G-Prep, CV favored

 Greater Spokane League boys basketball, like the girls, has an established reputation at the state level.

 Consider some of the recent success. Ferris won back-to-back championships in 2007 and 2008, Gonzaga Prep captured a title two years ago and 2006 runner-up Central Valley came within seconds of a title last year.

 This much is a certainty: Whichever 4A and 3A teams are in the postseason will be more than battle-tested.

 The question this year is which teams will those be.

 After tallying up the predicted-order-of-finish votes submitted by nine of the 10 coaches, they’re not exactly clear which team will win the league title. G-Prep and defending champ CV were given the most votes. Interestingly, CV was tabbed by three coaches as the favorite and had 81 points while G-Prep received one more vote for first and 80 points. Ferris was next with 72 and University, with 2012 league MVP Brett Bailey back, is seen as the clear-cut 3A favorite with 70.

 G-Prep coach Matty McIntyre likes his team’s prospects. But he’s not about to put the Bullpups in the same sentence, in terms of potential, as the title team.

 “I think we can do some things,” McIntyre said. “We have guys back who got some valuable minutes last year. We weren’t able to get roles defined last year. We were mixing and matching and had a hard time finding a rhythm with our lineups.”

 “It’s wide open with a lot of question marks,” U-Hi coach Garrick Phillips said, listing the Titans, CV, Ferris and G-Prep “in the mix.”  The postseason format has changed again this year. The 3A teams won’t have a district tournament and will send four directly to a subregional with the Mid-Columbia Conference. The top four 4A teams qualify for district, but just the top two seeds play for the district title. The top two teams in district advance to a subregional with the MCC.

 The top two 4A and 3A teams advance to Tacoma from regional tourneys.

Greg Lee