State basketball pairings announced; region earns five No. 1 seeds

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced the pairings for opening rounds (formerly known as the “regional” round) of the state basketball tournaments on Sunday.

Here’s a look at the matchups for each of the teams in the opening round on Feb. 24-25.

All games involving teams with top-eight seeds are “protected,” as the winner of those games advance to a quarterfinal while the loser faces an elimination game in the Round of 12 at the state venue.

All seeds lower than No. 8 play in elimination games in the opening round.

4A

Boys: Gonzaga Prep (21-3), the Greater Spokane League and District 8 champion, drew the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Federal Way (22-2), which finished third in the District 3/4 tournament, Friday at 8 p.m. at Auburn HS. It’s a rematch of a game from earlier this season, in which the Bullpups lost to the Eagles 79-57 on Dec. 27.

Girls: The Bullpups girls (17-7), which finished third in the District 8 tourney with a win over Chiawana on the road Saturday, is the No. 12 seed and takes on No. 13 Decatur (17-7) in an elimination game Saturday at noon at West Valley HS.

3A

Boys: Mt. Spokane (22-1) beat Kennewick 73-40 in the District 8 championship and drew the top seed in the bracket. The Wildcats will be the host team against No. 8 Rainier Beach (14-7), which finished fifth in the District 2 tourney, Saturday at 6 p.m. at West Valley.

Girls: GSL champ Mead (18-3) beat Kennewick 74-48 in the district title game. The Panthers are the No. 4 seed and take on No. 5 Lincoln (Tacoma) (17-2) in a protected game Saturday at 4 p.m. at West Valley.

2A

Boys: Pullman (23-0) finished the season as the top-ranked team in the state media poll and earned the No. 1 seed to the tourney after downing East Valley (Yakima) 78-49 in a crossover. The Greyhounds play No. 8 R.A. Long (20-4) Saturday at 2 p.m. at West Valley.

West Valley (19-4) went on the road to knock off Grandview 54-48 in a crossover to qualify and is the No. 9 seed. The Eagles host No. 16 Clover Park (13-8) in an elimination game Saturday ay 8 p.m.

1A

Boys: (4) Freeman (20-2) vs (5) King’s (17-5), Friday at 8 p.m. at West Valley; (9) Omak (16-5) vs (16) Lakeside (13-10), Saturday at noon at Wenatchee HS.

Girls: (3) Wapato (22-1) vs (6) Deer Park (20-2), Saturday at 2 p.m. at Davis HS; (9) Freeman (18-5) vs (16) Hoquiam (15-8), Friday 6 p.m. at West Valley.

2B

Boys: (1) Davenport (23-2) vs (8) Adna (18-7), Friday at 6 p.m. at Cheney HS; (2) Morton-White Pass (20-2) vs (7) Northwest Christian (20-4), Saturday at noon at W.F. West HS; (9) Lind-Ritzville/Sprague (18-7) vs (16) Dayton-Waitsburg (13-7), Saturday at noon at Cheney.

Girls: (1) Colfax (24-0) vs (8) Mabton (18-6), Saturday at 6 p.m. at Cheney; (9) Liberty (14-10) vs (16) White Swan (16-8), Saturday at 10 a.m. at West Valley; (14) Forks (18-7) vs (11) Northwest Christian (18-7), Friday at 8 p.m. at Cheney; (12) Raymond (19-6) vs (13) Davenport (16-10), Saturday at 2 p.m. at W.F. West; (10) Cle Elum-Roslyn (19-5) vs (15) Upper Columbia (12-11), Saturday at 8 p.m. at Ellensburg HS.

1B

Boys: (1) Wellpinit (22-1) vs (8) Oakville (17-4), Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cheney; (2) Sunnyside Christian (19-4) vs (7) Cusick (19-4), Saturday at 2 p.m. at Richland HS; (18) Muckleshoot Tribal (14-10) at (15) Pomeroy (15-7), Tuesday at 7 p.m.; (17) Inchelium (15-9) at (16) Orcas Island (19-9), Tuesday at 7 p.m.; (20) Springdale (13-12) at (13) Riverside Christian (15-4), Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Girls: (3) Colton (22-1) vs (6) Moses Lake Christian (20-3), Saturday at 8 p.m. at Cheney; (2) Mossyrock (19-3) vs (7) Oakesdale (20-3), Saturday at 6 p.m. at W.F. West; (4) Mount Vernon Christian (21-4) vs (5) Inchelium (18-2), Saturday at 10 a.m. at Mount Vernon HS; (10) Wellpinit (14-6) vs (15) Evergreen Lutheran (15-3), Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cheney; (11) Odessa (12-9) vs (14) Naselle (15-9), Saturday at 10 a.m. at Cheney.

This story was updated Sunday evening with dates/times.