Castle Rock

Pitching — Jerry Neighbors 6.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 7 K, 6 BB; Owen Erickson 0.2 IP, 0 R, 1 K, 2 BB; Highlights — Jacob Lafever 1-3, R, 2B, SB; Jack Kerker 1-2, R, RBI; Noxx Worrell 1-3, R; Stuart Teter 1-3; Tristan Honey 1-1, R, RBI, SB.

SOFTBALL

3A GREATER ST. HELENS LEAGUE

Third-place tiebreaker

Heritage 9, Mountain View 3

HERITAGE 9, MOUNTAIN VIEW 3

Heritage             103       301       1—9     13          1

Mt. View            002       010       0—3     6             4

Heritage

Pitching — Jaila Ellis 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 K, 0 BB, win. Highlights — Skyler Jones 2-4, run, 2B, RBI, BB; Jaila Ellis 1-4, 2 runs, 2B, 2 RBI, BB; Kylie Thomas 3-3, 2 runs, RBI, BB; Lillie Stroup 2-3, run, 2B, RBI, BB; Gracie Peterson 2-4, run, 2 RBI; Emma Messing 2-4, 2 RBI; Veronica Ayala 1-4.

Mountain View

Pitching — Peyton Lalande 7 IP, , 4 ER, 5 K, 3 BB, loss. Highlights — Izzi West 2-4, 2 runs, 2B; Peytonb Lalande 3-3, run, 2 RBI; Amaya Paschal 1-3.

2A DISTRICT PLAY-IN GAMES

Tuesday’s Games

Black Hills 14, R.A. Long 0

W.F. West 21, Hockinson 0

W.F. WEST 21, HOCKINSON 0

Hockinson      000       00          —-0      2             6

WF West           700       (14)x    —21     7             0

Hockinson

Highlights — Samantha McDonald 1-2; Cassidy Barrows 1-2.

BLACK HILLS 14, R.A. LONG 2

Black Hills      126       05          —14     8             2

RA Long             000       20          —2        2             7

R.A. Long

Highlights — Stevie Jones 1-2, run, 3B, RBI; Kace Prindle 1-2.

BOYS SOCCER

4A BI-DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

at Sumner HS

Union 5, Puyallup 4, OT

Tahoma 6, Olympia 0

Loser-out

Sumner 2, Auburn Riverside 1

Camas 3, Mount Rainier 0

Kentridge 2, Emerald Ridge 0

Curtis 1, Stadium 0

Thursday’s matches

Championship

Union vs. Tahoma, 7:30 p.m. at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Winner-to-state matches 

At Art Crate Field, Spanaway

Camas vs. Sumner, 5:30 p.m.

Kentridge vs. Curtis, 7:30 p.m.

3A BI-DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Central Kitsap 1, Bellarmine Prep 0

Heritage 1, Silas 0

Loser-out

Kent Meridian 2, Federal Way 1

Auburn Mountainview 5, Decatur 1

Gig Harbor 5, Enumclaw 1

Mountain View 3, White River 1

Thursday’s matches

Championship

Heritage vs. Central Kitsap, 5:30 p.m. at Federal Way Memorial Stadium

Winner-to-state matches at Auburn HS

Kent Meridian vs. Auburn Mountain View, 5:30 p.m.

Gig Harbor vs. Mountain View, 7:30 p.m.

2A DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Tuesday’s matches

Semifinals

W.F. West 2, Tumwater 1

Columbia River 3, R.A. Long 1

Loser-out matches

Hockinson 6, Hudson’s Bay 1

Ridgefield 4, Aberdeen 3, OT-PKs

Thursday’s matches

Championship

W.F. West at Columbia River, 6 p.m.

Winner-to-state games

R.A. Long at Hockinson, 6 p.m.

Ridgefield at Tumwater, 5:30 p.m.

COLUMBIA RIVER 3, R.A. LONG 1

Columbia River

Goals (assists) — Beckham Young (JP Guzman), Tyler Brown (Johnny Avalos), Brown (Mason Renner). Goalkeeper saves: Eli Smith, 3

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Western Hockey League Championship series returned to Spokane for the first time since 2008 on Tuesday, as the Chiefs hosted the Medicine Hat Tigers for Game 3 with the series tied at one apiece.

Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer said his team would be ready to play in front of the home crowd for the first time this series, but Spokane looked anything but prepared.

The Tigers came out aggressive, even without WHL Player of the Year Gavin McKenna, who took warmups but left the ice early and was scratched from the lineup.

With about eight minutes left in the first, Medicine Hat killed off a Chiefs power play and immediately capitalized, beating Dawson Cowan with a laser from the dot.

Riding that momentum, the Tigers tacked on another goal with less than two minutes remaining in the period as Hunter St. Martin found the back of the net.

After one, the Chiefs were outshot 15-5 in a frame where they struggled to establish anything in the offensive zone.

The second period brought more of the same. Just 93 seconds in, Kadon McCann buried a wraparound to make it 3-0. Spokane didn’t register a shot on goal until 11:45 remained in the period, as Medicine Hat’s defense clamped down and their offense kept pushing.

Liam Ruck extended the lead to 4-0 before the intermission. By the end of the second, the Chiefs had managed just eight shots to the Tigers’ 17, with the total reaching 32-13 in favor of the visitors.

Cowan was replaced by backup Carter Esler to start the third, but the change did little to stem the tide. Esler surrendered the second shot he faced, giving the Tigers a 5-0 advantage just 30 seconds into the period.

Medicine Hat defender Bryce Pickford added another midway through the third — his sixth goal in as many games — sealing a 6-0 shutout. It was Spokane’s first scoreless outing since Oct. 28, 2024, and first at home since Nov. 29, 2023.

“To be pretty honest, we weren’t very good as a group,” Lauer said. “It’s one of those things. I thought Medicine Hat had probably their best game so far in the series. I thought they came and had a lot of jump and were skating. You know, for us, we were on our heels.”

Spokane showed a bit more urgency in the final frame, firing 15 shots, but still couldn’t solve Tigers goalie Ethan McCallum. The Chiefs finished with 28 shots to Medicine Hat’s 45.

“We haven’t given up that many shots or had that less of shot all year, I don’t think,” Lauer said. “It’s 11 shots after two periods. We weren’t playing as a group. It was all individual hockey. A lot of stuff that was uncharacteristic of us as a group tonight. For some reason, I don’t know why. We’ll dissect it here tonight and tomorrow morning to figure things out and make sure we’re ready tomorrow.”

The WHL doesn’t keep track of time of possession in the offensive zone, but if it did, it wouldn’t have looked good for the Chiefs, who struggled mightily to get anything going on offense with several turnovers in the o-zone and sloppy play most of the night.

“It’s one of those things that you don’t know what, as a coach, you don’t know what to put your finger on, what it was, or what it is, but you gotta have a short memory,” Lauer said.

“I think we know that we weren’t very good as a group, especially coming back to home ice. You thought you have an opportunity to take advantage of the team, but you know, it’s one of those things. That’s why you’ve got to play the game. It doesn’t happen automatically and we’ve got to learn from tonight.”

There’s little time for the Chiefs to dwell on the loss, with Game 4 set for Wednesday at Spokane Arena. The Tigers will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead, while Spokane aims to even the series.

“We get to come back tomorrow, so that’s the beauty of playoff hockey, and that’s what we’re looking at it,” Chiefs captain Berkly Catton said. “Learning from tonight, but also flushing it and coming out ready to play tomorrow.”

“Brad and Berks kind of said it, I think a big thing for us is just have a short memory,” a Chiefs left winger added. “That’s all we can really do. Learn from our mistakes tonight and just be eager to have a better start tomorrow.”

Puck drop for Game 4 of the WHL Final is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Spokane Arena.

As for McKenna’s status, Medicine Hat head coach Willie Desjardins wasn’t optimistic following the game.

“I’m not gonna talk about what the injury was. He was out,” Desjardins said. “I thought he might be able to go but just wasn’t tonight and the nice thing for us is he’s been such a big part of our team all year, it was really nice to rally behind and get one for him because he’s gotten quite a few for us. The boys are playing for him.”

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