Selkirk edges by Inchelium…

Selkirk wiggled by Inchelium with a strong fourth quarter that propelled them to a 53-26 victory.

The Rangers (10-7, 9-3) took the slimmest of leads over the Hornets (10-6, 7-4) into the fourth quarter, leading Inchelium 32-31 after three. A 21-15 fourth quarter helped Selkirk breathe easier en route to the win.

Jenna Couch had 17 points for Selkirk, and Whitney Dawson added in 17 points of her own in the win. Inchelium was led by Rylee Desautel with 16 points. Selkirk will head off to Odessa for a Jan. 25 game at 6 p.m. More

Selkirk topples Inchelium…

Selkirk took an early lead at home and never relinquished it on their way to a 75-65 win over Inchelium.

The Rangers (10-7, 9-3) took an 8 point lead over the Hornets (10-6, 8-4) into the half and did just enough to hold onto that lead the rest of the way, breaking a tie with Inchelium and taking over possession of third place in the league.

Selkirk was led in scoring by Jay Link with 19 points, while Ryan Zimmerman and Zach Curran added 16 and 15, respectively. Robert McKinney had a game high 20 points for Inchelium in the loss. Selkirk travels to take on Odessa Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. More

Chel-C Bailey has moved into MMA after being a wrestler and also is working on becoming a race horse jockey. (Courtesy photos)

Geno Ludwig catches up with Chewelah’s state championship wrestler Chel-C Bailey…

I remember my first experience with girls wrestling. I was coaching middle school wrestling and we were at Deer Park. The referee walked into our locker room and said he needed to talk to me and to our young man who was going to wrestle a girl. We walked over to a vacant corner of the locker room and he proceeded to lecture my wrestler on what he was going to do and what he was not going to do. His instructions went something like this:

“You’re going to go out there and win the match as quickly as you can. Do you understand? Pin her as fast as you can, but be very careful not to touch certain parts of her body and to not get into any explicit positions with her on the mat. You know what I mean, right?”

My eighth grader nodded his head. He had evidently paid attention during his sex education classes. The match went as intended. He pinned her in just a few seconds without getting into any visually awkward positions. The referee raised his hand while breathing an audible sigh of relief and the remainder of the evening’s agenda continued without a glitch. More

Chewelah’s Carl Oman goes up with the ball during NE 2B North Division action against Davenport last weekin Chewelah. (K.S. Brooks photo)

Oman and Baldwin come up big for the Cougars in win over Davenport, Chewelah defeated by Kettle Falls…

Basketball is for the tall, it is said, but there are a couple of players on the Chewelah roster who would definitely disagree with that assessment. Carl Oman and Jaron Baldwin, two of the shortest Cougars on the floor, combined for 43 points last Friday night in a 69-51 come from behind win over Davenport. The visiting Gorillas held a 30-26 lead after a seesaw first half, but Chewelah roared into the lead midway through the third period to notch the northern division victory.

Oman scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to spearhead the Cougar counterattack. Baldwin scored 11 of Chewelah’s 13 first period points and contributed nine more after halftime for a 20-point performance. Also in double-digits for the Cougars were Nick Franks with 12 points and Jake George with another dozen. More

HI, CARL: Chewelah’s Carl Oman gets fouled by St. George’s during NE 2B North Division play last Friday. (Brandon Hansen photo)

Chewelah falls to St. George’s but picks up first league win at Wilbur-Creston…

The top-ranked St. George’s Dragons came to Chewelah with an undefeated league record last Friday night and returned home to Spokane still unblemished at 4-0 after defeating the Cougars 76-42. Using their dominating height advantage and profiting from Chewelah turnovers, the visiting Dragons dashed to a 23-5 first quarter lead. They then outscored the Cougars in the three remaining periods with a trio of players in double-digits.

Friday’s loss dropped the Cougars to 5-8 for the season, but a 65-43 victory at Wilbur-Creston the following night earned Chewelah another notch in the wins column. They are now 1-3 in northern division play.

