Winter storm pummels Palouse, Camas Prairie
=Snow, rain soak region; more rain expected today but milder
weather by the weekend=
By Josh Babcock of the Lewiston Trib
PULLMAN - The National Weather Service in Spokane issued a
winter storm warning for much of the Palouse and a winter weather advisory for
sections of the Camas Prairie on Thursday.
A mixture of snow and rain, generated from a system coming
off the Pacific Ocean, pelted the Palouse and the prairie, while wind gusts of
as much as 30 mph pushed through the two regions Thursday night.
Lewiston didn't see any snow from the storm, but rain soaked
the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and gusts at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County
Airport were expected to top about 22 mph.
The precipitation tested the limits of Paradise Creek in
Moscow, where water levels stood at about 6 feet Thursday afternoon.
Tyler Palmer, deputy director of Moscow's streets, fleet,
water and water reclamation divisions, said he didn't expect the creek to
flood, noting flooding starts when the creek exceeds 8.2 feet of water.
Palmer said when water rises to that level, Third Street and
Roosevelt Street in Moscow begin to see water on the roadway.
"We might creep up around 8 feet. We might see a little
localized flooding, but we don't expect any more than that," he said.
Palmer said significant flooding begins to occur when the water
rises to 9 feet.
"It may be a good time to view Palouse Falls,"
said Greg Koch, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane
Koch said the storm was expected to have completely passed
through the region at about 7 p.m. Thursday, and with the storm making an exit,
the sun is expected to eventually shine through.
"(Today) will be off and on rain showers, with less
than one-tenth of an inch of accumulation," Koch forecasted for the
Palouse and Lewiston area. "As we move into the weekend we will have a
couple of days around 40 degrees."
More specifically, Pullman has a 40 percent chance of rain
today, the L-C Valley has a 20 percent chance and Grangeville has a 30 to 60
percent chance of showers; the three regions are expected to have a high
temperature of about 40 degrees.
However, both the Palouse and the L-C Valley are expected to
have partly sunny Saturdays. According to the National Weather Service,
precipitation is not expected for the Palouse and L-C Valley. The same can't be
said for Grangeville and the Camas Prairie, where the forecast calls for a 20
percent chance of rain and no sun.
Sunday is expected to be "mostly sunny" with high
temperatures estimated in the low 40s for all three geographical areas.
Koch said the storm and sun pattern should help alleviate
flooding problems similar to what Moscow experienced last year.
"We need the opportunity for some of our rivers to come
down," he said. "In general it's good to have these milder and warmer
systems come in January and February so we can melt some of the low-level
snowpack we have - in contrast to last year when we had a lot of snow buildup
and heated up in February."
/////////////////
Flynn and Pickens each drain seven treys, but Stanford uses
late surge to pick up Pac-12 win
By Joshua Grissom Moscow Pullman Daily News
PULLMAN - Washington State basketball fans can be forgiven
if they thought they were seeing the ghost of a former great on the hardwood
Thursday night.
Sophomore point guard Malachi Flynn mustered his best
impression of Golden State sharpshooter Klay Thompson, sinking a career-high
seven 3-pointers in a Pac-12 contest against Stanford. But not to be outdone,
Dorian Pickens swished seven treys of his own, leading the Cardinal to a 79-70
road victory in front of 2,540 spectators at Beasley Coliseum.
"I thought we had a terrific first half, and for
Malachi (it was) one of the better games he played," Washington State
coach Ernie Kent said. "But it was almost to a fault. He played so well
that our offense became stagnant because he was in such a zone."
Flynn poured in 18 of his 24 points in the first half to
give the Cougars (8-8 overall, 0-4 Pac-12) a seven-point lead at the break. But
his squad went cold in the second period, shooting 29.6 percent down the
stretch as the Cardinal (9-8 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) staged a comeback.
"I think we took a couple bad shots, I know I
did," Flynn said. "But then some of them just didn't drop that (we)
normally make. Other than that, I don't know."
