The Bs

It won’t be for the Northeast B-11 title, but Friday night’s football battle between host Liberty (7-1) and Reardan (7-1) might be just as important. The winner gets the league’s No. 2 seed into the state playoffs. The loser has to travel to top-ranked DeSales to open the tournament. … The District 7 B volleyball tournament begins this afternoon, and the top teams are solid bets to make a charge at the State B title. In the last four state tournaments, 12 of the 14 Northeast representatives have placed, and three of the tournaments have been won by Northeast teams (2002: Lind-Ritzville; 2000-01: Davenport). In this year’s first round, Panorama No. 1 Curlew takes on defending State 1A champion Lind-Ritzville; 2003 third-place St. George’s plays Bi-County No. 2 Davenport; Inchelium takes on Bi-County No. 1 and undefeated Sprague-Harrington; and Panorama No. 2 Selkirk plays 2003 runner-up Almira/Coulee-Hartline. Four of the eight teams qualify for the State B. … District 9 (Southeast) volleyball play also begins today, continuing Saturday, in which three of the eight teams will qualify for state. Whitman County No. 1 Garfield-Palouse, sixth in last year’s state tournament, takes on Blue Mountain Conference No. 3 Touchet; Blue Mountain No. 2 DeSales will try to knock off Whitman County No. 4 Rosalia; Whitman County No. 3 Tekoa-Oakesdale, fourth in last year’s state tourney, will face Blue Mountain No. 4 Dayton; and Whitman County No. 2 LaCrosse-Washtucna will face Blue Mountain champion Pomeroy. Saturday will determine berths to the state tournament, scheduled for Nov. 12 and 13 at Eastern Washington University.

–J.D. Larson and Jessica Brown