Lake Taylor High School wins the Class 3 state football championship over Kettle Run High School at Liberty University, Dec. 13, 2025.

Dec. 13—It's Spirit Week in the Greater Spokane League. That means raucous crowds, musical numbers, cheerleaders, noisemakers — and plenty of boys and girls basketball.

The festive week is one of the highlights of the season bringing together student bodies, faculty and sports teams in the spirit of camaraderie and friendly competition. Add in the bright lights of a college or downtown arena and it makes for an annual tradition that will produce a lifetime of memories for all involved.

This year's festivities start Tuesday in Cheney, where the Blackhawks host Rogers on Reese Court at Eastern Washington University in the fifth "Railroad Rumble," the youngest of the spirit week games. The girls game starts at 5:30 p.m.; the boys are at 7:30.

Last year at the Arena, the Rogers boys won 44-39 while the Cheney girls came out on top 42-24. Rogers won the spirit competition using a "Minions" theme.

This season, the Pirates boys are off to a fast start at 3-1, while Cheney is at 2-2. Both girls teams are struggling out of the gate with a combined record of 2-7.

On Thursday, the scene shifts to the Numerica Veterans Arena downtown, where Ferris is the designated host against Lewis and Clark in the granddaddy of all of the spirit games, in the 43rd battle for Chuck the "Rubber Chicken."

The schools have been waging an intense but friendly rivalry since 1983, when a student competition was adopted to increase student spirit. The symbol of the rivalry, an ugly rubber chicken, was chosen to symbolize a reward "deeply sought but without actual value."

"I played in the 'Stinky Sneaker' back in 2012, so I love this environment," LC girls coach Sydney Floriani said last year. "It's super fun. There's nothing like playing in the Arena, and Rubber Chicken is just one of the best-attended events in Spokane."

Last year, LC swept the basketball games as the Tigers girls pulled out a close one over Ferris 52-47 and the boys won 58-49, while Chuck went to LC for the third time in four years.

The LC boys are off to a 3-3 start this season while Ferris is 2-3. Both girls teams are 3-2 thus far.

Friday night, North Central and Shadle Park go head-to-head in the "Groovy Shoes" rivalry games. Shadle swept the basketball games last season, 57-37 in the boys game and 52-42 in the girls. In the spirit competition, North Central retained the shoes for the ninth consecutive season.

This season, the NC boys are 2-2 while Shadle is 1-4. The Highlanders girls are 2-3 and NC is 0-4.

The "Stinky Sneaker" games between Central Valley and University is Feb. 3 at Eastern Washington.

The Washington State Cougars take the field against the Oregon State Beavers at Martin Stadium on Oct. 17, 2015 in Pullman. Washington State defeated Oregon State during that day's game, 52-31. (Photo by William Mancebo/Getty Images)

The Washington State University football coach is one of the highest-paid public employees in the state. Yet WSU is bringing aboard its fourth head coach since 2020.

The Pullman school announced Friday that it was hiring Kirby Moore away from Missouri to replace Jimmy Rogers, who lasted less than a year.

The question now is whether Moore’s tenure will be different and usher in a new era of stability.

Moore, 35, has been the offensive coordinator at Missouri for the past three seasons.  

He grew up in the Yakima Valley town of Prosser, and is the younger brother of New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore.

Kirby Moore was a wide receiver at Boise State from 2009-2013, then started his coaching career at the College of Idaho in 2014. Moore spent the next two seasons at the University of Washington, working as a graduate assistant and offensive assistant.

A press conference introducing Moore will be held next Tuesday. Terms of his contract were not disclosed.

“Coach Moore is the real deal, and exactly who we needed to propel us to the top of the new Pac-12,” WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell said Friday. “Our student-athletes have lucked out.”

Moore said in a statement that, “Becoming a first-time head coach at a special place like Washington State is a dream come true for my family and I.”  

WSU’s football coach is paid well over $1 million a year. Despite that salary, the position has seen recent turnover due to a combination of the pandemic and two ambitious coaches using WSU as a stepping stone.

The coaching turmoil comes as WSU seeks to stanch dropping enrollment while remaining relevant in the turbulent college football landscape. 

Cantwell has said repeatedly that a successful football program is key to reversing an enrollment decline of some 6,000 students at WSU in recent years. That starts with the right coach as Washington State University transitions to the new-look Pac-12 next season.

The highest-paid employees of the state of Washington are almost always the football and men’s basketball coaches at the University of Washington and WSU, each making well over $1 million per year. By contrast, Gov. Bob Ferguson makes about $230,000 annually.

Rogers was hired away from South Dakota State last winter for a salary of $1.57 million per year. He led the Cougars to a 6-6 record, and shortly after announced he was leaving for his dream job as head coach at Iowa State.

Prior to Rogers, Jake Dickert spent just over three years leading the Cougars, making about $2.5 million per year, before jumping ship last year for Wake Forest.

