Pairings Align Teams For State B Play Boys Draw Splits Area Teams
Tim Coles and Jay Aune sat in the same row Sunday morning as the brackets were drawn for this week’s WIAA/U.S. Bank State B Boys Basketball Tournament.
They aren’t in the same row now.
Coach Coles’ sixth-ranked Garfield-Palouse Vikings (22-3) landed in an 8 p.m. opening-day game against fifth-ranked Toutle Lake (22-1). Gar-Pal and Toutle Lake played last year for fourth and seventh places, with the Ducks prevailing.
Aune, the coach at SpragueHarrington, could barely suppress a smile as his second-ranked Falcons (26-1), who came out of District 7 as a third seed, drew 10th-ranked Mabton (19-4) at 5 p.m.
Not to discredit Mabton, but the S-H coach saw that a win would put his Falcons into the quarterfinals against either Snohomish County Christian (17-6) or Pe Ell (17-9), unranked teams that play at 6:30 p.m.
“We came in two years ago and got stuck in the 10 p.m. game against (eventual champion) TekoaOakesdale,” Aune said. “I feel good about this time slot. And we avoided Dayton and Toutle on the first day.”
Coles, whose team came in as the favorite last year, surmised that his Vikings have a difficult route.
“If we win our first, we probably have to go against (defending champ) Northwest Christian,” Coles said. “If we win, it’ll be four tough games (with S-H a possibility in the semis). There’s no rest at all. No rest for the wicked.”
Speaking of wicked, coach Jay Webber of fourthranked Dayton (24-1) wore a devious grin after the draw at the Ridpath Hotel.
The Bulldogs, fifth at state last year, originally thought they would open against seventh-ranked Almira/Coulee-Hartline (20-6).
But after the initial draw, tournament officials realized they needed to do some shifting. Naselle and Adna, both from District 4, were possible rivals in a quarterfinal. Teams from the same district aren’t supposed to match up until the third round.
So Naselle (15-13) was moved from the 9 a.m. opener against Tacoma Baptist (19-6) to a 1:30 p.m. game with Dayton. ACH received the opener instead.
“I liked that last change a lot,” Webber said. “(Naselle) has a lot of tradition, though.
“But we’re very happy about not being in a bracket with Toutle, Garfield-Palouse and Northwest Christian.”
Ninth-ranked NWC (23-4), seeking to defend its title, drew the day-ending game, at 9:30 p.m. against Summit (20-6).
“The night game is a different situation,” said NWC coach Danny Beard. “Summit has won 20 games, so we have total respect for them.”
Beard said the Crusaders wouldn’t think ahead to a quarterfinal against the Gar-Pal/Toutle Lake winner.
Perhaps the most competitive bracket - after the NWC/Gar-Pal/Toutle mishmash - is at the top.
Tac-Bap has won 17 consecutive games, 16 of which came after the school installed girls coach Bill Lemke as the boys coach.
The Tac-Bap/ACH winner would likely face secondranked Adna (22-1), which opens at 10:30 against eighth-ranked Kittitas (20-4). Adna, featuring 7-footer Jeff Ellis, lost its first game Saturday against Toutle Lake.
In the other opener, Pateros (19-5), appearing in its first tournament, plays Neah Bay (15-7) at noon.
“We’ve been at the door before,” said Pateros coach Mike Hull. “We just weren’t able to open it up.”
xxxx STATE B BOYS Wednesday’s opening-round games at Spokane Coliseum: 9 a.m.: Tacoma Baptist (19-6) vs. Almira/Coulee-Hartline (20-6) 10:30 a.m.: Adna (22-1) vs. Kittitas (20-4) Noon: Pateros (19-5) vs. Neah Bay (15-7) 1:30: Dayton (24-1) vs. Naselle (15-13) 5: Mabton (19-4) vs. Sprague-Harrington (26-1) 6:30: Snohomish Co. Christian (17-6) vs. Pe Ell (17-9) 8: Toutle Lake (22-1) vs. GarfieldPalouse (22-3) 9:30: Northwest Christian (23-4) vs. Summit (20-6)