Fundraiser for Pepper family set for today

YAKIMA, Wash. — A poker fundraiser will be held today to benefit the family of former Selah and Central Washington University basketball standout Ryan Pepper.

Pepper’s wife, Danielle, suffered a heart attack on April 13 while pregnant with the couple’s fourth child.

Doctors are waiting until the unborn baby reaches 35 weeks to perform a Caesarean section and follow with open-heart surgery on Danielle.

The treatment has required the family to remain near the Seattle hospital where Danielle Pepper is being treated.

Proceeds from today’s tournament will be used to help defray some medical bills and some of the costs the family has incurred living away from home.

The tournament will be held today at Club 26-A at the Red Lion Hotel Yakima Center (607 E. Yakima Ave.). Registration begins at 5 p.m. and the tournament is slated to start at 6 p.m. The entry fee is $40 and winners are asked to donate half of their winnings to the Peppers.

For more information or to donate to the Pepper family, contact Ryan Ibach at 509-952-5923 or ribach7834@charter.net.

Central recruits led by former YVCC standout

YAKIMA, Wash. — A familiar name and a big frame were among four men’s basketball recruits who  have signed with Central Washington, according to coach Greg Sparling.

Jody Johnson, a mainstay on two highly-successful Yakima Valley teams, will join the Wildcats along with 6-foot-9, 280-pound Coby Gibler of Highline Community College.

Austin Dunn, a 6-3 guard from Clackamas Community College and Najee Ali, a graduate-to-be from Rainier Beach High School, were also announced Wednesday as letter of intent signees.

Johnson, 6-4, was a key component of YVCC’s 2008 NWAACC Tournament title team and this past season helped the Yaks to a third-place finish.

He averaged 13.1 points and 10.5 rebounds a game in 2008-09, compiling 16 double doubles in 31 games.

“You could pretty much pencil in a double-double every time he went on the floor,” Yakima Valley coach Ray Funk said. “He and Nico (Sandoval, who is still weighing his four-year school options) have been the rocks of Gibraltar for our program the last two years.”

Gibler, meanwhile, averaged 14.1 points and 9.9 boards for Highline and produced 14 double doubles in 28 games.

The son of Brant Gibler, who starred on the University of Puget Sound’s 1976 NCAA Division II national championship team and was an eighth-round draftee of the Portland Trail Blazers, he’s is also a distant relative of ex-Seattle SuperSonic standout Jack Sikma.

“He has very good hands, very soft hands,” Sparling said, “and has a nice touch around the rim. Right now he’s packing a little too much weight, but he’s very fundamentally sound and just knows how to play.”

Gibler prepped at Bainbridge, and in 2007 teamed with Gonzaga’s Steven Gray as the Spartans finished second in the Class 3A state tournament to O’Dea.

Of Johnson, Sparling said, “Jody’s one of the guys who we say in the business gets the dirty work done. He’s not flashy, but at the end of the game you look at his stat line and it’s loaded up pretty well. He’s a kid who’s been in winning programs at YVCC and Franklin (which won the 2006 Class 4A state championship).”

Central has now signed seven recruits, including ex-Davis star Humberto Perez along with junior college transfers J.C. Cook (Clackamas) and Toussaint (T.J.) Tyler (Tacoma).

Area schools fill up on hoops talent

YAKIMA, Wash. — Before this week, the biggest recruiting coup Cody Butler could recall involved Elyse Mengarelli.

And the former East Valley standout gave Yakima Valley one grand season, leading the Yaks to a 29-5 record and a sixth-place finish in the NWAACC Tournament.

Now Elyse Maras and the athletic director at Highland, she inadvertently helped Butler land another promising player in Prosser’s Lacie French.

A multi-talented 5-foot-10 guard-forward, French confirmed Wednesday night that she had signed a letter of intent with YVCC. She also recalled how Maras was peripherally involved.