Dickert’s predecessor, Nick Rolovich, was hired in 2020 to replace the legendary Mike Leach. Rolovich coached during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, and was fired early in the 2021 season for refusing the state’s order that he get a COVID vaccination. Rolovich sued the state for $25 million, but lost in federal court.

The last football coach to spend any real time in Pullman was Leach, who was at one time the state’s highest-paid employee at $3 million per year. Leach led the Cougars to six bowl games in eight seasons before leaving after the 2019 season for Mississippi State, part of the powerful SEC. Leach died in 2022.

‘A job that coaches can have success at’

To be sure, the WSU job comes with some disadvantages. Pullman is a town of about 35,000 people located 75 miles south of Spokane in wheat farming country. It is far from the glitz of big cities, and recruiting top athletes there can be a challenge. Now that top players are demanding millions of dollars in “name, image, likeness” money to sign with a team, those difficulties are magnified.

Rogers this week insisted he did not intend to leave Pullman after one season, but could not turn down a job he had wanted for years.

“I didn’t take the Washington State job and move across the country to abandon it in one year. I didn’t,” Rogers said at his introduction Monday at Iowa State. “I took that jump because I believed in that product and what I could produce there.”

Rogers said that he would have liked to coach the Cougars in the Idaho Potato Bowl against Utah State on Dec. 22, but the administration decided an assistant coach would do that instead.

Complicating the problems at Washington State is that Athletic Director Anne McCoy was unceremoniously fired a few weeks ago by Cantwell for not raising enough in donations to the athletic department. 

For all the coaching changes, WSU’s football team has remained pretty good. The Cougars will go to their ninth bowl game in ten years this season, unprecedented success for the program.

“Washington State has proven time and again that it can be a job that coaches can have success at,” broadcaster and former Washington State quarterback Alex Brink said.

Cantwell has said the dramatic changes in the college football world that left Washington State behind require a coach who views name, image, likeness money and the transfer portal as strategic tools, not impediments.

Cantwell has also worked this year to improve the football fan experience in Pullman. That includes funding for a new scoreboard and other upgrades inside 33,000-seat Martin Stadium, in an effort to boost tepid attendance.

“We’ve got alcohol in the stands. We’ve got a whole plethora of things happening right outside the stadium,” Cantwell said. “Keep an eye on us. It’s getting better and better and better every game.”

Dec. 11—LEXINGTON, Ky. — Makenna Nold made history while she was a student-athlete at Jamestown High School.

Now, she's doing it at the next level.

Nold, now a sophomore at Concordia-St. Paul, was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division 2 Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Nold has tallied 496 kills this season, for an average of 4.28 per set. Her attack stats lead the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and is 14th at the Division 2 level. Nold's points per set stats at 5.18 are eighth in the country. She has recorded 15 double-doubles this season and has had at least 20 kills in six matches.

The Blue Jay alum has been named as both an Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week in the NSIC this season. She was also named as the NSIC Player of the Year and was voted first-team all-conference for the second straight season.

While at Jamestown High School, Nold won the Gatorade North Dakota Volleyball Player of the Year award in 2023. Her contributions helped the Blue Jays advance to the Class A state semifinals in her senior year.

The Golden Bears won this year's NSIC regular season title and was 29-5 after winning the NCAA Central Region championship last week. The Golden Bears defeated Gannon (PA) 3-1 on Thursday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals. Concordia-St. Paul faced ninth-ranked Point Loma on Dec. 12. Final results were not available when The Jamestown Sun went to press.

Riverfront Sports Complex will be the epicenter of an exciting weekend of high school girls’ basketball, showcasing top teams and talent from the East Coast.

Fifteen teams converge for the Electric City Shootout three-day event. Action starts Friday night with a doubleheader. Red Bank Catholic (N.J.) plays defending District 2 Class 6A champion Hazleton Area at 6:15 followed by Plainfield High School against Abington Heights at 7:45 p.m.

Red Bank Catholic went 28-5 last season and lost to Paul VI in the New Jersey nonpublic A state tournament. The team has seven players signed to continue their athletic careers in college, led by Indiana recruit Addy Nyemcheck, who is on the Naismith Trophy watchlist. Also signed are: Tessa Liggio (Bucknell), Katie Liggio (Rhode Island), Sophie Smith (Harvard), Scarlet Levake (New Hampshire), Daniela Maletsky (Army) and Lola Giordano (East Stroudsburg).

Hazleton Area is 4-0 after a 64-35 win over Scranton on Tuesday night. Kaitlyn Bindas is averaging 18.5 points per game, Alexis Reimold is averaging 8.0, and Molly Temchatin is contributing 7.8.

Plainfield finished 17-12 last season. Jahnae Lembrick, a guard, averaged 15.8 points per game, and Imani Mullings, a guard who signed with Quinnipiac, averaged 13.1 points per game last season for the Cardinals.

Abington Heights has already played in a high-talent preseason tournament. The Lady Comets split a pair of games in the State College Tipoff. Emma Coleman had 40 points in the two games to pace the Lady Comets.

