(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Baldwin and Franks bring the heat in win over Reardan…

The Chewelah Cougars just keep on winning. With a 49-33 victory over Davenport last night, they moved into the consolation semifinals against Colfax tonight at 7 p.m. at West Valley High School. The Cougars sit just two wins away from advancing to regionals and have seen buckets of difference since their impressive win over league standout Northwest Christian on Feb. 1. Chewelah has won six of their last seven games.

“The NWC game turned out season around, I think we came out and just played our game and kinda shocked everybody and we’ve just kept that momentum going,” Cougar standout Jaron Baldwin said. “In the second half of the season we have just been playing very well as a team and moving the ball to find open shots and playing very good defense.”

Baldwin is averaging 12.2 points per game and has hit 41 three-pointers on the season.

Against the Gorillas on Thursday, the Cougars played another spirited game, as their intensity and speed has been impressive in this late part of the season. Jaron Baldwin led the Cougars with 17 points while the good Nick Franks notched 14 points in the victory.

“The offense is great,” Baldwin told The Independent. “We’ve got players getting better all around and getting more comfortable finding ways to score which is something we struggled with earlier in the season.”

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Micah Holmes leads Eagles with 16 points…

The Lakeside Eagles got a big win over Medical Lake to take 3rd place in the NEA District 7 1A tournament to keep their season going, knocking off the Cardinals 77-57.

Lakeside fell 0behind early, spotting Medical Lake a 17-14 first quarter lead. That would be the last time the Cradinals led in the game as the Eagles rallied in the second quarter to overcome the deficit and take a 5 point lead into halftime. Lakeside continued to push the lead in the third and put things away for good in the fourth with 27-14 score in the final frame to leave the outcome in little doubt.

Micah Holmes led four players in double figures for Lakeside with 16 points, while teammates Tristan Cox and Crosby Geisa added 14 points apiece.

Medical Lake was led by Alex Stith with 18 points.

The win moves Lakeside onto the NEA/CTL crossover Feb. 16 with anothyer chance to reach regionals with a win. Gametime and location are TBD.

Chewelah sending a Royal Rumble-like lineup to Mat Classic with expanded brackets…

All 14 Chewelah Cougars advanced directly into the state tournament last Friday when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) announced the canceling of all regional wrestling tournaments across the entire state due to the large winter storm that swept through over the weekend. When heavy snow and high velocity winds were forecast throughout the state, causing hazardous driving conditions, the WIAA cancelled all boys and girls regional tournaments that should have taken place last Saturday.

The announcement by the WIAA went on to state that the state tournament would be doubling the size of the weight class brackets to include 32 wrestlers. The top four finishers from the district tournaments will now advance straight to this year’s Mat Classic without having to battle their way through regional qualifying. To accommodate twice as many entrants into the state finale, the WIAA worked with event managers at the Tacoma Dome over the weekend to formulate a two-day tournament that will begin this Friday morning. More

Zimmerman and Link led Selkirk in loss…

Selkirk took on top-seeded Almira-Coulee-Hartline in the second semi-final of the NEA District 7 1B tournament with a stake in the final and an automatic birth to the regional tournament on the line. Both teams put up a strong fight, but it was the Warriors coming out on top 47-38.

ACH came out on top in a low-scoring first half that saw the Rangers held to just 2 points in the second quarter and 11 points total in the half to fall behind 18-11. However, Selkirk came out of the half looking to claw back into the game and finished the third down by just 2 points after outscoring ACH 13-8. The Warriors bounced right back in the fourth, though, to push the lead and the game out of reach for good to secure their spot in the district final against Odessa.

Ryan Zimmerman and Jay Link led the way for Selkirk with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Reece Isaak was the leading scorer for ACH with 13 in the win. The loss sends Selkirk to the consolation bracket where they will take on Inchelium in a loser-out game Feb. 13 starting at 5:45 p.m. at Deer Park High School.

Wellpinit falls in semis

Wellpinit found themselves up against top-seed Almira-Coulee-Hartline with an automatic birth to the regional tournament on the line Tuesday in a NEA District 7 1B semi-final but came out on the losing end 76-33.

