I didn't get back from Tacoma - after a stop at the office - and start calling coaches until 6:15 p.m.

So I apologize for not being able to post this story earlier.

Click the tab below to check out the draw for the West Valley, Pullman and Clarkston girls and the WV, Deer Park and Clarkston boys.

By Greg Lee

Staff writer

West Valley girls basketball coach Lorin Carlon, who lives in Whitman County exactly halfway between Rosalia and St. John, met Pullman coach Phil Morgan in Steptoe on Sunday evening to exchange video of state tournament opponents and to talk about the 2A draw.

Both take experienced teams to state when the tournament begins Wednesday at the SunDome in Yakima.

Pullman (16-6) opens against East Valley-Yakima at 10:30 a.m. and second-ranked West Valley (22-0) takes on Black Hills at 7:30 p.m. Clarkston (16-6), the third Great Northern League qualifier, meets Burlington-Edison at 12:30.

“I’m cautious,” Morgan said of the draw. “We’re going to be as prepared as we can be. That’s why we’re exchanging (video).”

Carlon believes that Black Hills probably knows more about his team – considering the Eagles are ranked second in the state and undefeated – than he knows about Black Hills. Carlon will know more as soon as he watches the video.

Overall, Carlon is happy where his team was placed in the bracket.

“We’re OK with it,” he said of the draw. “They’ll be a good opponent for us.”

In the boys, Deer Park (15-7) meets Wapato at 12:30, WV (15-8) goes against Hockinson at 4 and Clarkston (16-6) faces defending state champ Squalicum at 7:30.

Squalicum, which ended the season ranked No. 1, is on the same side of the bracket with WV and Clarkston. Other possible contenders on the same side are Mark Morris and Ephrata.

“We’re in the toughest part of the bracket,” WV coach Jay Humphrey said. “Those are very, very good teams.”

Humphrey was in the Tri-Cities watching his son, Zach, play for Community Colleges of Spokane in the NWAAC tournament. He drove from Pasco to Ritzville on Sunday evening to meet an assistant who had attended the draw and had video of Hockinson.

Humphrey’s daughter, Jenna, plays for Shadle Park. So the Humphrey family will be scattered across the state this week.

In addition to Squalicum, other returning state placers in the boys are Burlington-Edison (second), River Ridge (third), Clarkston (fourth) and Fife (sixth).

The WV and Pullman girls placed third and eighth respectively last year. Other returning trophy winners are Lynden (state champ), Archbishop Murphy (second), Elma (fourth), Prosser (sixth) and Ellensburg (seventh).

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