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Olympia Reign out for the 2013 season

6 Feb
Nate Menafee starred for the Olympia Reign but won't have a home in 2013

Nate Menafee starred for the Olympia Reign but won’t have a home in 2013

The Olympia Reign announced on their Facebook page today that they will forgo the 2013 International Basketball League season after The Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino did not renew their sponsorship. Here is the full statement from the team…

I would like to announce that the Olympia Reign will not compete in the 2013 season. Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino did not renew the sponsorship for the upcoming season. Therefore, unless another sponsor or partner steps up we will have to forego the season. I would like to thank the Squaxin Island Tribe and Little Creek Casino for their support the last 2 years. I would like to thank all the staff and players for all their efforts over the years. I would like to thank the Olympia Reign fans as their support was much appreciated. It was nice to see the fan base grow and the following we had was really getting strong. I am saddened that after 6 years I have to pull out of the 2013 season. Thanks again to everyone!

The Reign moved to Little Creek Casino in 2012 after five seasons of playing their home games at Evergreen. The Squaxin Island Tribe purchased a basketball court for use in their Skookum Creek Events Center and the team drew marginally better than they had in previous seasons, partially because of a much better facility and marketing by Little Creek. But the Reign never developed a strong following despite lasting for a remarkable six seasons. You have to credit owner Mark Felton for keeping them alive for that long in spite of heavy losses.

The Skookum Creek Events Center had (has?) potential to be a viable facility with a decent concession stand, alcohol sales and even the possibility of luxury seating, but I’d assume that without the tribe on board as a sponsor, the facility rental would be too expensive to justify given the team’s attendance history and without an investment in some serious marketing and another major sponsor.

Unfortunately, my lasting memory of the Olympia Reign comes from the 2010 season when the Los Angeles Lightning came to town in the Reign’s regular season finale. The team promoted the fact that the Lightning featured former NBA players Byron Russell, Tyus Edney, Lamond Murray, Toby Bailey and Fred Vinson and The Olympian ran an article titled “L.A. brings ex-NBA players to Olympia” previewing the game.

But knowing minor league basketball and the LA Lightning in particular, I knew that the ex-NBA players featured in the article never traveled with the team. And sure enough, when the two teams took the court in front of a relatively large crowd, not a single ex-NBA player mentioned in the article had made the trip. Even the Reign’s Nate Menefee, mentioned prominently in the article, wasn’t in uniform. He showed up a little before halftime in street clothes, obviously after getting off of work, and played an electrifying second half scoring 27 points to lead the Reign to a 136-129 win. But without the ex-NBA players that were promised and a rather ragged level of play, it just wasn’t enough to make many in attendance lasting fans.

Poole, Ward, Bain named to IBL all-star teams

17 Jul

One Saint Martin’s alum and two members of the Olympia Reign were named International Basketball League all-stars on Monday.  Blake Poole  was named to the first team and barely missed out on the MVP award in leading the Bellingham Slam to the IBL championship and the Reign’s Mike Ward and Gjio Bain were named to the second team after leading the Reign to the IBL semifinals.  All three players will represent the IBL in the Southern California Summer Pro League July 24-29th.

Former Saint Blake Poole earned first team honors after averaging 18.7 points per game and 13.2 rebounds per game. In his second season with the Slam, the 6’5″ center had 15 double-doubles out of 20 games this season including a 24 point, 22 rebound, six assist game against the Yamhill HighFlyers on June 23rd and a 23 point, 15 rebound, seven assist game against the Portland Chinooks in the IBL championship game on July 8th.  This winter, Poole will return to Germany for a second season but with a new team, BG Topstar Leitershofen.  He starred for BG Dorsten in his first German Pro-B season averaging 14.9 ppg and 12.9 rpg.

In his fourth season with the Olympia Reign, Mike Ward was the team’s most consistent player this season, averaging 20.7 points per game, 6.2 board per game and 4.2 assists per game from the guard position. Ward, an Evergreen alum, had his best game on May 18th when he scored 39 points against the Portland Chinooks. Ward also came up big in two late season games against the Edmonton Energy. Ward had 30 points, six boards and seven assists in an overtime win to close the regular season and 27 points, five boards and six assists in an playoff opening round upset of the Energy.

