9 Northwest teams playing in weekend March Madness basketball tournaments

Northwest college basketball fans have no less than nine games this coming weekend that they might be interested in as both the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournaments tip off.

The men’s tourney begins March 18, with all games in the Indianapolis area. The five women’s games — all set in the San Antonio area, start March 21.

For the men’s tourney, here are the details:

▪ Top-ranked Gonzaga will take on the winner of Thursday’s 16-seed play-in game of Appalachian State vs. Norfolk State. GU’s game will be at 6:20 p.m. Saturday on TBS.

▪ My Screamin’ Eagles are a 14-seed after winning the Big Sky Conference tournament last weekend. But Eastern Washington has a tough task ahead of it, playing No. 3 seed Kansas at 10:15 a.m. Saturday on TBS.

▪ No. 7 seed Oregon will play No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth University at 6:57 p.m. Saturday, to be televised on TNT.

▪ And the Pac-12 Tournament champs, Oregon State (which is coached by former Tri-City Chinook standout Wayne Tinkle) is a 12 seed. The Beavers will play No. 5-seeded Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. Friday on TNT.

Here are the five women’s tournament games of interest:

▪ Gonzaga is the highest seed out of our region, with a No. 5, and the Bulldogs will take on No. 12 Belmont at 1 p.m. Monday on ESPN2.

▪ No. 6-seeded Oregon will play No. 11 South Dakota at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN2.

▪ Oregon State — with Chiawana’s Talia von Oelhoffen graduating from high school early and playing with the Beavers back in late January — got into the tournament. The Beavers are an 8 seed, and they’ll play No. 9 Florida State at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, on ESPN2.

▪ Washington State got in as a 9 seed, and the Cougars will be playing No. 8 South Florida at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

▪ Finally, Idaho State won the Big Sky Conference tournament this past weekend. Southridge High grad Ellie Smith is on the Bengals roster and sees a lot of playing time. ISU is a 13 seed, and will play No. 4-seeded Kentucky at 11 a.m. Sunday, on ESPN.

College notes

▪ Kamiakin grad Maddie Morgan was named this week’s Big Sky Conference women’s soccer offensive player of the week on Monday.

Morgan, a sophomore playing for Eastern Washington University, scored two goals and an assist as EWU beat Portland State by identical 3-1 scores on Friday and Sunday.

In the first game, Morgan assisted on a goal by Southridge grad Kendall Pope. In the second game, Morgan scored two goals.

▪ Grandview High graduate Desiree Zavala, wrestling for Wayland Baptist, won the 136-pound title this past weekend in the women’s NAIA National Invitational Tournament in Jamestown, S.D.

Zavala is a senior, and won four consecutive state high school titles while at Grandview. She wrestled at Southern Oregon back in 2017 before transferring.

By winning her division title, Zavala gets an invite to the U.S. Olympic Trials, set for April 4-5 in Fort Worth, Texas.

▪ Junior Maggie Fiocchi (Kennewick) was named Northwest Conference women’s tennis player of the week for Linfield on Feb. 22.

Fiocchi is 2-2 in women’s singles play through matches of March 12, and she’s 3-1 in women’s double play.

▪ Pacific Lutheran University freshman Sianna Iverson (Chiawana) earned Northwest Conference volleyball player of the week honors Feb. 8 when she recorded 26 kills over two victories over UPS.

Iverson has 41 kills for the 4-4 Lutes so far this season.

▪ PLU sophomore defensive back Kord Tuttle (Prosser) was named Northwest Conference defensive football player of the week on Feb. 8 for his performance in a 28-20 loss to the University of Puget Sound on Feb. 6.

Tuttle had 11 tackles (2.5 for loss), a quarterback sack, and an interception in the game.

In three games for the 0-3 Lutes, Tuttle leads the team with 32 tackles (19 solo and 13 assists). He has 5.5 tackles for loss.

Prep football recap

Here’s a recap of some small-school games this past weekend:

▪ Kaiden Rivera tossed five touchdown passes, each to a different receiver, as Prosser blasted Ellensburg 49-7 in 2A CWAC play on Friday night. Haden Hicks and Brock Weinmann each had three catches, with Hicks getting 97 receiving yards and a TD, and Weinmann getting 87 yards and a score.

▪ Julien Alegria rushed 28 times for 163 yards, and teammate Sonny Asu carried 26 times for 83 yards, but it wasn’t enough as visiting Othello lost to Shadle Park 21-18 on Saturday in 2A Greater Spokane League play.

▪ Avery Ellis was the star, scoring on a 23-yard blocked kid return, rushing 16 times for 122 yards, and collecting 6 tackles (1 for loss), as visiting 1A Royal pounded Class 2A Ephrata 51-0 on Friday. Knights QB Caleb Christensen passed for 194 yards, threw three TD passes, and rushed for two more scores in the game.

▪ Toppenish got two touchdowns each from Michael Martinez and Jason Grant in beating visiting College Place 30-6 in a 1A SCAC game on Thursday. Nick Josifek passed for 109 yards and rushed for another 43 to lead College Place.

▪ Isaac Vanness scored the game’s first three touchdowns in different ways — a 27-yard pass from Traver Johnson, a fumble recovery, and a 27-yard interception return — as visiting Connell routed Zillah 41-0 in a 1A SCAC game Thursday. The Eagles’ Carson Riner added 148 yards rushing on 20 carries.

▪ Braulio Mendoza rushed 25 times for 137 yards and a touchdown to lead visiting River View to a 20-19 2B EWAC victory over Tri-Cities Prep on Saturday night. The Panthers took advantage of seven Prep turnovers. Caleb Sherfey and Noah Elliott — sharing quarterback duties after Evan Sherfey broke his ankle last week – combined for 176 yards passing and two TD passes. The Jags’ Kellen Hobson was in on 14 tackles.

▪ Keegan Bishop passed for 261 yards and 7 touchdowns, and Aiden Lesser added 4 receptions for 56 yards, plus one carry for 68 yards rushing — and four touchdowns — as host Liberty Christian routed Yakama Tribal 72-0 in a Southeast 1B game Saturday. Connor Newell added a TD reception and a pick-6 score for the Patriots, now 4-0..

This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 2:58 PM.