Area basketball teams brace for state openers at regional sites
Defending State 4A girls basketball champion Central Valley and the Gonzaga Prep boys, state runners-up a year ago, have been among the top teams in the state all year.
They’ll take the first step this week toward proving they are among the best, if not the best, statewide in state openers at regional sites.
Both are guaranteed games next week at the Tacoma Dome in the WIAA’s new state format. If they win, they’ll go directly to the quarterfinal round. If they lose, they’ll play in loser-out games next Wednesday.
Gonzaga Prep (22-1), ranked No. 2 in the RPI, takes on No. 7 Glacier Peak (19-3) on Friday at University. Tipoff is at 6.
No. 5 Central Valley (23-0), winners of 51 straight, meets No. 4 Sunnyside (18-2) on Saturday at Richland High, beginning at 6.
Sunnyside lost to Moses Lake 59-46 in the District 6 title game. CV defeated Moses Lake 51-39 in a nonleague game at Moses Lake in late December.
The 13th-ranked Shadle Park boys and No. 15 Mt. Spokane girls had to travel to the Seattle area for play-in games Tuesday and they both earned state berths.
The road doesn’t get any easier for them. Shadle Park (19-5) takes on No. 12 Wilson (18-6) on Saturday at Rogers High in Puyallup. Tip is at 8.
Mt. Spokane (19-5) heads west again, too, meeting defending state champ Lynnwood (19-4), ranked No. 10, at Bothell High on Saturday at 6.
Here are the otheer matchups Friday and Saturday for area teams at Cheney and University:
Friday at Cheney
1B girls: (RPI, 1) Colton (20-2) vs. (8) Selkirk (20-4), 6 p.m. #
1B boys: (13) Colton (16-9) vs. (12) Wellpinit (17-7), 8 p.m. #
Friday at University
1B girls: (6) Almira/Coulee-Hartline (20-3) vs. (3) Republic (21-2), 8 p.m. #
Saturday at Cheney
2A boys: (3) Pullman (19-5) vs. (6) North Kitsap (19-4), noon #
1B girls: (2) Oakesdale (19-5) vs. (7) Evergreen Lutheran (17-6), 2 p.m. #
1A boys: (9) Medical Lake (16-8) vs. (16) Hoquiam (14-7), 4 p.m. &
1A girls: (11) Medical Lake (20-2) vs. (14) La Salle (10-11), 6 p.m. &
Saturday at University
2B boys: (12) Liberty (17-6) vs. (13) White Swan (16-6), 2 p.m. &
2A girls: (10) East Valley (16-6) vs. (15) Port Angeles (13-9), 4 p.m. &
2B boys: (11) St. George’s (16-8) vs. (14) Kalama (13-10), 6 p.m. &
1A boys: (8) Newport (16-8) vs. (1) Freeman (21-1), 8 p.m. #
Here are games involving area team at other sites:
Friday
2B girls: (6) St. George’s (21-2) vs. (3) Kalama (21-3), 6 p.m., at Mark Morris HS in Longview #
1B boys: (15) Odessa-Harrington (14-8) vs. (10) Cedar Park Christian (19-5), 6 p.m., at Mountlake Terrace HS &
2B boys: (5) Northwest Christian (22-1) vs. (4) Brewster (21-2), 6 p.m., at Wenatchee HS #
Saturday
2B girls: (8) Colfax (18-6) vs. (1) Dayton (19-2), 4 p.m., at Richland HS #
2B girls: (7) Davenport (19-4) vs. (2) Wahkiakum (21-1) 4 p.m., at Mark Morris HS in Longview #
1B boys: (8) ACH (21-2) vs. (1) Neah Bay (18-3), noon, at Mount Tahoma HS in Tacoma #
KEY:
#=winner to quarterfinals March 2, loser to loser-out game March 1
&=winner to loser-out game March 1, loser out