NORTHWEST NOTES: Saturday, July 25, 2015
Shock can inch closer to
playoffs with win tonight
SPOKANE - The Spokane Shock (5-10) can move closer to securing a playoff berth tonight when they host the Portland Thunder (4-11) in Week 18 of Arena Football League play (7 p.m., ESPN 700).
The Shock split the first two games this season with Portland. In Week 3, the Thunder intercepted Shock quarterback Danny Southwick for a third time to seal a 47-43 win at the Moda Center.
Spokane beat Portland 69-54 in Portland on June 21.
The Shock currently hold the third seed in the National Conference. Las Vegas (5-10) had its game tonight against New Orleans canceled due to the two franchises recently being taken over by the league, which will leave the game at a tie and automatically improve Las Vegas' record to 5-10-1.
Spokane visits Las Vegas during the final week of the regular season on Aug. 8.
Spokane is currently one game ahead of Portland. With a win tonight, Spokane would go into its final two regular season games at Cleveland and at Las Vegas with the playoffs in their sights.
Portland will likely start former Shock quarterback Kyle Rowley tonight. Two weeks ago, Portland defeated Jacksonville 72-48 as Rowley passed for seven touchdowns.
U.S. men fall in semis
at Pan Am games
TORONTO - The U.S. men's basketball team, coached by Gonzaga's Mark Few, lost 111-108 to Canada in overtime in the semifinals of the Pan Am Games on Friday.
The U.S., a hodgepodge of college players and pro players young and old, are 2-2 in the tourney.
Bobby Brown scored 25 points, Anthony Randolph 21 for the U.S. Andrew Nicholson of Canada let all scorers with 31 points. Kyle Wiltjer of Gonzaga, a member of the Canadian team, did not play.
The U.S. plays the Dominican Republic today at 8 a.m. for the bronze medal.
Ex-Brewster star to join
Zag women's team
SPOKANE - Chandler Smith, the former Brewster High star who played as a freshman at Nebraska, is coming back to the area to play for Gonzaga.
She will redshirt the 2015-16 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and have three years of eligibility remaining.
Smith was limited to 18 games at Nebraska last season, after suffering a stress fracture in her foot. Coming out of high school, Smith considered Baylor, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Oregon State, and Nebraska
At Nebraska, Smith averaged 1.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 10.8 minutes per game.
Smith was named the Washington Class 1A Player of the Year in both 2013 and 2014, while capturing first-team all-state honors for the third consecutive season.
Smith powered Brewster to a Washingto class 1A state championship as a junior in 2013. Brewster was second to Reardan in the class 2B title game in 2012.