Defending champion Northwest Christian back as No. 2 seed | Class 2B girls

For Northwest Christian, this year has been one defined by a difference of expectations.

A year ago, the Crusaders embraced the underdog role and won the State 2B girls basketball tournament as a No. 8 seed.

This year the Crusaders (22-1) enter the tournament as a No. 2 seed, and no longer do they have the element of surprise on their side.

“We have most of our players returning, and we know teams are coming at us harder this year,” NWC coach Nikki Nelson said. “It’s going to be an entirely different feeling.”

NWC’s only loss this year came to Reardan, 48-45, on Jan. 6. Since then, the Crusaders defeated the Screaming Eagles twice, including a 53-49 victory in the NE2B tournament. They followed that with a 57-50 win over No. 7 Adna – the team the Crusaders defeated in the 2025 championship game – in a seeding game.

“The Adna game was reassuring,” Nelson said. “It’s nice to have a win over a really good team.”

The Crusaders will begin the state tournament at 2 p.m. Thursday at Spokane Arena against the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between No. 9 Davenport (21-5) and No. 8 Mount Vernon Christian (19-3).

Reardan lost its seeding game, 67-56 to No. 5 Cle Elum-Roslyn, and so the Screaming Eagles will play at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday against No. 12 Raymond-South Bend.

The game before that on Wednesday matches Adna (20-5) against No. 10 Colfax (16-10), which advanced to the Arena by defeating No. 15 Okanogan 61-48 on Feb. 28.

Earlier that day, Reece Jenkin, the Colfax boys’ basketball coach, died of cancer at age 45. Colfax freshman Allie Jenkin, Reece’s daughter, scored a career-high 41 points that night.

“Our team is so close, and they love Allie and her family so much that it makes you proud as a coach,” Holmes said. “It’s also difficult because as hard as it is for Allie to play, it was hard for all our kids to play. … It’s been tough, but they keep showing up and (playing) their best.”

Colfax has won 10 state titles, most recently in 2023 with Holmes as head coach.

Napavine, state champion in 2024, is this year’s No. 1 seed with a 20-4 record.