Stanford junior Reid Travis entered the game as the second
leading scorer in the Pac-12, but Washington State held the standout forward to
single digits for the first time this season. Pickens picked up the offensive
slack for the Cardinal with a 28-point performance on 10-of-14 shooting while
teammates Kezie Okpala and Daejon Davis added another 21 and 15 respectively.
"The coaches drew up a good game plan and we just knew
most of their plays and how he was going to attack us," senior Drick
Bernstine said of Travis. "I think we did a good job of taking him away,
but then we let somebody else get hot, which is part of the game. That's
usually what happens, somebody stepped up for them tonight and there's nothing
you can really do with that."
After surrendering a season-high 23 turnovers in Saturday's
loss to Washington, the Cougars followed it up with a 22-turnover performance
against the Cardinal, with Bernstine and Robert Franks losing possession a
combined 13 times.
"It's not anything that coach is doing, it's only the
players, it's on us, honestly," Bernstine said. "When you turn over
the ball 22 times in a game, it's going to be hard to win no matter who you're
playing. They weren't even forced turnovers, I think they only had four steals.
When the game comes down to us just making mental mistakes, that's usually
what's going to happen, we're going to come out with an L."
Washington State has an opportunity to snap its current
three-game skid when the program plays host to California in a 1 p.m. contest
Saturday.
"As a coaching staff, there's not a lot you can
do," Kent said. "You can't speed up the process of experience, you
have to let it take its course. ... At some point in time, you'd hope through
the adversity of these games they start to figure some things out."
INJURY REPORT - Washington State received a stroke of bad
luck when Viont'e Daniels locked legs with an official near the baseline in the
opening minutes of the second half. The junior guard immediately fell to the
floor and clutched his ankle before slowly getting to his feet with some
assistance.
"Where I have a problem is in a key point in the game
we run over the official and I lose a key player - our most consistent player -
and it knocks my offense out of rhythm," Kent said.
Daniels visited with athletic trainers for several moments
and reentered the game as a substitute, but the junior left the court after
less than a minute of action and sat on the bench the rest of the night,
finishing with six points and three boards.
"All of our officials do a tremendous job, they really
do," Kent said. "But for having our third game, where a critical
point in the game we collide with an official in the dead corner, there's a
problem with that. The game has changed, there's no longer two players standing
high up on the wings. Teams run, just like Golden State, San Antonio, Houston -
we're no different."
STANFORD (9-8)
Humphrey 0-1 0-0 0, Da Silva 2-5 0-0 4, Travis 1-6 4-7 6,
Davis 6-7 1-2 15, Pickens 10-14 1-2 28, Pugh 0-0 0-1 0, Okpala 6-11 8-9 21,
Sharma 0-0 0-0 0, White 2-8 0-0 5, Cartwright 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 14-21 79.
WASHINGTON ST. (8-8)
Bernstine 4-5 0-2 8, Franks 3-7 1-1 8, Hinson 2-4 0-0 5,
Daniels 1-2 4-4 6, Flynn 7-21 3-5 24, Pollard 4-5 1-2 9, Chidom 0-1 0-0 0,
Acquaah 4-9 1-2 10, Skaggs 0-4 0-0 0, Shpreyregin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 10-16
70.
Halftime-Washington St. 45-38. 3-Point Goals-Stanford 11-25
(Pickens 7-10, Davis 2-3, Okpala 1-2, White 1-6, Humphrey 0-1, Travis 0-1, Da
Silva 0-2), Washington St. 10-29 (Flynn 7-15, Acquaah 1-2, Hinson 1-3, Franks
1-3, Chidom 0-1, Daniels 0-1, Skaggs 0-4). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Stanford
22 (Da Silva, Travis 6), Washington St. 38 (Bernstine 12). Assists-Stanford 12
(Davis 4), Washington St. 12 (Flynn 4). Total Fouls-Stanford 19, Washington St.
21. A-2,540 (11,671)
…………………
Analysis: Washington State commits 22 turnovers, loses 79-70
to Stanford despite season low from Reid Travis
UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 11, 2018, 10:42 p.m.
