Chewelah, Riverside girls aim for first state success

Of the previous seven State 2A girls basketball tournaments, the Great Northern League has been present for five championship games and won three of them (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls (1998, 2001), Newport (1999).

As this year’s tournament opens today at the Yakima SunDome, both schools bringing girls teams haven’t taken part in the GNL tournament success.

Chewelah (18-4), which opens with Chimacum (11-12) at 9 a.m., and Riverside (18-5), facing East Valley-Yakima (22-1) at 9 p.m., have never placed in a state tournament, even before the 1997 reclassification, prior to which they were members of Class A.

Chewelah and Riverside were GNL co-champions this year, with Chewelah’s Cougars winning the District 7 championship and Riverside’s Rams having to win back-to-back, loser-out games to make the state tournament.

The Cougars open the tournament with Chimacum, the third seed out of the West Central District, and the only sub-.500 team in Yakima. Chimacum does have a scorer to contend with, as 5-foot-7 junior Caitlin Eldridge averages 17.8 points a game. Five-foot-4 sophomore point guard Nikki Nelson leads Chewelah with 13.6 ppg.

Chelan (20-3), champion out of the Central Washington Bi-District and defending state champion, is the only other district champion on Chewelah’s half of the bracket.

Riverside draws one of two one-loss teams in the tournament in the EV Red Devils, one of the few teams that may be able to match up with Riverside’s New Mexico-bound 6-2 center, Angela Hartill, who averages 15.8 points a game. EV-Yakima has its own threat inside, 6-0 junior Tana Stickney, averaging 11.8 ppg. The two-time state champion Red Devils are also a young team, with only one senior on the roster.

Should Riverside win on the first day, there are plenty more good teams on the loaded bottom half of the bracket. Northwest District champ King’s (22-1), West Central District winner Eatonville (16-6) and Southwest District champion Woodland (18-5) may be waiting for the Rams in the quarterfinals or semifinals.

On the boys’ side, the GNL’s two qualifiers have top-three finishes in the last two years: Medical Lake (18-4), which finished third last year, and Pullman (17-6), the runner-up in 2003 (and also 1999).

ML drew the 9 a.m. game against the third-place team out of Central Washington, Connell (18-4). ML’s Cardinals feature two big scorers – GNL leader, 6-5 senior Steven Wesley, at 18.6 points a game, and the league’s third-leading scorer, 6-1 senior Tanner Tareski, at 12.7 ppg.

The Cardinals could meet the only other district champion on the top half of the bracket, Ridgefield (21-2), in the semifinals.

Pullman plays at 4 p.m. against 18-5 Northwest District champion Lynden Christian, which features height that could cause problems for the Greyhounds. The Lyncs have 6-3 junior Greg Burgers (18.3 ppg) and 6-8 junior Kyle Coston (19.3 ppg), with other significant contributors measuring 6-6, 6-4 and 6-3. Pullman has only two seniors playing extensive minutes, and nobody averaging double figures. Ben Hein, a 6-3 junior, leads the Greyhounds with 9.6 points a game, and six other players average between six and seven points a game.

On the boys’ side, the bottom half of the bracket is stronger as well, with Lynden Christian, Central Washington Bi-District champion Grandview (21-2) and Southwest District champion Steilacoom (16-7).