 5:30 p.m. and Sandpoint Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 5 p.m. The Spartans then travel to Newport Wednesday, Dec. 6, for a 5:45 p.m. game. The Spartan gym is unavailable for play until Jan. 1, so home games will be played at the Priest River Elementary School gym.
9B
Griz fall to defending state champs By Don Gronning Of The Miner
MOSES LAKE – The Newport Grizzly football team’s historic season came to an end at the hands of defending state 1A champions Royal. They beat Newport 35-7 Saturday, Nov. 25, at Moses Lake. “The kids played with a lot of heart,” Newport coach Dave Pomante said. “They got beat by a better team.” Royal is well coached, athletic and had solid fundamentals, Pomante said. “I think they had won something like 39 straight going into the game,” he said. That was the 10th longest winning streak in the nation. They had shut teams out eight times so far this year. The Royal Vikings were well aware of Newport QB Koa Pancho. “They gave him a lot of attention,” Pomante said. A player was assigned to ‘spy’ on Pancho, covering him man to man. That shut down Pancho’s running game. He had a negative 39 yards rushing. Royal wasn’t able to totally shut down Pancho, however. He still
Miner photo|Michelle Nedved
Newport quarterback Koa Pancho scrambles to avoid a sack while looking to make a play downfield.
threw for 185 yards and a touchdown. He was picked off once. “He’s very poised, he threw well,” Pomante said, despite Royal pressure that resulted in Pancho being sacked six times. “It could have been 12,” Pomante said, but Pancho is elusive. “He kept us in it.” Jacob Kirkwood caught the nine-yard touchdown pass. Newport’s
Priest River cagers starting season PRIEST RIVER – The Spartans boys basketball team opened their season with a game against Wallace Tuesday night, Nov. 28, after the newspaper deadline. We’ll have results next issue. The Spartan gym is unavailable for play until Jan. 1, so home games will be played at the Priest River Elementary School gym. The Spartans will host Deer Park Thursday, Nov. 30 and Selkirk Friday, Dec. 1, both at 7 p.m. and Sandpoint Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 6:30 p.m.
NOVEMBER 29, 2017 |
Miner photo|Michelle Nedved
Newport’s Tug Smith catches a kickoff Saturday against Royal in the State 1A Football Semi-Finals.
only touchdown came in the third quarter. Adam Moorhead kicked the extra point. That brought the score to 21-7. But Royal was relentless, marching down the field and answering with a touchdown on their possession. They followed it up with another TD in the fourth quarter. Newport received the opening kickoff at the start of the game but was forced to punt. Royal drove down the field on their possession. When Newport held them, it appeared they were going to have to settle for a field goal. They set up to kick on fourth and six, but faked the kick. Newport stopped the runner short of the goal, on the one-yard line, but Royal scored on the next play. Newport took the kickoff and was driving, completing some passes, when Pancho was intercepted. He had to come back and make the touchdown saving tackle on the five-yard line. Royal punched it in on the next play. Royal didn’t score again until late in the
second quarter, when they completed a fouryard touchdown pass. Newport went into the half trailing 21-0. The Pancho-Kirkwood pass play in the third quarter was Newport’s only touchdown. Royal only gave up 45 points all season, including the Newport touchdown. Royal outscored their opponents 663-45. Newport had 169 yards of total offense, to 409 for Royal. Newport picked up more passing yards than Royal – 187 to 185. But Royal had the answer for Newport’s running game. They held the Grizzlies to a negative 18 yards rushing, while they gained 224 yards on the ground. Pancho completed 18 of 27 passes, with a touchdown and an interception. Tug Smith had a good game receiving. He caught seven passes for 101 yards. Owen Leslie caught four passes for 35 yards, Kirkwood caught four passes for 28 yards and a touchdown, Danny Bradbury caught two passes for 17 yards and
Rylan Hastings caught a pass for six yards. On defense, Bradbury led the way, with 10.5 tackles, including seven solo tackles and seven assists. Leslie had six tackles, including four solos and four assists. Smith had six tackles, Johnny Miller had four and a half tackles, Pancho had four, Kade Zorica had four, Hastings had three, Robby Owen had two and a half, Kai Bowman had one and a half. The Grizzlies will lose a dozen seniors next year, but Pomante says he will likely be back and there is a good group of underclassmen coming up. Pomante said the reason the upperclassmen were so good this year was they spent time in the weight room in the off season. Newport finished the season with a 10-2 record. They had a 6-1 Northeast A League record. Pomante says the players represented themselves, their school and the community well throughout the season.
Jamboree offers wrestlers glimpse into season ahead By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner
PRIEST RIVER – Wrestling season is gearing up at local school districts, and no place was it more apparent than the Takedown Jamboree at Priest River Lamanna High School Saturday, Nov 25. The Spartans and Selkirk Rangers, along with wrestlers from Sandpoint High School took to the mats in a non-league, casual meet to get some valuable practice time in with fellow athletes
before the competitive season begins. “It’s just an opportunity for wrestlers to get some one-on-one time outside of practicing with their own teammates, to let them get a taste for competition,” said Priest River wrestling coach Jesse Hellinger. He added that the Spartans have every intention of holding on to their Intermountain League championship title that they secured last year. Priest River will attend the Blizzard Tournament
at Kellogg High School Friday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 9, at 9 a.m. Selkirk senior Ryan Issakides was a state 1B/2B state champ last year, wrestling at 106 pounds. He returns to the Rangers roster this year. Wrestling coach Keith Saxe was not available for comment before press time. Selkirk High School has an away tournament at Liberty Saturday, Dec. 9 at 9:30 a.m. Newport High School
was not at last Saturday’s jamboree due to lack of practice, according to Newport wrestling coach Adrian Bojorquez. Newport will have their first jamboree against Reardan on Friday, Dec.
s p o rt s c a l e n d a r Thursday, Nov. 30 Priest River Girls Basketball vs. Deer Park: 5:30 p.m. – Priest River
Tuesday, Dec. 5 Priest River Girls Basketball vs. Sandpoint: 5 p.m. – Priest River
Friday, Dec. 1
Priest River Boys Basketball vs. Sandpoint: 6:30 p.m. – Priest River
Selkirk Boys Basketball vs. Chewelah: 3:30 p.m. – Selkirk Priest River Girls Basketball vs. Selkirk: 5:30 p.m. – Priest River Priest River Boys Basketball vs. Selkirk: 7 p.m. – Priest River
Saturday, Dec. 2
Miner photo|Sophia Aldous
Open Gym, Adult Basketball: 7 a.m. - Newport High School
Priest River Boys Basketball vs. Deer Park: 7 p.m. – Priest River Newport Wrestling vs. Reardan: TBD - Reardan
A Selkirk wrestler goes after a Priest River opponent at last Saturday’s Takedown Jamboree.
1 (TBD). See more information about all the local high school wrestling teams and other winter sports in The Miner’s Winter Sports Preview, coming out in December.
Selkirk Boys Basketball vs. Valley Christian: 7 p.m. - Selkirk
Wednesday, Dec. 6 Newport Girls Basketball vs. Priest River: 5:45 p.m. – Newport Newport Boys Basketball vs. Priest River: 6:30 p.m. – Newport
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