State 4A boys and girls tourneys
UPDATED: Tuesday, 10 a.m.
I'll be posting a 4A feature and state notebook tonight when I arrive in Tacoma.
Continue the conversation about the tournaments.
By Greg Lee
Staff writer
Mead girls basketball coach Regan Drew knew that attending the 4A
state tournament draw in
After all, the top two teams from the state’s four regions are automatically seeded into specific spots on the 16-team bracket. What the draw comes down to essentially is random placing of four teams.
Still Drew wanted to see it for herself.
“It’s an interesting process the way it’s set up,” Drew said. “I’m glad to see how it does work. I think it’s valuable to see that. It gets you into the mode for the week that’s coming.”
Drew didn’t have much time to ponder where her Panthers ended up.
She and Mead boys coach Glenn Williams had to leave immediately following the
ceremony – which was interrupted by a 45-minute delay because of a minor glitch
in the boys seeding – to catch a return flight to
“I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down and digest it,” she said.
Drew’s regional champion Panthers (20-5) open against
She likes the game time since it is similar to the time half of the Panthers’ league games tipped off.
Lewis and Clark coach Jim Redmon makes it a tradition to attend the draw. He had plenty of time to digest where his team landed – the Tigers (16-9) face Issaquah (21-4) at 10:30 a.m. – on the drive home Sunday evening.
“It’s an interesting draw,” said Redmon, whose team took fifth last year after three straight state titles. “In my opinion, the upper bracket is tougher where we are than the lower bracket. But there are tough teams in both.”
Seven of the eight teams that placed last year, including
defending state champ
In the boys, Gonzaga Prep (22-2) and Mead (19-5) are as far away
from each other as possible. G-Prep, which took fourth last year, was placed in
the first game at 9 against
“They’re called the Egg McMuffin game and the Midnight Express game,” Williams said.
G-Prep coach Matty McIntyre considered having his team come in early for practice today to get acclimated to the early draw. But he decided against it.
“There are positives and negatives about the draw,” McIntyre said. “It’s going to require us to wake up a little bit early and be ready to go – just like a Saturday morning practice.”
Williams liked where his team ended up. The Panthers will face a
“Going in I had a feeling that’s who we’d draw,” Williams said. “With all the losses they had I figured it was good odds we’d get them and sure enough we did.”
If G-Prep wins its opener, it would most likely see defending
state champ
Just one other state placer is back in