The Bs

Panorama: There will be a few winners borne from Republic’s 48-7 loss to DeSales in the B-11 state semifinals. The Tigers girls team will get their coach back full time, as head football/girls basketball coach Chuck Wilson now can devote himself to the hardwood. The boys team, returning every player from last year’s state championship team, can now hold a full varsity practice. Only two contributors to the state basketball run were not members of the Tigers football team. More important, Republic, which had returning basketball starters and Northeast B-11 football first-teamers Tyler Orestad and Gaeb Giddings banged up going into the DeSales game, escaped the game without either suffering a serious injury. … Columbia (Hunters) will travel across the state for the second consecutive week but this time, in the B-8 finals, the Lions will meet a familiar foe: LaCrosse-Washtucna, Southeast B-8 champs. The Tigercats have knocked off Columbia – and everyone else in their way – in the playoffs each of the past two seasons. In 2002 it was 42-24 in a semifinal, last year a 44-0 knockout in the opening round. LaCrosse-Washtucna also holds a rare distinction in Washington: The Tigercats are the state’s only team to have been to the state finals five times and won all five, counting the years Washtucna competed alone. … Whitman County: St. John-Endicott’s girls basketball team opened its season Tuesday with a 71-18 victory over visiting Waitsburg (0-1). Friday night basketball pairs Lind-Ritzville and St. John-Endicott at St. John (boys at 6 p.m., girls at 7:30 p.m.). League games do not begin until mid-December.

–J.D. Larson and Jessica Brown