After joining the Reign on June 22nd during their trip to Orlando, Gjio Bain solidified their center position by scoring 15 points per game and hauling in 12.8 rebounds per game and the Reign went 4-2, their best stretch of the season, in his six games with the team. Bain, a seven footer from Southern Miss, had averaged 8.8 ppg and 8.9 rpg as a member of the Orlando Venom.

Andre Murray of the Vancouver Volcanoes was named MVP and Bellingham’s Morris Anderson was named Defensive Player of the Year. The full list of honorees can be found here.

Friday scoreboard: Reign’s season comes to an end

6 Jul

International Basketball League

Today (7/6): Reign face Portland in IBL final four

6 Jul

The red hot Olympia Reign continue their quest for an International Basketball League title this evening when they face the #2 seed Portland Chinooks at Whatcom Pavilion in Bellingham.

The Reign are riding a four game wining streak and are 5-3 since an ill-fated trip to Canada at the beginning of June. Much of the Reign’s success can be linked to the reemergence of Nate Menefee’s game. In the last eight games, Menefee has scored 24.5 points per game and has been the floor general dishing out 6.5 assists per game. Mike Ward has continued his solid season scoring 22.5 points per game during the stretch and newcomer Gjio Bain has taken control of the center position pulling down 13 rebounds per game in his five games with the Reign. In those five games, the Reign are 4-1.

Olympia and Portland met four times in the regular season. The Reign won the first game 138-127 in Clackamas but the Chinooks took the next three meetings.

Tip-off in Bellingham tonight is scheduled for 5:00 PM. Updates on the game can be found on the IBL Or Bellingham Slam Twitter pages.

Thursday scoreboard: Reign upset Energy again; Linx, A’s win

5 Jul

International Basketball League


Earlier this season, without three of their top five scorers, the Olympia Reign were rocked by the Edmonton Energy in a two game series in Edmonton losing by a combined 91 points. Since those two losses to the Energy, the Reign have gone 5-2 and have scored two straight upsets over the 14 win and #3 seeded Energy including tonight’s 101-89 victory in the first round of the IBL playoffs. Mike Ward scored 27 points and both Nicholas Moore and Gjio Bain posted double-doubles to lead the the Reign. The Reign are 4-1 since they picked up Bain, a seven foot center from Southern Miss, from the Orlando Venom on their trip to Florida.

Next up for the Reign is the #2 seed Portland Chinooks in the IBL final four tomorrow at 5:00 PM at Whatcom Pavilion in Bellingham.

 

Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball

West Olympia Linx 3, Nisqually Silvers 1
Olympia Athletics 4, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 3

 

Olympia Reign vs. Edmonton Energy photo gallery

5 Jul

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The Olympia Reign beat the Edmonton Energy 118-111 on Tuesday night.

Tuesday scoreboard: Menefee’s triple-double upsets Energy; Cards, Silvers win in extras

4 Jul

International Basketball League

Nate Menefee’s 28 point, 12 assist and 10 rebound triple-double and Mike Ward’s 30 points led the Olympia Reign to a 118-111 overtime win over the Edmonton Energy in the regular season finale at Little Creek Casino. Before tonight’s upset, the Energy beat the Reign by a combined 91 points in two games in Edmonton at the beginning of June.

The Reign jumped out to a quick 16-8 lead to open to game, led by as many as 21 in the first half and took a 59-46 lead in the locker room at halftime. But the Energy chipped away at the lead in the third quarter outscoring the Reign 28-17 to trail by just two going into the fourth quarter. The Energy quickly took the lead in the fourth quarter and held an 87-83 lead with six minutes left. But the Reign reeled off seven straight points to regain the lead at 90-87 and held a 97-95 lead with 52 seconds left. After the Energy tied the score at 100 with 18 second left, the Reign lost control of the ball and following a scramble could only manage a wild shot to end regulation.

The Reign slammed the door on the Energy in overtime scoring nine straight points in the first minute and a half and never allowed the Energy to get within five points the rest of the game. The Reign picked up just their seventh win of the season while Edmonton dropped to 14-4.

