West Plains sports teams are as exciting as GU if given a chance

Saturday, March 25, 2017 will go down in history for Gonzaga basketball fans as it was the day the Bulldogs earned their first trip to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament after they defeated Xavier.

While most of my friends were watching the game and cluttering social media with pictures and posts, celebrating the Bulldogs’ win, I was watching the Cheney High baseball team come back from a one-run deficit to defeat Lakeside, 3-2, then turnaround and beat Medical Lake, 5-4.

I get it. It’s March Madness and men’s college basketball is king, especially in a city like Spokane whose love for the Bulldogs knows no bounds.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never really been a Gonzaga fan. I graduated from Eastern Washington University and I root for the Eagles. I’m also a Spokane Falls Community College graduate and I try and keep up with Community Colleges of Spokane athletics — which, no offense to Swoop and Spike the Bulldog, has one of the coolest mascots in college athletics: Skitch the Sasquatch.

Before you get on my case about being a “Zag hater,” I do want to give props to head coach Mark Few and his team for making it to the Final Four for the first time in the program’s history.

Yet what’s been grinding my gears lately is how the fans treat Gonzaga like they are the only great sports team in the area.

GU has had a successful program — making the NCAA tournament for 19 consecutive years. However, the Bulldogs are not the only successful team in Spokane County. There are a lot of good programs at different levels in the area, especially on the West Plains.

At the high school level, you have Cheney High School sports. In the last 12 months, Blackhawk fans have watched the softball team win its second District 7 title. The boys tennis team captured its second consecutive Great Northern League championship and the girls’ tennis team claimed its first district trophy — with athletes from both teams competing in the state championships. The Blackhawks’ boys cross country team finished fourth at the state championships — with Isaiah Rigo winning his third straight state title in the wheelchair race.

There were also athletes on both golf, swim and track and field teams, as well as bowling gymnastics, and wrestling, who won individual district titles and/or competed in their respective state championships.

Down the road are Medical Lake High School athletics. The boys’ tennis team won their first District 7 title, boys’ cross country took home another second-place trophy from state. The girls’ basketball team won both the Northeast A League and district championships and made a state appearance. Like Cheney, Medical Lake had athletes from track and field and wrestling compete in state.

Outside of the high school programs, the West Plains Little League All-Stars won the District 13 title and competed in the state tournament.

Sure, comparing little league and high school sports to college athletics is like comparing apples to oranges, which brings me to EWU’s sports teams. The success of the basketball teams, both of whom competed in a postseason tournament, and the football team, which begins spring practice on April 3, have been covered extensively. There have been other successes in Eastern athletics, including:

● The Eagles’ women’s soccer team winning the 2016 Big Sky Conference championship and making it to the NCAA tournament.

● Sarah Reiter finishing in the top 100 at the NCAA Division I Cross Country championships.

● Keshun McGee taking first and second in the long jump and triple jump events at the Big Sky Indoor track championships and winning the “Big Sky Conference male freshman of the year” award.

I’m not saying that people in the area shouldn’t root for the Bulldogs when they play on Saturday. What I’m suggesting is take in the West Plains sports scene if you’re looking for something local to watch after the NCAA tournament. You might find a new favorite team or athlete.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].