Class AA Legion tourney

begins Thursday in Trail

TRAIL, British Columbia - The class AA American Legion baseball tournament starts Thursday, and the top-seeded Coeur d'Alene Lumbermen (36-19, 17-3 North Idaho League) open on Friday - or perhaps Thursday.

If No. 6 seed Sandpoint (7-14, 4-12) beats No. 3 seed Prairie (20-20, 12-7) in the tourney's 11 a.m. opener Thursday, Coeur d'Alene would face Sandpoint that night at 7. If Prairie wins, the Cardinals would face No. 2 seed Lewis-Clark (27-17, 12-5) at 7, and Coeur d'Alene would open Friday at 9 a.m. vs. the winner of Thursday's 2:30 p.m. game between No. 4 Trail (20-24, 9-9) and No. 5 Cranbrook (6-38, 0-20).

Though it had a better league record than Cranbrook, Sandpoint is automatically the No. 6 seed for the six-team tournament because the Lakers joined the league late and were unable to schedule four games against each league team.

The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m. The top two teams advance to state next weekend in Twin Falls.

CLASS AA AREA A (DISTRICT) TOURNAMENT

At Butler Park, Trail

Thursday

Game 1 - No. 3 Prairie (20-20) vs. No. 6 Sandpoint (7-14), 11 a.m.

Game 2 - No. 4 Trail (20-24) vs. No. 5 Cranbrook (6-38), 2:30 p.m.

Game 3 - No. 2 Lewis-Clark (27-17) vs. Prairie-Sandpoint winner (if Prairie), 7 p.m.

Friday

Game 4 - No. 1 Coeur d'Alene (36-19) vs. Trail-Cranbrook winner, 9 a.m.

Game 5 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 12:30 p.m., loser out

Game 6 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 7 p.m., loser out

Saturday

Game 7 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 11 a.m., winner to state

Game 8 - Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 p.m., loser out

Game 9 - Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 6 p.m., winner to state, loser out

Sunday

Game 10 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 11 a.m., championship

Game 11 - If-necessary championship game if Winner Game 9 wins Game 10

Loggers, Cardinals

open tourney today

OSBURN - The Coeur d'Alene Loggers will open the Area A (district) baseball tournament today as the third seed against the sixth-seeded Prairie Cardinals at Morehouse Field.

Lewis-Clark will be the top seed, with Moscow as the second seed.

St. Maries will face host Silver Valley in other opening round game today at 5.

The top two teams advance to the state tournament July 28-Aug. 1 at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario. Ore.

CLASS A AREA A (DISTRICT) TOURNAMENT

At Morehouse Field, Osburn

Game 1 - No. 6 Prairie vs. No. 3 Coeur d'Alene, 2 p.m.

Game 2 - No. 4 St. Maries vs. No. 5 Silver Valley, 5 p.m.

Thursday

Game 3 - Winner Game 2 vs. No. 1 Lewis-Clark, 5 p.m.

Game 4 - Winner Game 1 vs. No. 2 Moscow, 2 p.m.

Friday

Game 5 - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m. (loser out)

Game 6 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m. (loser out)

Game 7 - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 5 p.m.

Saturday

Game 8 - Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 2 p.m. (loser out)

Game 9 - Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 p.m. (loser out)

Sunday

Game 10 - Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 1 p.m. (winner to state if unbeaten, loser also as second seed)

Game 11 - Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10, 4 p.m. (if necessary)

Stars hosting AAU

girls hoop tourney

SPOKANE - The Spokane Stars host the Summer Heat 2011 AAU girls basketball tournament Friday and Saturday at The Warehouse athletic facility.

The tournament is NCAA-sanctioned this year for the first time, Stars president and tournament director Ron Adams said. He said he expects coaches from two dozen NCAA schools to attend.

Admission is $5 for a day pass.

In the Elite Division, there's the Spokane Sandpipers, North Idaho Elite, Club Shock Red (Arlington, Wash.), Spokane Stars Red, T-Rain (Seattle), Spokane Stars Blue, Lake Elite (Seattle) and Inland Empire Magic (Spokane).

There are 14 more teams in the All-Star Division.

Title games in both divisions are scheduled for Saturday at 3:15 p.m.

