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Sometimes league champs have to share … or do they?

Tim Martinez: High schools

By Tim Martinez, Columbian Assistant Sports Editor
Published: February 7, 2011, 12:00am

So today’s question to ponder is this: What constitutes a league champion?

While you think about that, here’s an anecdote that might help shed some light on the previous query.

In late November of last year, Eastern Washington University football players doused head coach Beau Baldwin with Gatorade to celebrate a 34-7 win over Idaho State to give the Eagles a share of the Big Sky Conference championship.

“To finish like this for the seniors and our other players — as Big Sky champions — is huge,” Baldwin said afterward.

Eastern finished the regular season tied with Montana State atop the Big Sky with 7-1 conference records. And even though Montana State beat Eastern during the season, the teams were considered Big Sky co-champions.

That’s because the Big Sky — like most college conferences across the country — considers teams co-champions if they finish the season with the same conference record, regardless of how teams may have fared in head-to-head meetings.

So does the same reasoning apply to high school league championships in Southwest Washington?

Well … it depends on who you ask.

In boys basketball, the Class 2A Greater St. Helens League wraps up league play on Tuesday. Hockinson and Mark Morris enter the week tied at 9-2, thanks in part to Hockinson’s win last Tuesday over the Monarchs. That gave the Hawks two wins in three meetings with Mark Morris this season.

If Hockinson and Mark Morris win on Tuesday, they’ll both finish 10-2 in league. So does that mean they’re co-champions, or does Mark Morris’ streak of 10 consecutive league titles come to an end because Hockinson has the head-to-head advantage?

The consensus at The Columbian was for co-champions. But our friends at the Daily News in Longview said, no, Hockinson is THE league champion.

So I took the question to Doug Cox, athletic director at Washougal and league commissioner for boys basketball in the 2A GSHL.

Cox replied with no ambiguity.

Because league teams faced each other three times this season, Cox said, if Hockinson and Mark Morris tie, “Hockinson beat Mark Morris twice, making (the Hawks) the outright league champs.”

OK. Great. But is the same true of ties in the 3A GSHL?

We posed that questioned to Terry Cavender, athletic director at Camas, and Ted Buck, former AD at Camas.

Both men agreed. If two teams finish with the same league record, they are co-champions, regardless of what happened in head-to-head meetings.

But when I asked Jeanne Shults, athletic director at Hudson’s Bay, she said she believes the 2A GSHL got it right.

“If teams play three times, and one team wins twice, then it makes sense that team is the league champion,” Shults said. “We didn’t have that situation come up in our league this season, but I’d be curious to hear how the (4A GSHL) handles it.”

So was I. So I asked Kelly Blankenship, boys basketball coach at Evergreen.

The Plainsmen open this week 9-2 in the 4A GSHL, a half-game ahead of Battle Ground. If both teams win out, Evergreen and Battle Ground would be tied a 10-2, with Battle Ground having two wins in three meetings with Evergreen.

In fact, a similar situation is possible in the 4A GSHL girls. If Evergreen beats Skyview tonight, the two teams likely will finish tied at 10-2, with tonight’s win giving Evergreen two wins in three meetings with Skyview.

But are they still co-champs?

“It makes sense to me,” Blankenship said. “I mean, we’d have the same record. Battle Ground would get the No. 1 seed from our district. But we should still be co-champs. Shouldn’t we?”

Hey, don’t ask me. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of this.

So we took the question to Cale Piland, athletic director at Union.

Piland was emphatic with his response. If two teams finish the season with the same league record, they are considered co-champions.

Good. Glad we cleared that up.

I think.

• • •

Well, league championships or co-championships aside, it is a busy week of basketball this week in Southwest Washington.

Even though some leagues have completed their regular seasons, district tournaments berths remain very fluid.

So rather than detail all the possibilities here, I’m going to refer you to The Columbian’s high school sports blog, which you can reach by going to 360preps.com or directly at www.columbian.com/weblogs/highschoolsports.

We’ll be updating the blog daily with the latest twists and turns on the road to the state tournaments.

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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