Eagles suffer loss ahead of conference tourney
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months AGO
Kiree Huie (15) drives to the paint against an Idaho defender during their game Monday. The Eastern Washington mens team lost to the Vandals 85-81 in a competitive battle to close the regular season.
COURTESY PHOTO/BRAEDEN HARLOW/EWU ATHLETICS
CHENEY — The Eastern Washington Eagles (13-18) were white hot coming into their game against the Vandals on an eight-game win streak. However, their momentum ran out at home as Idaho outscored the Eagles 85-81 on Monday.
“They just had an edge to them tonight,” Associate Head Coach Ryan Lundgren said. “They were the tougher team tonight, bottom line. I mean, they just wanted that game more than us."
After a competitive first half, the Eagles trailed 34-30, by the end of the game, that proved to be the difference maker. In the second half, both teams elevated their level of play.
According to a statement by EWU Athletics, the Eagles continued to battle, cutting into the lead behind free throws from Isaiah Moses and a second-chance three from Alton Hamilton IV that gave Eastern Washington a brief 63-62 advantage with under six minutes to play. Anderson was aggressive late, attacking the rim and scoring 15 in the second half.
“He's a competitor. He made some big plays. He got to the rim,” Lundgren said. “Alton made some big finishes. And obviously, Isaiah stepped up, made free throws like he normally does. So, we did some good things, but it really came down to lack of defensive effort and rebounding the ball. We just didn't get it done.”
Idaho answered with key baskets down the stretch to seal the four-point decision. According to Idaho Athletics, multiple players stepped up big for them down the stretch. Jackson Rasmussen led the team with 14 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Not far behind him was Biko Johnson with 13 points and four assists.
Despite the loss, Lundgren sees it as an opportunity for the team to reset ahead of the conference tournament.
“Hopefully we can use this as something to recalibrate us because we didn't play with the same edge that we have the last month,” he said. “It's almost like we got up eight-nothing and expected, here we go again. We just didn't do the things you need to do to have a big win.”
With a week before its next game, Eastern Washington will regroup before traveling to Boise for the conference tournament where they will play as the third seed against Weber State Monday at 7 p.m.
“We'll watch film, get some shots up, take a day off and have a couple good practices,” Lundgren said. “It's truly win or go home. We've got to turn the page. We're zero and zero now.”
BOX SCORE:
UI: 34-51: 85
EWU: 30-51: 81
ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
Correia reflects on making All-State team
COULEE CITY — Multiple basin athletes qualified to play in the All-State Baseball Series from June 27-28 in Yakima, with Almira/Coulee-Hartline graduate, Caden Correia being one of them. Correia said he was initially selected for a feeder game ahead of his state qualification. “I was at practice one day, and my head coach (Hunter Lee) came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, you got selected for an All State feeder game,’” said Correia. “I actually got invited to two, the Central Washington one and the Spokane one.” Correia said he decided to go with the Spokane feeder game since it was taking place at Avista Stadium and he had a desire to compete at that venue. Once he played there, Correia was informed that he was also selected to play for Team Baker in the All State games, an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.
Quincy standout ‘Duckie’ Workinger returns home to lead Vikings womens wrestling
MOSES LAKE — Shannon “Duckie” Workinger was named the new head coach of women’s wrestling at Big Bend Community College on June 18, bringing one of the Basin’s own back to help build the next generation of women’s wrestlers. “I'm super excited,” Workinger said. “I spent some time wrestling at different places, and it feels really good to be able to come back to the community that I was born in and really establish more connections here and build on the ones that I already have, and just help grow our Basin into a great wrestling (community), even better than it already is, because we have some good wrestlers that come from here.”
ACH wrestlers earn All-American honors at women’s national duals
COULEE CITY — Karis Butler and Kyanna Garza from Almira/Coulee-Hartline earned All-American status after a strong showing in the 2026 Women’s National Duals in Westfield, Indiana that ran from June 16-20. “It feels really good,” Karis said. “It was very surprising last year when I got on here, and then this year they were like, ‘You can go to whatever weight class you want,’ and it made me feel very recognized for the hard work I've put in.” Wrestlers competed in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman throughout the four-day tournament. Karis competed in both earning a 7-1 record in freestyle and 4-3 in Greco-Roman. Throughout her path in the tournament, she noted a lot of growth as a wrestler came out of it.