THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Starting fast is one thing.

Finishing that way, is a totally different thing.

Especially when you're playing against some of the best competition in the northwest.

IF THE first half of the Jack Blair Memorial All-Star Girls Basketball Classic was any indication, fans might have felt the winning team was going to be the one that had the ball last.

Not quite.

For as quickly as the Region team - made up of players from the 5A Inland Empire League in Idaho and surrounding leagues in Washington - started the game, the same shots in the second half didn't fall in a 100-80 loss to the Metro team at University High in Spokane.

"They were a more physical team than we were in the second half," said Post Falls High coach Marc Allert, who co-coached the Region team. "They just hit some shots and they're a really good team."

The Metro - comprised of players in the Greater Spokane League - had five players that had committed to Division I programs. The Region had one - Emily Drake of Pullman.

The biggest problem that Metro coach Freddie Rehkow had, so it seemed, was finding playing time for each of his players.

"It's not that hard to coach a game like this when you've got a bunch of talent," said Rehkow, who coaches at Central Valley High in Spokane. "So when you go to your bench, you know you've got a bunch of talent to choose from, so you're in good hands. The hard part is keeping 12 players happy with playing time, and it's always tough to do that. But our kids were great about it, and their attitudes were awesome."

For Allert, it was a chance to coach Clarissa Smith of Lake City High, who played against Allert's team the last three seasons.

"It's always fun to see kids in a different light," Allert said. "I've seen her play for a lot of years and got to coach against her for a few years. It's always good to see a different side of kids."

THE START of the Seattle Mariners this season has anything but fast.

Slow is a way to describe it.

So is awful.

Granted, they've started this way in recent years. Pitching isn't quite what it needs to be this season, and neither is the hitting.

Seattle opened an eight-game road trip Tuesday night with a 25-32 record, eight games behind American League West-leading Houston.

All of the hype coming into the season was that Seattle was poised to run away with the division. But the Mariners just haven't lived up to it.

Without Nelson Cruz, who signed with the team in the offseason, who knows where they'd be right now.

For all the money that Seattle paid Robinson Cano in 2013 to come from the New York Yankees, he hasn't delivered on that $24 million-a-year contract he was given.

In his time in the Northwest, Cano has hit 16 home runs - 14 last year and two this year - not exactly what you'd like to see in your power-hitting third spot in the lineup.

WHO KNOWS, maybe they'll break out of it soon and this will only be a speed bump on the long run to the playoffs.

As it seems now, they're doing what most fans leaving the Blair game last weekend did while leaving in a driving rainstorm.

Hydroplaning and spinning out of control.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.