Northwest Notes
Bourgard takes over as
Cd'A Charter boys coach
Steve Bourgard was named the head boys basketball coach at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy earlier this week, replacing Chris Pederson, who resigned after one season due to personal and family reasons, according to a news release.
Bourgard, who owns his own roofing and siding business, has coached in the Silver Valley and the Coeur d'Alene for close to 20 years, most recently as the JV boys coach at Coeur d'Alene High. He previous coached the Kellogg girls basketball team and was an assistant on the Wildcat boys program.
"We are grateful to have him on our staff and look forward to the season," Coeur d'Alene Charter athletic director Brett DePew said.
Locals head to Seattle for
pitch, hit and run competition
SEATTLE - Three youths from Hayden will compete against youths from Washington, Oregon, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta at the Major League Baseball Pitch, Hit & Run team championship competition on Sunday, following the Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics game at Safeco Field.
The three North Idaho competitors are Hayley Loffer, competing in the 11-12 year old girls division; Wade Mallory, in the 9-10 boys division; and Carter Friesz, who will compete in the 11-12 boys division. Also from Idaho is Torry Whiles of Meridian, who will be competing in the 7-8 boys division.
The 24 competitors qualified for Sunday's team championship by placing first in their age divisions at their local competitions and becoming the all-around champions at their sectional competitions, which were held during May and June. Only the top three performers in each age group from the sectional competitions in the greater Pacific Northwest qualified for the Mariners team championship competition.
All the youngsters competing at Safeco Field on Sunday have the opportunity to advance to the national finals, which will take place during MLB's 2013 All-Star Week festivities at Citi Field in New York. The scores from the Safeco Field competition will be compared with the scores of all competitors across the country in each age group. The three highest scores in each age group among all competitors will vie for the National Championships on July 15 before the All-Star Home Run Derby.
WCC hoop tourney title games
moved from Monday to Tuesday
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference men's and women's basketball championship will have a new look in 2014 in action finalized at the annual summer Executive Council and Presidents' Council meetings earlier this month.
With the University of the Pacific officially joining the WCC July 1, the annual event will feature all 20 WCC men's and women's basketball teams, and will be held Thursday, March 6 through Tuesday, March 11 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
The new 10-team tournament format - approved by membership in 2012 - will be unveiled in 2014. The format will feature first-round games involving the seven through 10 seeds on Thursday, four women's quarterfinal games on Friday and four men's quarterfinal games on Saturday. The tournament will take Sunday off from competition before resuming Monday, March 10, with a pair of women's semifinal games and two men's semifinals. The two championship games will be played Tuesday, March 11.
In past years, the title games were played on Monday.
For the first time, two WCC men's quarterfinal games will air nationally on ESPN2. On Monday, one men's semifinal game will air on ESPN with the other airing on ESPN2. The women's championship game will once again air on ESPNU, and the WCC men's championship game will be televised on ESPN.
The 2014 tourney marks the sixth consecutive year the WCC Basketball Championships will be played at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The first five WCC tournaments held there have sold out.