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Sprague-Harrington Falcons
Record: 26-0 Coach: Ed Shields
Route to state: Defeated Cusick 67-27 en route to District 7 title.
Top players: Stacie Shields, 5-9, Sr., guard, 14.3 ppg; Roni Jo Mielke, 5-6, Jr., guard, 12.3 ppg; Natalie Deking, 5-5, Jr., guard, 10.3 ppg; Jamie Larmer, 5-7, Jr., guard, 8.2 ppg; Maria Rustemeyer, 5-11, Jr., forward, 7.8 ppg.
Fast fact: S-H finished sixth last year despite losing Mielke to a knee injury at midseason and Shields to a sprained ankle in the state semifinal.
Curlew Cougars
Record: 22-3 Coach: Dan Miller
Route to state: Defeated Inchelium 50-42 in District 7 semifinals.
Top players: Nichole Miller, 5-11, Jr., center, 18.5 ppg; Amanda Grumbach, 5-8, Jr., forward, 14.3 ppg; Kady Kirkendall, 5-5, Jr., guard, 7.7 ppg.
Fast fact: Last year’s Cougars earned their first state trophy since 1978 by beating Sprague-Harrington in last year’s third/sixth game. Six juniors return from last year’s team, which lost just one senior.
Contenders
La Salle Lightning
Record: 21-2 Coach: Todd Kent
Route to state: Defeated Sunnyside Christian 70-46 en route to District 5 and Central Regional titles.
Top players: Jasmine Stohr, 5-11, Soph., 13.5 ppg; Molly McGree, 5-9, Jr., forward, 11.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.8 spg; Monica Schneider, 5-7, Soph., guard, 9.5 ppg, 3.0 spg.
Fast fact: La Salle’s only losses this season are to 1A schools White Swan (23-0) and Freeman (19-3).
Mossyrock Vikings
Record: 23-1 Coach: Gary Stamper
Route to state: Defeated Morton 60-38 en route to District 4 title.
Top players: Lexi Belcher, 5-9, Jr., guard, 20.2 ppg; Tisa Pelletier, 5-11, Jr, forward, 13.5 ppg; Kelsey Forrest, 5-11, Sr., forward, 10.7 ppg; Alysha Kuse, 5-11, Jr., forward, 7.9 ppg; Corina Allen, 5-5, Jr., guard, 7.8 ppg.
Fast fact: Mossyrock, which makes its seventh straight state appearance and 15th overall, averages 71.3 points per game and had an average margin of victory of 40.1 in their 23 wins.
St. John-Endicott Eagles
Record: 18-6 Coach: Don Kemper
Route to state: Defeated Liberty Christian 64-51 for District 9 title.
Top players: Ellen Miller, 5-9, Jr., forward, 18.3 ppg; Sydney Gossard, 5-6, Sr., guard, 13.6 ppg; Jamie Hedlund, 5-8, Sr., forward, 7.5 ppg.
Fast fact: This is SJE’s first state appearance since 1997, when the Eagles completed a run of five straight top-four finishes, including the 1996 championship.
Inchelium Hornets
Record: 23-5 Coach: Rob Seymour
Route to state: Defeated Liberty 52-28 in District 7 third-place game.
Top players: Chelsi Pakootas, 5-6, Jr., guard, 11.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg; Steven Carson, 5-7, Jr., forward, 10.6 ppg; Melissa Dick, 5-4, Sr., guard, 8.9 ppg.
Fast fact: Inchelium has made one previous State B appearance, finishing fifth in 1979 at Whitworth College.
Toutle Lake Ducks
Record: 20-4 Coach: Larry Hoff
Route to state: Defeated Raymond 41-28 in District 4 semifinals.
Top players: Jessi Hanna, 5-7, Sr., guard, 12.2 ppg; Lindsey Scheffler, 5-5, Jr., guard, 11 ppg; Kayla Vickaryous, 5-5, Jr., guard, 10.5 ppg; Lacey Hoffman, 5-9, Soph., forward, 8.0 ppg.
Fast fact: TL lost just one senior from last year’s tournament appearance and returned Hanna, Scheffler and Vickaryous, all of whom also averaged in double figures last season.
Might surprise
Evergreen Lutheran Eagles
Record: 21-3 Coach: Jeffrey Kurbis
Route to state: Defeated Lummi 62-38 en route to District 1-2-3 title.
