Cheney/Spokane finalist for 'Sky basketball tourney

The Eastern Washington University men’s and women’s basketball teams are trying hard to deliver the 2015 Big Sky Conference tournament to Reese Court the second week of March by winning the regular season championships.

But a group from EWU and the Spokane Regional Sports Commission is hoping to make Cheney and Spokane the permanent home for future tournaments beginning in 2016.

A bid to stage both the men’s and women’s tournaments beginning in 2016 at sites that include both Reese Court and the Spokane Arena is among the five finalists. The Big Sky Conference seeks to establish a permanent location for the tournament and allow participating teams to save both time and money in traveling to the event.

“All of the bids were outstanding,’’ Big Sky deputy commissioner Ron Loghry said in a news release. “The committee faced a daunting task of sifting through all of the data, and ranking the potential sites. Our next step is to visit these cities and venues, and we’re excited to begin that process soon.’’

In the coming weeks, members of the committee will take site visits to the following locations:

• Billings, Mont. (Rimrock Auto Arena)

• Missoula, Mont. (Dahlberg Arena)

  • Reno, Nev. (Reno Events Center)

• Ogden, Utah (Dee Events Center)

• Spokane/Cheney, (Spokane Arena/ Reese Court)

A committee consisting of a university president, a faculty athletic representative, a senior women’s administrator, two athletics directors, an outside consultant, and two members of the conference staff recently reviewed and ranked bids submitted by cities and arenas.

Reno and Spokane/Cheney submitted bids to host the men’s and women’s championships. Billings and Ogden offered to host the men’s championship. Missoula presented a bid for the women’s championship. 

For more than two decades, Big Sky Conference men’s and women’s basketball championships have been hosted by the regular-season champion. Last fall, the Big Sky Conference began soliciting bids to find predetermined locations for the championships beginning in the spring of 2016.

League presidents will make the final decision and reserve the right to deny all of the bids and keep the current championship structure in place. A final decision is expected in April.