Six readers remain alive in Final Four Challenge

SANDPOINT — Six Daily Bee readers remain alive in the Final Four Challenge, and the chance to win $50 cash, with four predicting a title for No. 1 seed Duke and two picking No. 2 seeded West Virginia.

With two No. 5 seeds — Michigan State and Butler — also advancing to Final Four, and a host of other big upsets, the original field of 49 entries has been thinned considerably. Prohibitive pre-tournament favorites Kansas and Kentucky comprised 33 of the entries, with Syracuse the next closest with five.

Harold Hew, Collin Jurenka, Ann Nichols and Toby McNeal each predicted Duke to win it all, while Don Helander and John Hendricks picked the Mountaineers. Since nobody picked either the Spartans or Bulldogs on other side of the bracket, the semifinal between the Blue Devils and Mountaineers looms very large.

If Duke beats West Virginia, Hew, Jurenka, Nichols and McNeal advance to the finals. From there the winner will be determined by who picked closest to the winning team’s score, and if need be, who picked closest to the runner up score, regardless if Duke goes on to win the championship.

If the Mountaineers beat Duke, Helander and Hendricks remain alive, with the same criteria, regardless if Butler or Michigan State go on to win the championship.

The final outcome will be announced in Tuesday’s Bee, upon which time the winner can claim an envelope filled with $50 cash.

Thanks to all who took the challenge, and enjoy the Final Four.

n Hayward stands tall in Butler’s Final Four run

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gordon Hayward has always embraced the big stage.

Whether it’s rapping on YouTube, winning a state title on a buzzer-beating shot or making a steal to preserve an NCAA tournament victory, it’s hard to miss the 6-foot-9 Butler sophomore.

He’s not just a forward, he’s a point forward. He’s not just a basketball player, he’s an academic All-American. And the Bulldogs are not just another mid-major powerhouse, they are now a Final Four team with a chance to win it all at home.

“It’s been kind of crazy, real, real intense here,” Hayward said Tuesday, three days after the Bulldogs clinched the school’s first regional title. “People are always talking about it, and it feels like that’s all people are talking about.”

Of course. It’s the Bulldogs’ most significant basketball achievement since the 1920s.

The school that has always been overshadowed by Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame, has suddenly become the new darling in a state steeped in basketball tradition. Reporters from coast-to-coast are converging on the 4,500-student campus to get a glimpse of historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and their new star.