“We were playing in the summer and the other team’s coach (Maras, who was guiding Riverside Christian) wasn’t there,” French said. “That was the first time I met coach Butler (who took Maras’ place).”

It was also the first time Butler saw French play. The result, Butler said, was the most intense pursuit of a player in his six seasons with the college.

In other recruiting news Wednesday, Grandview’s Kinzi Poteet signed with Boise State after verbally committing to the Broncos last month, as the Herald-Republic then reported.

And at Central Washington, men’s coach Greg Sparling announced the signing of Clackamas Community College guard J.C. Smith.

Butler, recalling the aforementioned summer game, said, “The thing I noticed was that Lacie was extremely athletic and was beating people up and down the floor. After that game I pretty much lived in Prosser’s gym.”

French said she’d also been recruited by Columbia Basin College and Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho. It came down to YVCC and CBC, she said, because of their proximity to Prosser.

“I’m definitely excited,” French said. “That was one of the biggest reasons for my decision, still being close to home. It was a hard decision, but I’m glad it’s over. Now I don’t have to worry about where I’m going and what I’m going to do.”

Voted the CWAC co-player of the year, French averaged 12.9 points a game for the Mustangs and helped them reach the Class 2A state semifinals.

Poteet, a 6-2 post-forward, averaged 18 points for Grandview and broke the school career scoring record with 1,207 points. The three-sport athlete was also a volleyball standout, leading the Greyhounds to the 2A state title match as a sophomore.

Smith, a 6-foot-1 guard, averaged 19.3 points and was voted the Southern Region’s MVP before helping Clackamas win the NWAACC championship.
“J.C. has a good all-around game,” said Sparling, who last fall secured former Davis star Humberto Perez and Tacoma Community College mainstay Toussaint Tyler. “He’s a good scorer and a good passer and sees the floor real well. This is a good start for us, especially after getting Humberto and Toussaint.”

Beitinger, Penoncello named to regional second team

YAKIMA, Wash. — Central Washington seniors Matt Penoncello and Jake Beitinger have been named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II West Region second team, announced Thursday.

Penoncello, a 6-foot-5 guard, and Beitinger, a 6-8 forward, have helped the Wildcats qualify for the NCAA Division II West Region playoffs.

Penoncello leads Central in scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game and is second in rebounding (5.8), with Beitinger second in scoring (13.5), first in rebounding (5.9), and he has a team-best 28 blocked shots.

The complete men’s and women’s teams are in Scoreboard, Page 4B.

Wildcats look to erase memories of last year

YAKIMA, Wash. — If this year’s Division II playoff opportunity seems a continent away for Central Washington, it’s because it is.

And the Wildcats couldn’t be happier.

Not only were they pleased at not returning to Alaska, where their 2008 hopes were dashed via a last-second shot by Seattle Pacific, they were dispatched this time to the tropics of Hawaii, where tonight they will meet Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The loser-out contest is scheduled for 8 o’clock  at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

“We had some of our seniors saying the other day that they still had a pit in their stomachs from that play,” coach Greg Sparling said Thursday via telephone. “They don’t want to let that happen again.”

And while CWU (18-6) isn’t starting the postseason on an up note, having absorbed an 85-68 drubbing Saturday night at Western Washington, the team appears healthier than it’s been in weeks.

Center Jake Beitinger, who broke his left (non-shooting) thumb early in the season, has disdained the goggles he temporarily wore to protect a scratched eye because they limited his vision.

And swingman Matt Penoncello continues to make progress from a badly sprained ankle and cut right (shooting) hand.

“I think we’re as healthy as we’re going to be,” Sparling said, “and I like the group’s focus. We had a nice 55-minute practice today and we were almost too amped up, too excited. We had to slow the guys down a little bit.”

Dominguez Hills’ Toros, from the Los Angeles area city of Carson, is 21-7 and is keyed by 6-foot-2 senior point guard Michael Hernandez and 6-9 senior center Jerrell Smith.