Four games are on tap for Saturday. Top-ranked Scranton Prep plays Villa Maria Academy at 1 p.m. Plainfield plays against Monsignor McClancy at 2:30 p.m. Crestwood, last season’s District 2 Class 5A champion, plays St. Thomas Aquinas at 4 p.m., and the day concludes with Chenango Forks playing Valley View at 5:30 p.m.

Villa Maria (2-3) is led by Sophia Tray, a returning starter from a team that lost to Archbishop Wood in the PIAA Class 4A playoffs last season and signed an NLI to play lacrosse at Loyola University.

Scranton Prep graduated its starting lineup from last season. The Classics, however, are off to a good start with wins over Wyoming Valley West and Bethlehem Liberty. Chloe Mamera, who has scholarship offers from St. Bonaventure, Rider and Le Moyne, has 44 points in two games.

St. Thomas Aquinas (N.J.), which finished 23-7 last season, also has a lot of collegiate talent. Jordan Barnes, who averaged 10.2 points per game last season, signed to play at Rider. Trisha Whitney, a guard who averaged 12.9 points and 4 assists, signed with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Lauryn Downing, a junior, is one of the top guards in New Jersey and has offers from UMass, Siena and Bryant. Leah Kearney, a 6-1 forward, averaged 7.4 rebounds a game last season and has been offered by Wagner, Siena and American.

Crestwood’s Jackie Gallagher is averaging 20.8 points per game, and Keira Dougherty is averaging 17.0.

Chenango Forks (N.Y.) finished 15-6 last season in the Southern Tier. Maggoe Warpus, who plays for NEPA Elite in Scranton, leads the team and signed with Oregon State.

Cora Castellani, who is averaging 15.7 points per game, and Sadie Cardoni, who is averaging 9.7, lead Valley View.

On Sunday, West Orange plays Dunmore at noon, St. Thomas Aquinas faces Scranton at 1:30 p.m., and Monsignor Clancy plays Mountain View at 3 p.m. to wrap up the weekend.

West Orange’s London Caldwell signed with Siena, while Jamine Prime and Rgyan Watt are drawing interest from NCAA Division I schools.

Jackie Brown is averaging 13 points per game, and Amanda Dempsey is averaging 12 for Dunmore, last season’s District 2 Class 3A champion.

Two-time All-Region guard Chrissy Jacklinski, who has scholarship offers from Sacramento State and St. Bonaventure, leads Scranton.

Mountain View’s Addison Kilmer committed to East Stroudsburg University. She is the reigning Times-Tribune Female Athlete of the Year.

Taking on challenges

Holy Cross and Abington Heights will compete at the Bradley Fisher Memorial Tournament on Friday at Devon Prep.

On Friday, Holy Cross (2-1) plays Holy Ghost Prep (2-1) at 6:30 p.m.

Holy Ghost Prep is led by point guard Adam McDonald, who scored 30 points against Neshaminy and 20 against Pope John Paul II.

Holy Cross will likely be without sharp-shooting guard Adam Badyrka, who left the game against Pittston Area earlier this week with an injury. The Crusaders played their first three games without starter CJ Thompson.

Abington Heights opens against defending PIAA Class 4A champion Devon Prep, which is coached by former University of Scranton star Jason Fisher.

Sophomore Jaden Craft leads an inexperienced lineup for Devon Prep with 16 points per game. Junior Devon Johnson is averaging 10 points per game, Jayden Allen-Bates is contributing 8, and junior Braeden Fisher averages 6 points and 8 assists per game.

One of Devon Prep’s three losses this season came against Scranton Prep, 73-58, at the North Catholic Tipoff Tournament on Dec. 6.

On Saturday, Holy Cross will play St. Augustine’s, a travel team from Australia, at 3:15 p.m.

Abington Heights will play Holy Ghost Prep at 4:45 p.m.

Big Friday night

There are several interesting nonleague games Friday.

In a battle of district champions, Old Forge will visit Valley View at 6:45 p.m. Old Forge won the District 2 Class 2A championship and reached the PIAA quarterfinals, where it lost to eventual champion Linville Hill. Valley View won the District 2 Class 4A championship and reached the PIAA semifinals before falling to eventual champion Devon Prep.

Riverside and its high-scoring sophomore guard, Nico Antoniacci, play Wilkes-Barre Area at 7:15 p.m. Wilkes-Barre Area is 3-1 with wins over Holy Redeemer, Old Forge and West Scranton.

The annual Wayne County rivalry doubleheader is Friday at Wallenpaupack.

Honesdale (3-1) plays the Lady Buckhorns (3-1) at 6 p.m. The Honesdale boys play Wallenpaupack and first-year coach Kevin Miller, a former All-Region player for Honesdale, at 7:30 p.m.

The one-day event came about ahead of last season after the Lackawanna League realigned into three divisions. Wallenpaupack (Division I) and Honesdale (Division II) would not have games against each other in the regular season.