By Theo Lawson Spokane S-R
Stanford slips past Washington State in second half for
79-70 victory
PULLMAN – On Thursday night against Stanford, Washington
State’s basketball team managed the unthinkable. Twice.
First was keeping one of the country’s most imposing post
players in check. Reid Travis, the second-leading scorer in the Pac-12, came in
averaging 21.3 points per game, but the big, broad-shouldered junior had a rare
dud and was held to single digits for the first time since last season.
And second? Well that’d be losing to the Cardinal, 79-70 at
Beasley Coliseum, despite just six points on 1-of-6 shooting from Travis, who
scored four of his points from the free throw line but also missed three times
and finished well shy of his rebounding average. Not since his freshman season
had the preseason All-Pac-12 first teamer managed just one field goal in a
game.
Yet the Cardinal still found a way.
Only 2,540 came out to see the Cougars play their first home
Pac-12 game of the academic semester and the encore to a promising start – WSU
led by as many as nine points – was another sluggish finish in which the hosts
missed 12 of 13 shots at one point and endured a six minute stretch in the
second half without making a single shot from the field.
“It’s extremely frustrating and it has nothing to do with
the coaches, honestly,” senior forward Drick Bernstine said. “It’s on us. We’re
the people who are out on the floor and they’re giving us good game plans, but
we just can’t close games right now. Honestly, it’s on me and it’s on the other
leaders. We’ve got to figure out how we can close out games.”
Other overarching issues for the Cougars were turnovers –
they had 22 of them five nights after committing a season-high 23 against
Washington – and Stanford junior Dorian Pickens, who picked up the slack for
Travis and scored an efficient 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field
and 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Pickens stuck the dagger in the Cougs with two uncontested
3-pointers in the final 2:31 – one to make the score 74-67 and another to
extend it to 77-70.
“(Pickens) just had a monster game,” WSU coach Ernie Kent
said. “… He just dominated our guards. That went back to last year when we had
a hard time defending any tough guard (that) kind of came at us.”
Heading into Saturday’s game against Cal, the Cougars (8-8,
0-4) are the only Pac-12 team without a conference win. They’ve now lost eight
of their last 10.
The cold shooting was one problem for a team that connected
on 17-of-31 shots in the first half and only 8-of-27 in the second. The
Cougars’ first-half offense at times was a one-man shooting display courtesy of
Malachi Flynn. He banged in three 3-pointers in the first four minutes, then
missed one before connecting on his next three.
That gave Flynn a quick 18 points, but the sophomore guard
saw only one more shot fall after that and finished 7-of-21 with 24 points.
“They just took away Malachi,” Bernstine said. “Malachi was
hot and we didn’t execute on offense. … When you turn the ball over 22 times in
the game, it’s going to be hard to win. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing
honestly.”
In the second half, the Cougars committed 11 turnovers and
made only eight field goals.
Bernstine, often WSU’s primary ball-handler, had seven
turnovers. Robert Franks, the team’s top scorer, was responsible for another
six. The Cougars have averaged 17.5 turnovers in Pac-12 play – and that’s after
committing only eight in the opener at UCLA.
WSU led by eight points at a critical juncture in the second
half when guard Viont’e Daniels appeared to hook legs with an official in the
corner. Shaken up, Daniels left the floor and got medical attention before
returning minutes later. But the junior starter only lasted a few more minutes
before exiting for good.
Kent, who says his players have been involved in three
similar collisions the last four games, spent almost a minute and a half on the
topic in his postgame press conference, pleading for officials to adjust to a
faster-paced, higher-tempo game.
“I’m just looking at the tape where again, at a critical
point in the game, we get a key player on our team hurt that comes back and
tries to play,” Kent said. “And it’s 48-40 and he can’t play anymore because of
a collision with an official. That’s not right. The game is different now. It’s
faster, the floor is filled, the corners are filled a lot quicker and we’ve got
to get that piece figured out as a league, we’ve got to get it figured out as
an officiating group.”
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