Nick Moore chipped in 18 points and 13 boards for the Reign while Gjio Bain also added a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds in the win. The Energy were led by Steve Sir’s 22 points and Robbie Sihota’s 18 points and 19 rebounds.

The two teams meet again on Thursday in the first round of the IBL playoffs hosted by the Bellingham Slam at Whatcom Pavilion. The match-up between the #6 seed Reign and the #3 seed Energy tips off at 5:00 PM.

 

Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball

Hawks Prairie Cardinals 8, Olympia Athletics 8 – 10 innings/Cardinals win
Nisqually Silvers 2, West Olympia Linx 1 – 10 innings

 

Today (7/3): Reign wrap it up; PSCL doubleheader

3 Jul

Good morning from beautiful downtown Yakima and Northtown Coffee’s working WiFi.  While I’m sitting in this nice coffee shop, I’m staring at what I can only assume is a very large jail, a great addition to any downtown scene. Anyway, we now return you to your regularly scheduled Olympia sports scene…

The Olympia Reign’s regular season comes to an end tonight when they host the Edmonton Energy at the Skookum Events Center at Little Creek Casino at 7:00 PM.  Both teams are bound for the IBL playoffs in Bellingham starting on Thursday. With a win the Energy would secure a first round bye (don’t quote me on that, though, as the seeding process is a bit of a mystery). Win or lose, the Reign are bound for a first round game on Thursday.  The Energy dropped the Reign to their worst loss of the season on June 1st in Edmonton, 126-69. The Reign rallied the next night and only lost 138-104. Tip-off tonight is at 7:00 PM. Tickets are just $7 or $5 with a Little Creek players club card.

Meanwhile, the Puget Sound Collegiate League features two games tonight at the RAC. The Hawks Prairie Cardinals take on the Olympia Athletics at 5:00 PM and the West Olympia Linx face the Nisqually Silvers in the nightcap at 7:30.

Thursday scoreboard: Senators and Reign victorious

28 Jun

Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball

Thurston County Senators 13, Okanogan A’s 0

Chandler Tracy (Saint Martin’s ) hit a second inning grand slam to lead the Thurston County Senators to a day one 13-0 win over the Okanogan A’s in the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast tournament in Kelowna, British Columbia. Max Dickinson (Lower Columbia CC) picked up the win.

The Senators have an early morning game tomorrow when they face the Coquitlam A’s at 8:00 AM.

International Basketball League

Olympia Reign 108, Oregon Waves 106

Mike Ward scored 21 points, pulled down nine boards and had seven assists and Nate Menefee’s double-double – 18 points and 10 rebounds – led the Olympia Reign to a 108-106 defeat of the patchwork Oregon Waves at Little Creek Casino. Gjio Bain, a seven foot center from Southern Miss that the Reign brought back with them from their Orlando trip, scored 12 points and had 18 rebounds.

Former Saint Martin’s forward Jeremy Green scored 19 points for the Waves in the loss. Andre Murray, who usually plays for the Vancouver Volcanoes but was picked up by the Waves for this game, scored 36 points and Rashaad Powell added another 25.

Tonight (6/28): Reign or Rainiers?

28 Jun

The Olympia Reign return to the Slookum Creek Events Center at Little Creek Casino tonight when they square off against Los Angeles USBA China the Oregon Waves. The Waves are the third opponent that have been scheduled for this game and are playing in just their fourth game as a traveling IBL squad. The Waves are 0-3 on the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Now, I hate to go against my Olympia teams, but let’s be honest, the most intriguing sporting event happening in the South Sound tonight is the Tacoma Rainiers hosting the Las Vegas 51s at Cheney Stadium.

The historic pitching match-up couldn’t be more fascinating if you are a Seattle Mariners fan. The Mariners first round draft pick last year, 22 year-old Danny Hultzen, gets the start for the Rainiers against 49 year-old former Mariner star Jamie Moyer, who just signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week.

And since it is also Thirsty Thursday, the Rainiers are going to have a HUGE crowd. Get your tickets printed out online and leave Olympia early. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

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