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Many chances remain to make state

Tim Martinez: High schools

The Columbian
Published: February 22, 2010, 12:00am

Sometimes, even in the playoffs, one loss cannot ruin a season.

And that’s true even if that loss is the first of its kind in more than 10 years.

That’s what the Union boys basketball team and the Prairie girls need to remember as they prepare of the Class 3A bi-district tournament this week.

This week is a time for looking forward, not back.

The losses suffered Friday in the 3A district championship games left the Titans and Falcons no further away from advancing to state as the teams that beat them.

For the Union boys, the situation this year is a bit of a role reversal from last year.

Last year, it was the Titans who were the upstarts, running off a string of big late-season wins, including an upset over the regular-season league champion in the district final, that sent them all the way to the state quarterfinals.

This year, Union was the regular-season champion in the 3A Greater St. Helens League, and Hudson’s Bay is the upstart team.

But what the Titans need to remember is that last year Columbia River was the regular-season champion. After the Chieftains lost to Union in the district final, they battled their way back through the bi-district tournament and made it all the way to the state championship game.

The good news for Union is that the road to state is much easier this year for the 3A GSHL district runner-up.

All the Titans need to do is beat Kennedy of Burien on Friday in their bi-district opener at Auburn Riverside, and Union will be back at state. If the Titans lose, they’ll need to win two loser-out games next week to reach state.

Hudson’s Bay, by winning three games in the district playoffs last week, earned a home game Friday in the bi-district first round against Foster of Tukwila. One more win at home for the Eagles, and they’ll be off to state.

For the 3A GSHL’s third bi-district team, the road to state is longer. The Prairie boys must win three loser-out games. The first comes Friday against Evergreen of Seattle at Clover Park High School.

For the Prairie girls, the thing to do now is to put Friday’s loss to Camas out of their mind. Forget about the 136-game winning streak in league play and district tournament and think about another streak that dates back even longer.

The Prairie girls basketball team has reached the state tournament every year since 1998. The Falcons can make it 13 years in a row with a win over White River of Buckley on Saturday at Auburn Riverside High School.

It won’t be easy. White River, which lost to top-ranked Kennedy on Friday, is ranked No. 5 in the state. For what it’s worth, Prairie was ranked No. 3. At last year’s state tournament, Prairie beat White River in the fourth-place semifinal at state.

For Camas, the Papermakers also draw a tough opponent to open the bi-district tournament. Camas will face ninth-ranked Mount Rainier of Des Moines on Friday at Hudson’s Bay.

Union, the 3A GSHL’s No. 3 team, will face Tyee of Seattle in a loser-out game on Saturday at Clover Park.

Here’s what the other remaining area basketball teams have on their plates this week.

CLASS 4A BOYS: Kelso faces Mountain View on Tuesday at Skyview in the fourth meeting between the two teams this year. Mountain View beat Kelso a week ago in a tiebreaker game to earn the No. 2 seed to district. Tuesday’s winner will face Skyview in the district championship on Thursday. Thursday’s winner faces the No. 4 team from District 2 on Saturday, while the loser travels north to play District 2’s No. 3 team.

4A GIRLS: Evergreen plays Kelso in a loser-out game Tuesday at Skyview. Skyview awaits the winner on Thursday in the district final, then the girls follow the same format that the boys do.

2A BOYS: Ridgefield plays a district pigtail game against Elma on Tuesday. The winner opens the district tournament Saturday at No. 8 River Ridge. Hockinson opens district at home against Tumwater, which won a game Friday to earn the No. 3 seed from the 2A Evergreen Conference.

2A GIRLS: Washougal faces a Tuesday pigtail game, but the Panthers don’t know who they’ll face just yet. Aberdeen and W.F. West of Chehalis have a tiebreaker game today to see who will meet the Panthers on Tuesday.

The pigtail winner plays at top-ranked River Ridge on Saturday in the district opener. The other district first round games are Tumwater at Ridgefield, Hockinson at Elma and Black Hills at Woodland.

1A BOYS: Stevenson’s loss Friday means the Bulldogs now must win two loser-out games this week to reach state. The first comes Wednesday in Chehalis against Kalama. If Stevenson wins, the Bulldogs will play Ilwaco or Montesano on Saturday in Chehalis for a state berth.

1A GIRLS: The La Center girls are in the same boat as the Stevenson boys. The Wildcats face Ilwaco on Thursday in Kelso. If La Center wins that game, the Wildcats will face Winlock or Onalaska on Saturday in Kelso for a state berth.

1B BOYS AND GIRLS: For the first time since I can remember, Clark County will have a participant in the 1B state tournament in Yakima. Both the King’s Way boys and King’s Way-Seton girls advanced to state with wins Saturday in the district playoffs.

The King’s Way boys will open state Wednesday against Lummi of Bellingham at 2 p.m.

The King’s Way-Seton girls will face Colton at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in their first-round game.

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached by phone at 360-735-4538 or e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com

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