AFL sets schedule for

opening round of playoffs

With one week remaining in the 2011 regular season, the Arena Football League has set the schedule for the first round of the playoffs.

In the National Conference, Arizona will host defending ArenaBowl champion Spokane on July 29 at 7 p.m. Last season, Spokane defeated Arizona 57-49 in the first round.

Chicago will host Dallas at 5:30 in another opening round game. Chicago won both matchups this season.

In the American Conference, the Cleveland Gladiators will host the Georgia Force or Orlando Predators on July 31 at noon.

Jacksonville will face either Orlando or Georgia on the NFL Network on July 29.

Georgia holds the tiebreaker over Orlando, but if Orlando wins this weekend and Georgia loses, Jacksonville will host Georgia and Cleveland will host Orlando.

Shock activate Vijil, Sheffield;

Sammons, Tevaga to IR

Wide receiver Raul Vijil and quarterback Steven Sheffield have been activated from the injured reserve list, while offensive lineman Shannon Tevaga and receiver Emery Sammons were placed on injured reserve in roster moves announced by the Spokane Shock.

Vijil has 66 receptions for 715 yards and 20 touchdowns in nine games this season. Sheffield has played in two games this season and passed for 96 yards and two touchdowns.

Spokane travels to Jacksonville in the regular season finale on Friday.

State Farm signs on as

title sponsor of GU game

SEATTLE - State Farm Insurance has signed a three-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the Battle in Seattle.

The Battle is an annual men's college basketball game with Gonzaga at KeyArena in Seattle. This year will feature the Bulldogs taking on the University of Arizona on Dec. 17 in the ninth game in the event.

Coaches, media tab EWU

to win Big Sky football title

If both the coaches and media polls are correct, Eastern Washington's football home opener with Montana State on Sept. 24 could go a long way to decide the 2011 Big Sky Conference championship.

In narrow balloting decided by a few votes in both polls, the Eagles edged Montana State as the preseason pick by both the coaches and media to win the Big Sky title, the league office announced.

Within league coaches, Eastern received six first-place votes and 60 total votes, with MSU received 57 points and was first on three ballots. The Eagles also edged MSU in the media poll, receiving 29 first-place votes and 430 total votes, compared to 19 and 414 for MSU respectively.

Montana, which had won or shared the last 12 league titles before last season, was picked third in both polls. The Grizzlies failed to advance to the FCS Playoffs for the first time since 1992.

The Eagles and Bobcats both finished 7-1 in the league last season, with MSU winning the regular season game between the two 30-7 in Bozeman.

Following that setback, Eastern won 11straight games and the NCAA Division 1 championship.

The Eagles open with three straight road games, including at Washington (Sept. 3), South Dakota (Sept. 10) and Montana (Sept. 17).

Sacramento State is picked to finish fourth in both polls. The next two in the coaches poll are Northern Arizona and Weber State, but were reversed by the media. Both have Portland State, Northern Colorado and Idaho State as the bottom three teams.

Ron Raver Classic set for

Aug. 3 in Liberty Lake

The 24th annual Ron Raver Memorial Golf Classic will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 3 at Liberty Lake and MeadowWood golf courses.

The scramble format tournament begins at 1 p.m. with a shotgun start. Special "team handicapping" will be used, as each team will be assigned a handicap and will begin the tournament under par.

Entry fees are $125 as an individual or $500 for a team of four, with net proceeds going toward athletic scholarships at Eastern Washington University and includes lunch, dinner, beverages, range balls, green fees, cart and tickets to an EWU football game.

Information: (509) 359-2463 or www.goeags.com

WAC Sports Network

names football announcers

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - The WAC Sports Network announced that broadcaster Barry Tompkins and former NCAA coach Joe Glenn will comprise the football broadcast team for its nine slated games this season.

The pair will debut for the first time on Sept. 17 when Nevada travels to San Jose State.

Idaho is scheduled to play on the network three times when Fresno State travels to Moscow on Sept. 24, Idaho plays at San Jose State on Nov. 5 and at Nevada on Dec. 3.

Additional games, subject to ESPN selections are: Oct. 22 - Fresno State at Nevada; Oct. 29 - Nevada at New Mexico State; Nov. 12 - Fresno State at New Mexico State; Nov. 19 - Fresno State at Hawaii; Nov. 26 - Nevada at Utah State.