Top players: Jessica Ide, 5-8, Jr., guard, 14.4 ppg; Rachel Hansen, 5-9, Jr., forward, 13.2 ppg; Erike Laete, 6-1, Jr., center, 10.0 ppg.
Fast fact: EL is making its fourth straight State B appearance – and its fourth in school history. The Eagles are 1-6 all-time.
Morton Huskies
Record: 18-7 Coach: Gale Bridges
Route to state: Defeated Raymond 37-23 in District 4 third-place game.
Top players: Frances Morrison, 6-1, Jr., F/C, 11.1 ppg, 7 rpg; Vanessa Ramsey, 6-1, Sr., center, 11.1 ppg, 7 rpg; Ashley Layman, 5-7, Sr., guard, 10.0 ppg, 6 rpg, 4 apg, 5 spg.
Fast fact: Bridges is in his second year at Morton since a five-year hiatus from coaching. He served as an assistant at Mossyrock for 12 years, including eight under current Vikings head coach Gary Stamper.
Shoreline Christian Crusaders
Record: 24-2 Coach: Stan DeYager
Route to state: Defeated King’s West 60-57 in District 1-2-3 semifinals.
Top players: Julia DeKoekkoek, 5-10, Jr., F/C, 16.8 ppg; Colleen Woods, 5-10, Jr., F/C, 15.0 ppg.
Fast fact: SC is making its 16th State B appearance, the most among this year’s participants. The Crusaders are 7-30 at state, finishing eighth in 1997.
Waterville Shockers
Record: 15-9 Coach: Dick Stoddard
Route to state: Defeated Pateros 47-23 in District 6 championship.
Top players: Jacque Brown, 5-9, Jr., forward, 10.0 ppg; Lauren Daling, 5-9, Jr., forward, 7.3 ppg.
Fast fact: Waterville has placed in four of its last five State B appearances, including an eighth-place finish in their last trip in 2003.
Dayton Bulldogs
Record: 21-5 Coach: John Donnelly
Route to state: Defeated Liberty Christian 47-45 in District 9 second-place game.
Top players: Stephanie Turner, 5-9, Sr., post, 13.6 ppg; Natalie Barker, 5-9, Jr., post, 9.5 ppg; Heather Lambert, 5-7, Sr., guard, 8.3 ppg.
Fast fact: Dayton is making its first State B appearance since 1989, but the Bulldogs played in seven straight State 1A tournaments in between (1997-2003), finishing second in 2000.
Underdogs
Pateros Nannies
Record: 16-9 Coach: John Ellis
Route to state: Defeated Bridgeport 52-46 in District 5/6 tournament.
Top players: Clara Hull, 5-8, Soph., wing, 15.5 ppg; Alicia Spurgeon, 5-9, Sr., wing, 10.9 ppg; Michelle Bruno, 5-1, Soph., guard, 7.2 ppg.
Fast fact: Pateros has six seniors who were in eighth grade when the Nannies were runners-up in 2002.
Sunnyside Christian Knights
Record: 18-6 Coach: Al Smeenk
Route to state: Defeated Entiat 58-32 in District 5/6 tournament.
Top players: Brittany den Hoed, 5-9, Jr., forward, 11.4 ppg; Tori Van Wingerden, 5-7, Jr., guard, 10.4 ppg; Emma Newhouse, 5-9, Soph., forward, 9.2 ppg; Emily Hernandez, 5-3, Sr., guard, 8.8 ppg.
Fast fact: Hernandez averaged 9.8 points per game entering last year’s State B tournament but scored 61 points in the first two games, including a school-record 37 against Toutle Lake.
King’s West Warriors
Record: 19-6 Coaches: Brian Hanley, Dave Kerkhoff
Route to state: Defeated Mt. Vernon Christian 56-26 in District 1-2-3 tournament.
Top players: Chloe Mosey, 6-0, Jr., center, 17.3 ppg; Megan Spence, 6-0, Soph., forward, 16.8 ppg.
Fast fact: KW has no seniors, but it does have three 6-footers: Mosey, Spence and sophomore Michelle Webster.
Clallam Bay Bruins
Record: 11-11 Coach: Kelly Gregory
Route to state: Defeated Lummi 53-44 in District 1-2-3 tournament.
Top players: Kathleen Wilson, 5-6, Sr., guard, 17 ppg; Alice Yancey, 6-1, Sr., post.
Fast fact: CB is back at State B for the first time since 2000. Its best finish was fourth in 1997.