The Warriors, who went undefeated in league play and dropped just one game all year, put the game in little doubt right from the get go, racing out to a 20-5 first quarter lead and followed that up with a 23-10 second quarter to take an overwhelming 28 point lead over the Redskins into the half. It was much of the same in the second half as ACH continued to push the lead and cruise to the victory and a matchup with Selkirk int he district final.

Amelia Seyler was the top scorer for Wellpinit with 12 points and Christina Flett added another 7 in the loss. Sarah Bradshaw led all scorers with 21 points for the Warriors. Wellpinit will look to keep their postseason alive with a loser-out game against Odessa in the consolation bracket Feb. 13 at 5:45 p.m. The game will take place at Deer Park High School.

Northport season ends

Northport squared off with Curlew in loser-out action of the NEA District 7 1B tournament but wound up on the losing end 53-33.

Curlew jumped all over the Mustangs right out of the gate, topping Northport with a 20-3 first quarter score and extending the lead to 23 by the half. The Mustangs couldn’t seem to get their offense rolling until the fourth quarter when they outscored the Cougars 15-11, but by then the game was already out of reach.

Korin Baker led all scorers with 38 points in the win for Curlew. The loss ends the season for Northport, who finish out the year with a 9-12 overall record, 7-8 in league play.

Selkirk advance to district title game against ACH…

Selkirk and Inchelium faced off in a semi-final matchup of the NEA Distirct 7 1B tournament. A win would put the Rangers in the finals of the tournament and guarantee a spot in the regional tournament, which is exactly what Selkirk got, pulling off a 59-43 win over the Hornets.

It took to the second quarter before one of the teams made a move after a 6-6 tie in the first. Selkirk kicked things up a notch in the second when the offense caught up with the defense, posting an 18-7 period score to take a comfortable 11 point lead into the half. The Rangers offense kept clicking in the third allowing the team to build that lead up to 19 as they went into the final quarter of play. A small Hornet run was nowhere near enough to overcome the Selkirk lead, and the Rangers punched their ticket into the next round.

Jenna Couch led three players in double figure scoring for the Rangers with a game-high 24 points. Bree Dawson added 17 points, and Whitney Dawson pitched in 10 for Selkirk.

Meika Heath was the leading scorer for Inchelium with 17 points.

Selkirk takes on league champ Almira-Coulee-Hartline for the district title Feb. 16 at 5:15 p.m. at Deer Park High School.

The Chewelah girls are still alive in the District 7 2B Tournament. (File photo)

Smith and Fitzgerald lead Cougs to victory…

Chewelah stifled the Tekoa-Rosalia offense for most of their loser-out game in the Girls NEA District 7 2B tournament Monday en route to an easy 43-23 victory to move on to the next round. More

It was a team effort for the Chewelah Cougars on Monday night. (File photo)

Cougars now two wins away from the regional basketball tournament…

Chewelah knocked off Kettle Falls in a loser-out game to stay alive in the NEA District 7 2B tournament on Monday. The Cougars pulled things together in the second half to get the win 60-46.

Chewelah had previously fell to Kettle Falls in two regular season matchups.

Kettle Falls had taken a moderate lead by outscoring Chewelah 33-26 through the first two quarters of the game. The second half turned into a completely different story as the Cougars flipped the script, storming out of the gates with 15-6 third quarter score to take a 2 point lead into the final frame. The fourth quarter was much of the same for Chewelah, displaying both strong scoring, and a stout defense to pull away for the 14 point win. More

EWU All-American QB Gubrub approved for transfer to WSU…

Eastern Washington quarterback Gage Gubrub had his medical redshirt approved by the NCAA and he will transfer to WSU to try for the starting QB spot. Gubrub earned his bachelor’s degree from EWU last fall and will enroll in graduate courses this week. Gubrub is an All-American quarterback for EWU and after a season-ending injury this year ended his senior season with the Eagles early, he applied for a transfer to WSU. Click here for the full story.  More

Franks leads Cougars with 16 points…

A 34-5 run by Liberty in the third quarter lifted the squad past Chewelah 74-43 in the District 7 2B Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals at West Valley HS on Thursday.

Nicholas Franks led the Cougars with 16 points. More