They average 12.9 and 11.89 points per game, respectively, with Hernandez leading the California Collegiate Athletic Association with 4.45 assists a game and Smith averaging five rebounds and 1.48 blocks.

“Their point guard is solid,” Sparling said. “He’s not overly quick and he’s not a great shooter, but he has one particular dribble-and-spin move down to a science. And if you give help he dishes the ball off to open people.

“Smith, inside, goes 235 to 240 pounds, if my eyes are as good as they used to be as far as watching players on film. He likes to block shots. They have nine guys playing a lot of minutes and they have good overall size.”

Should Central win, it will meet the winner of tonight’s other game between BYU-Hawaii (25-1) and Humboldt State (20-11) on Saturday night.

At Bellingham, Western will play SPU and Cal State San Bernardino will oppose Cal Poly Pomona tonight. The winners meet Saturday night, and the survivors of the sub-regionals will play Tuesday at the site of the highest remaining seed.

The Wildcats, seeded fifth in the eight-team West Regional, will make their third playoff appearance in four years.

“We didn’t let ’em get out in the ocean today,” Sparling said, “but a lot of the guys took advantage of the pool at our hotel. And tonight we’re going to a banquet where they’re having firewalkers and firedancers, so we’re getting some enjoyment out of the trip.”

Local report: Grandview’s Poteet commits to Boise State

Grandview’s Kinzi Poteet has verbally accepted a basketball scholarship from Boise State University and plans to sign her letter of intent April 15.

The 6-foot-2 post/forward averaged 18 points in her senior season for the Greyhounds and broke the school record for career scoring with 1,207 points. She also set a single-game school record this year of 35 points.

Poteet is a three-year all-CWAC basketball player and a standout in volleyball. She was the conference MVP in volleyball as a junior and led Grandview into the 2A state championship final as a sophomore.

Boise State, which is 16-14 heading into the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, currently has one Washington player in Mount Baker freshman guard Courtney VanBrocklin.

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COLLEGES

Reilly, Bronson work out for scouts

ELLENSBURG — Mike Reilly and Jared Bronson each staged workouts Monday for several professional football scouts in the Central Washington University rec center.

Both players had performed at the NFL Scouting Combine last month in Indianapolis.

Among other activities, both were measured in the vertical jump, which Reilly improved two inches to 321/2 from his combine performance, and the 40-yard dash, which Reilly lowered two seconds to 4.72.

“I don’t want to say it wasn’t important, because every workout is important,” Reilly said. “But it wasn’t too stressful because we’d already performed well. It was a chance to improve your stock without risking much.”

Reilly said representatives from the Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and a CFL team were present, and that ex-Central player Reggie Ford, plus Western Washington’s Kevin Jones and Travis McKee, also worked out.

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Time set for Central men

ELLENSBURG — Central Washington’s Division II first-round playoff game on Friday against Cal State Dominguez Hills has been set at 8 p.m. PDT.

The Wildcats and Toros will meet at Brigham Young University-Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii, at 5 p.m. Hawaiian time.

The other regional game there will pit Humboldt State against BYU-Hawaii, with the winners meeting at 7:30 p.m. local time (10:30 PDT) on Saturday.

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Beitinger, Penoncello all-GNAC

ELLENSBURG — Central Washington senior standouts Jake Beitinger and Matt Penoncello have been named to the All-GNAC first team.

Teammates Brandon Foote and Johnny Spevak made the second team and honorable mention, respectively.

Penoncello, a 6-foot-5 guard-forward from Moscow, Idaho, was the Wildcats leading scorer at 14.8 points a game despite ankle and shooting hand injuries. He was also CWU’s second-leading rebounder, at 5.8.

Beitinger, a 6-8 center from Port Orchard, averaged 13.5 points and a team-best 5.9 boards in spite of a broken left (non-shooting) thumb and a scratched eye.

Foote was the Wildcats’ third-leading scorer at 13.5 and blossomed after becoming a starter midway through the season.

Spevak, a basketball senior who has another year of eligibility as a standout wide receiver in football, was Central’s defensive specialist.

