Neah Bay returns to defend its three consecutive championships won | Class 1B girls
From 2009 to 2019, the Colton girls won 10 of 11 state championships, a run of dominance that included a state record 79 consecutive victories between 2012 and 2016.
That program’s success during that run has cast a long shadow across the entire state, one that reached all the way across to Neah Bay, whose three consecutive state 1B girls basketball titles are impressive in their own right – even if they are barely over a third of the way to matching Colton’s run of eight straight titles.
The Red Devils are back this season, once again as the No. 1 seed. But a deep bracket of challengers awaits them.
“I think the top eight is really solid and you’ve got Almira Coulee Hartline in there too at No. 9,” said Oakesdale head coach Heidi Perry, whose Nighthawks (21-3) are seeded No. 5. “I think it’s a really, really competitive tournament this year.”
Neah Bay (22-2) enters Spokane Arena on a 14-game winning streak and returns four seniors from last year’s championship team, which defeated Garfield-Palouse 46-36 for the title.
But the Gar-Pal Vikings (22-2), seeded No. 2 on the other side of the bracket, return plenty of experienced players, too.
“Last year we went on that run, and it wasn’t totally unexpected, but it was something new,” Gar-Pal head coach Garrett Parrish said. “This year, our girls won the state volleyball title, and it’s definitely been different. You can feel the pressure. It’s kind of like, the best you can do is what you’re supposed to do.”
Gar-Pal awaits the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 8 Lummi Nation (21-4) and No. 9 ACH (19-5). The Vikings defeated the Warriors by 18 points on Jan. 27 and by 27 points on Feb. 21.
But the Vikings needed a comeback and a last-second shot to defeat No. 7 Pateros (17-7) in a seeding game Saturday. It was one of just three single-digit victories for Gar-Pal this season.
“It is always a good wake-up call, because I think sometimes at our level you can get into this mode of going through the motions,” Parrish said. “That puts it back in our mind that we can get beat.”
Oakesdale is back in the tournament after finishing fourth last season. It lost in the quarterfinals, 51-36, to Neah Bay.
“The only things we can control are our own prep, our attitude and our effort,” Perry said. “If we focus on being in the present moment and not worrying about the outcome, if we trust in our prep and each other, we’ll get where we want to go.”