Beloved Tri-Cities high school basketball referee, business owner loses cancer battle
Kennewick’s Tony Wise was pretty much a friend to everyone he who crossed his path.
From his time as a baseball player at Kennewick High, to working as an estimator and manager at family-owned Tri-City Glass, to his excellent work as a basketball official, Wise was a standout individual.
Wise was a giver with his time, his money, his friendship and his love.He passed away on March 14, losing his battle with cancer. He was just 48.
Kennewick’s RB McCord was Wise’s best friend — dating back to their days of playing American Legion baseball together in the 1990s. He was with Wise’s family and a small circle of close friends when Wise passed away.
“He’s not suffering anymore. I told him it was OK to let it go,” said McCord.
Esophageal cancer hit Wise hard. And that cancer spread to his brain stem.
Back in January, the basketball community dived in to show Wise its support, to let him know how much he means to everybody.
In one big weekend, his friends and supporters sold purple bracelets that players, officials and fans wore during their contests — letting Wise know how much they loved him.
Wise hadn’t been able to officiate basketball this past season.
But the basketball community always had him on its mind.
Kamiakin boys basketball coach Bryan Meneely, talking to the Herald in late January, said Wise influenced a lot people in the community, “and we thought it would be great to let him know that we all are supporting him in his fight.”
Through a GoFundMe account and the sale of bracelets, the community raised over $13,000 for him.
But the money is secondary. It’ll be the relationships Wise had with friends and family that everyone will remember. Or the appreciation the now-grown adults felt when they played on a Tri-City Glass youth sports team that Wise sponsored.
A graveside service is at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 30, at City View Cemetery in Pasco.
More details will be listed in Sunday’s Herald in the obituaries.
College football
Kobe Singleton, a standout athlete at both Tri-Cities Prep and then Chiawana (where he graduated), has had a pretty good college football career so far.
The defensive back spent his first two seasons of college playing at Southern Utah, then spent the last two seasons at Liberty University in West Virginia.
While playing this past fall with the Flames, Singleton had 41 tackles, defended 16 passes, had four interceptions and recovered a fumble.
Those statistics earned Singleton first team honors when the Conference USA all-star teams were announced.
In early January, Singleton announced he was entering the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility.
He didn’t last long in the portal. Within a few days, Singleton had offers — and five days after entering the portal, he announced he was coming to Oregon State.
Already slated to be a starter at cornerback, Singleton will be a solid reason that the Beavers should be a strong team as OSU and Washington State begin their (hopefully) short term as the only members of the Pac-12 Conference this coming fall.
Pro hockey
The way former Tri-City Americans goalie Tomas Suchanek played this season, it should come as no surprise that he would earn an NHL contract.
Suchanek signed a three-year entry level contract with the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday after having an outstanding 2023-24 season.
The 6-foot, 176-pound Suchanek started the season with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL, ultimately playing 8 games, compiling a 3-5-0 record, surrendering 2.77 goals per game, and tallying a .906 save percentage.
During that period, Suchanek had two call ups to the San Diego Gulls — Anaheim’s top affiliate in the American Hockey League. And his performance there was enough for him to stick with the Gulls for the majority of the season.
In San Diego, the 20-year-old Suchanek had a 12-6-3 record with two shutouts.
His GAA was 2.56, and he had a .919 save percentage.
That was enough to make Ducks brass decide they needed to keep him.
Last season with the Americans, Suchanek (from Czechia) compiled a 27-14-1 record, gave up 3.02 goals a game, and had a .912 save percentage.
He was named to the second team of the Western Hockey League all-star team at the end of the season.
College softball
The College of Idaho is off to a 17-7 start this season, and senior Annie Polster (a Hanford High grad) has been a big reason why the Yates have been doing so well.
Polster, a left-handed pitcher, has an 8-3 record and a 2.03 earned run average. Opposing batters are hitting a paltry .230 against her, and she has struck out 62 batters in 62 innings pitched.
Infielder Ashlynn Nixon is seeing plenty of action as as everyday player. Nixon — who played her last two seasons for Columbia Basin College — is batting .364, has 4 home runs, and driven in 15 runs.
C of I has a total of six players with local Mid-Columbia ties.
Infielder Keena Kay and outfielder Maya Torrez are both juniors and played their last two seasons at CBC.
Meanwhile, catcher Madison Kinsey is a junior from Kamiakin; while outfielder Isabella Qunell is also a junior who transferred in from Bellevue College in the Seattle area. Qunell graduated from Kamiakin.
Transfer portal
A couple Tri-City athletes have elected to enter the transfer portal after their respective schools had their basketball seasons end.
Cooper DeWitt, a Chiawana graduate, spent the last two seasons at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis. He started 15 games for the Jaguars.
Even though he’s a senior, DeWitt still has a year of eligibility remaining.
Meanwhile, Kamiakin Maddy Rendall redshirted this year, he freshman year, at Idaho State University.
She still has four seasons of eligibility remaining.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