A long three-pointer from the corner by John Larson and a driving jumper from Jaron Baldwin accounted for Chewelah’s only baskets of the opening period. The Cougars got their share of shots, but most refused to drop through the hoop. More

Lexi Robertson puts up a shot against St. George’s during last week’s NE 2B North play. (Brandon Hansen photo)

Lady Cougs pick up league win against Wilbur-Creston…

Bailey Smith scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the first half as she led the Chewelah Cougars to a 55-30 league victory at Wilbur last Saturday night. Smith was one of only a few girls on the floor who could get the ball to drop through the hoop as both teams shot a low percentage from the floor and from the free throw line. She scored nine of Chewelah’s 15 points in the opening period and five more before halftime as the Lady Cougars pulled away to take a 28-12 lead and continued to double-up the Wildcats in the second half for the win.

Saturday’s win on the road offset Friday night’s 54-35 home loss to the St. George’s Dragons. The Cougars entered this week’s schedule with a 9-4 season record, 2-2 in league play. They are currently in fourth place in the northern division standings.

Smith drained four shots in the first eight minutes with three layups and a short jumper from the side. A rebound basket from Natalie Sheppard, a layup by Taya Tapia and two free throws from Alyssa Fitzgerald gave the Cougars a 15-7 lead over the young Wildcats who have two eighth graders on their varsity roster. More

126-pounder Justyce Acosta got the best of his opponents at the NE B Northern Division tournament last week. He won three matches, two by pins. (Courtesy photo)

Cougars sharpen claws against B schools, also compete in Tonasket…

Wrestling teams from the Northeast B League’s northern division gathered in Pein-Lynch Gym last Thursday evening to initiate the seeding process into the upcoming regional tournament that will take place on February 9 at Liberty. Some wrestlers had to wrestle as many as three times, while others did not have to walk out on the mat at all depending on the number of combatants in their respective weight brackets.

In all, 54 matches were fought on two mats through nearly two and a half hours of combat. Wrestlers from the northern division of the league will meet again at Wilbur on January 26, and at Springdale on February 2 to further determine seeding into the regional tournament. Teams competing were Wilbur-Creston, Almira-Coulee-Hartline, Springdale, Kettle Falls, Republic-Curlew, Selkirk, Inchelium and Chewelah. More

Here is who is looking like a contender with the wrestling postseason looming…

There are a lot of wrestlers in NE Washington and a lot of good wrestling programs. Starting now until the Mat Classic in the Tacoma Dome, we will try and highlight some of the standouts in the area.

We get our rankings from washingtonwrestlingreport.net.

There are currently three kids from Stevens County ranked No. 1 in the state with many more among the top contenders for a state title. Chewelah is the No. 8-ranked wrestling program in the state for the Bs, while Colville is the No. 3-ranked wrestling program for the 1As.

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Hunters gets the win…

Hunters put together another solid win Saturday playing host to the Republic Tigers and coming away with the 40-33 victory.

The Lions (2-9, 1-4) took a slim 2 point lead over Republic (0-8, 0-5) into the half but came out firing in the second, extending that lead to 14. Hunters needed every one of those points as the Tigers attempted to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, ultimately coming up short.

Lexi Nelson scored 18 for Hunters in the win.

Hunters will travel to take on Almira-Coulee-Hartline next on Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
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Wellpinit wins on the road…

Wellpinit outplayed Norhtport steadily throughout in their Friday night league matchup and wrnt home with a 49-34 win.

Wellpinit (9-3, 3-2) outscored Northport (6-8, 3-4) in all four quarters to continue to build up their lead and cruise to the win.

Christina Flett led all scorers in the game with 16 points, and her Wellpinit teammates Ashlynn Hill and Jada Orr added 14 and 13, respectively. Hailey Young topped the scoring for Northport with 12 points. More