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Kudos for Sandoval, McBride

KENNEWICK — Yakima Valley’s Nico Sandoval and Kaitlin McBride have been named to the all-NWAACC Tournament first and second teams.

Sandoval, a sophomore point guard from Davis, led YVCC’s men to a third-place finish while McBride, a sophomore swing player from Bothell, helped the Yaks women to seventh.

Chehales Tapscott of men’s champion Clackamas, a team YVCC took to two overtimes in a semifinal loss, was the men’s MVP. Lane’s Jennifer Kimbrow was the women’s MVP.

College roundup — CWU heads to Hawaii for D-II playoff opener

ELLENSBURG — Central Washington didn’t win the GNAC championship, but the Wildcats did get a trip to Hawaii for their first-round Division II playoff game.

The Wildcats (18-6) were ranked fifth in the final regional poll Sunday, and will thus fly to Laie, Hawaii for a Friday meeting with No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-6) at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. The game time will be announced today.

Central coach Greg Sparling said he’d watched some of the Toros’ Web casts since they played some of their games on Fridays.

“They’re the kind of team that runs a lot of sets, that reminds you maybe of an SPU (Seattle Pacific) or a Northwest Nazarene,” Sparling said. “But also they try to get up and down the floor. So they seem sort of like a mixture of Western Washington or an SPU or Nazarene.”

The winner of Friday’s game will play the survivor of a matchup between No. 8 Humboldt State (20-11) and No. 1 BYU-Hawaii (25-1) on Saturday.

Western Washington, meanwhile, will host the other western sub-regional on Friday and will meet No. 7 Seattle Pacific (18-9) on Friday. The other Bellingham game will pit Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) opposite Cal State San Bernardino (20-9), with the winners meeting Saturday.

Central, which lost 85-68 at Western in a showdown for the conference title on Saturday night, has won eight of its last 10.

Dominguez Hills, located in Carson, Calif., finished in a three-way tie for the California Collegiate Athletic Association title. And while seeded second in the conference tournament, the Toros were upset Cal State Monterey Bay in the first round.

Their top scorers are6-foot-2 senior guard Michael Hernandez at 12.6 points a game and 6-9 senior center Jerrell Smith at 12.1.
COLLEGE BASEBALL

Yaks beat Kwantlen, fall to Skagit

Pedro Acevedo drove in two runs and Jackson Berkram scored another as Yakima Valley rallied for five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to beat Kwantlen College of British Columbia 11-6 Sunday at Parker Field.

YVCC later dropped a 9-0 decision to Skagit Valley.

Acevedo was 2-for-3 with a double, Berkram was 2-for-4 and Nick Hayter added a double for the Yaks (2-5) against Kwantlen.

Powerful Skagit Valley then broke its game with YVCC open with a five-run seventh inning. Josh Richardson and Cody Koopmans combined to limit Yakima Valley to three hits.

The Yaks are scheduled for a Wednesday makeup of a rained-out game with Green River. The contesst will be played at 3 p.m. at Central Washington University. YVCC will then host Shoreline for non-league doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday.

YAKIMA VALLEY 11, KWANTLEN 6

Kwantlen 301 101 0 — 6 6 5

Yakima Valley 024 032 x — 11 10 3

Pentz and Mace; Martinez, Hartz (5) and Berkram.

Highlights: Nick Hayter (YV) 1-4, 2b; Pedro Acevedo (YV) 2-3, 2b, 2 RBI; Jackson Berkram (YV) 2-4, 2b, RBI.

SKAGIT VALLEY 9, YAKIMA VALLEY 0

Skagit Valley 200 200 50 — 9 12 1

Yakima Valley 000 000 00 — 0 3 1

Richardson, Koopmans (8) and Chung; Miller, Hayter (6), Pendleton (7), Amende (8) and Jones.

