It’s a little funny to consider the league that started its league basketball season last was the first to finish.
But that’s what happens when you are the four-team 3A Greater St. Helens League that plays a six-game league schedule.
Also a big surprise was that very competitive 3A GSHL boys basketball teams managed to sort out their three seeds to the bi-district tournament without any tiebreakers necessary.
But now the postseason berths and seeds have been settled for the 3A GSHL and the 1A Trico League. So let’s take a look at the races that will wind down this week in the 4A GSHL and 2A GSHL.
We’ll start with the 2A GSHL, as those teams only have one more round of league games to play.
In 2A GSHL boys, Mark Morris will be the No. 1 seed to the district tournament, which will start later this week. Barring an upset win by R.A. Long on Tuesday, the other three district participants will be Woodland, Washougal and Hockinson.
The only scenario that would not require a tiebreaker of some sort — either a coin flip or a game — is if Woodland beats Hockinson on Tuesday and Washougal is upset by Ridgefield. In that case, Woodland would be No. 2, Washougal No. 3 and Hockinson No. 4.
Otherwise, we’ll need a tiebreaker, either between Woodland and Washougal for second, or Woodland and Hockinson for third.
On the girls side, again Mark Morris is No. 1. Woodland, Hockinson and Washougal are assured district berths, but seeding needs to be worked out.
The best-case scenario — at least as far a figuring out seeding goes — would be if Woodland beats Hockinson on Monday and Washougal beats Ridgefield. Then it’s Woodland No. 2, Washougal No. 3 and Hockinson No. 4.
However, if Hockinson and Washougal win, then you would have a three-way tie for second, and head-to-head matchups wouldn’t break that tie.
The 4A GSHL still has two rounds of league play to go, so things are even harder to sort out.
On the boys side, two things are for certain: Union will be the No. 1 seed to next week’s district tournament and Mountain View has been eliminated.
Camas looks to be a good position to secure the No. 2 seed to district with its head-to-head sweep over Evergreen and with the Plainsmen set to play Union on Tuesday. The other key game will be Thursday when Skyview could play Heritage to determine fifth and sixth place.
In girls play, the game-of-the-week is Skyview at Camas. If the Papermakers — winners of 14 in a row — win, they’ll clinch the league title. But if Skyview wins, we’ll likely have co-champions.
At the other end of the standings, Evergreen faces two must-win games — against Union and Battle Ground — to avoid being eliminated from postseason play.