COLLEGE FASTPITCH

YVCC wins one, loses one

Run-scoring triples by Camille Mackie and Shalane Scott tied the score and an RBI single by Kim Jonas scored Scott with the winning run as Yakima Valley rallied with three runs in the sixth inning to beat South Puget Sound 4-3 in a non-league game Sunday at Dunbar Field.

Hannah Kranz scattered eight hits, struck out six and walked one.

The Yaks then fell to Spokane 16-1 as two Sasquatch players combined on a four-hitter.

Daniela Villegas had the only RBI for Yakima Valley (2-2), which continues non-league play Friday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader at home against Lower Columbia.

YAKIMA VALLEY 4, SOUTH PUGET SOUND 3

South Puget Sound 000 030 0 — 3 11 1

Yakima Valley 001 003 x — 4 8 1

Shannon and Schedl. Kranz and Villegas.

Highlights: Amanda Reed (YV) 2-3, 2b, 3b, run, RBI; Shalane Scott (YV) 2-3, run, 3b, RBI; Jonas 2-3, RBI; Alyssa Fink 1-3, RBI.

SPOKANE 16, YAKIMA VALLEY 1

Spokane 354 31 — 16 17 0

Yakima Valley 000 01 — 1 4 1

Topp, Selway (5) and Predisik; Reed and Villegas.

Highlights: Daniela Villegas 1-3, RBI; Scott 1-2, 2b; Jonas 2-2.

CWU title hopes end at Western

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Central Washington’s hopes for its first GNAC basketball championship came to an abrupt end Saturday night, with Western Washington claiming the title via an 85-68 triumph before a capacity crowd in Carver Gym.

The Vikings (12-3 conference, 21-5 overall) won their first GNAC title with a 53-31 second-half, and will possibly be named hosts of a four-team Division II sub-regional Friday and Saturday.

Central (12-4, 18-6) had similar aspirations until Western made short work of a 37-32 Wildcat lead at halftime.

The Viks scored the first eight points of the second half, then broke a 42-42 tie with a decisive 14-2 charge.

“Our transition defense hurt us,” said Central coach Greg Sparling. “They got up and down the floor on us and made baskets. And they beat us pretty soundly on the boards (43-29), and we’re a good rebounding team.”

Matt Penoncello scored 20 points and Brandon Foote had 16, but no other Wildcat hit double figures as Central went from 51 percent shooting in the first half to 35 in the second.

Guard Ira Graham led Western with 24 points, backcourt mate Morris Anderson had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Calin Schell finished with 10 points and 10 boards.

After shooting only 38 percent during the first half, the Viks shot 59 in the second.

The defeat was Central’s second this season to its cross-mountain rivals, with Western winning 95-75 in Ellensburg on Jan. 24.

Still, the Wildcats will likely be included in the regional playoff field. They were ranked fourth in last week’s poll, and the top eight qualify for the postseason.

The final polls, and playoff seedings, will be announced at 6 p.m. tonight.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Matt Penoncello 6-10 6-6 20, Brandon Foote 7-13 2-2 16, Beitinger 2-8 0-4 4, Clift 2-4 0-0 6, Spevak 1-4 0-0 2, Woods 4-7 1-5 9, Monti 1-3 0-0 3, Scott 1-4 2-2 4, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Sprinker 2-7 0-0 4. Totals 26-60 11-19 68.

WESTERN WASHINGTON — Alford 1-4 4-4 6, David Brittinen 6-10 5-5 17, Calin Schell 4-7 2-3 10, Ira Graham 9-16 5-8 24, Morris Anderson 6-13 2-2 15, McAllister 0-1 3-4 3, Blanche 0-1 0-0 0, Severson 2-4 0-0 5, Duty 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 30-61 22-28 85.

Halftime — CWU 37, WWU 32. 3-point goals — CWU 5-11 (Penoncello 2-3, Clift 2-3, Monti 1-2, Scott 0-3); WWU 3-15 (Alford 0-3, Schell 0-1, Graham 1-5, Anderson 1-3, McAllister 0-1, Severson 1-2). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — CWU 29 (Penoncello 6); WWU 43 (Schell 10, Anderson 13). Assists — CWU 15 (Foote 5); WWU 17 (Anderson 8). Turnovers — CWU 15, CWU 17. Total fouls — CWU 23, WWU 20.

CWU wins, title tilt Saturday

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Central Washington beat Montana State Billings 87-71 in Nicholson Pavilion on Thursday night to set up a GNAC championship showdown.

The Wildcats (12-3 conference, 18-5 overall) will visit archrival Western Washington (12-3, 20-5) on Saturday night for the title.

Western defeated CWU 95-75 in Ellensburg on Jan. 24, and on Thursday night edged Seattle Pacific 76-75.

Central last won a conference championship in 1999, when it competed in the PacWest. Western shared GNAC titles in 2002 and 2005, but has not won one outright.

The Division II regional playoffs are scheduled for March 13-16 at a site or sites of the highest seeds.

CWU and the Vikings were ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the most recent regional poll. The top eight teams in the final rankings will make the playoffs.

Matt Penoncello’s 19 points led six Wildcats in double figures against Billings as Central shot 52 percent from the field (35 for 67). CWU made 9 of 24 3-pointers and committed only nine turnovers while forcing 19.

Chris Sprinker came off the bench to score 12 points while Colton Monti, Gio Woods and Jake Beitinger had 11 each and Brandon Foote 10.

Brad Hodge led the Yellowjackets (4-11, 9-17) with 18.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS — Travis Bunker 5-10 0-0 12, Blaine 0-1 0-0 0, Derrick Wright 6-7 2-4 14, Brett Taylor 4-8 0-0 12, Mario Burns 4-9 5-5 13, Palmer 1-3 0-0 2, Weisz 0-0 0-0 0, Hentzen 0-1 0-0 0, Brad Hodge 7-9 4-5 18, Meehan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-48 11-14 71.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON — Matt Penoncello 7-14 3-3 19, Brandon Foote 5-9 0-0 10, Jake Beitinger 5-6 0-0 11, Clift 2-4 0-0 5, Spevak 2-4 3-4 8, Gio Woods 5-11 0-0 11, Colton Monti 4-9 0-2 11, Scott 0-2 0-0 0, Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Sivak 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Sprinker 5-8 2-2 12. Totals 35-67 8-11 87.

Halftime — CWU 46, MSUB 41. 3-point goals — MSUB 6-15 (Bunker 2-6, Taylor 4-8, Palmer 0-1); CWU 9-24 (Penoncello 2-7, Beitinger 1-1, Clift 1-2, Spevak 1-3, Woods 1-3, Monti 3-7, Scott 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — MSUB 23 (Wright 5); CWU 30 (Beitinger 7). Assists — MSUB 18 (Burns 6); CWU 24 (Spevak 6). Turnovers — MSUB 19, CWU 9. Total fouls — MSUB 12, CWU 14.

GNAC announces all-academic hoops teams

YAKIMA, Wash.. — Johnny Spevak and Hilary Tanneberg of Central Washington University, and Cristina Bruketta from Kittitas were among 10 players earning their third straight spot on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-academic basketball teams Wednesday.

Central’s Jake Beitinger, Tanna Radtke and LeeAna Busch, and Yakima’s Katie Hawkins were also among the 51 players honored for having at least a 3.20 grade-point average.

Spevak and Beitinger are seniors on Central’s men’s team, with Spevak holding a 3.63 GPA in accounting, and Beitinger posting a 3.28 in english.

Tanneberg and Radtke are seniors, and Busch a junior on the women’s team. Tanneberg has 3.39 GPA in accounting, Radtke a 3.56 in public relations/fashion merchandising, and Busch a 3.34 in physical education.

Bruketta, a senior at Alaska Fairbanks, has a 3.57 GPA in child development and family services, and Hawkins, a junior at Saint Martin’s, has a 3.63 GPA in english.

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