<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Local basketball teams draw some tough opponents in regional round

Tim Martinez: High School Sports

By Tim Martinez, Columbian Assistant Sports Editor
Published: February 18, 2018, 2:20pm
4 Photos
Skyview's KB Fesehazion (22) and Jovon Sewelll (2) sprint after Union's Ethan Smith as he dribbles down court with second left in Tuesday night's game at Union High School on Jan. 23, 2018.
Skyview's KB Fesehazion (22) and Jovon Sewelll (2) sprint after Union's Ethan Smith as he dribbles down court with second left in Tuesday night's game at Union High School on Jan. 23, 2018. (Alisha Jucevic/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Several local high school basketball teams got up Sunday, a day after all the state qualifying games had completed, and rejoiced.

Some said: “Yay! We’re going to state!”

Others said: “Yah! We’re a top-8 seed!”

And others said: “Yah! We’re a top-4 seed. We’ll get to play close to home.”

And then they looked at their matchups and remarked: “Whoa! We’re going to play a really, really, REALLY good team.”

Hey, it’s the state tournament, and there are no slouches among the final 16 teams in the state. But some teams will face big challenges in games scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday.

Take the Skyview boys. After dropping a league tiebreaker to Union and then the opening game at the bi-district tournament, Skyview (22-3) stormed to four consecutive wins to earn fifth place.

That allowed the Storm to secure the No. 2 seed to state, where they’ll open against No. 7 Enumclaw.

In the last week or so, Enumclaw (20-5) has been doing what Enumclaw seems to do every year, and that is get really, really hot in February.

After finishing the regular season 15-5 and second in the North Puget Sound League Olympic Division, the Hornets rolled through the bi-district tournament, eventually handing unbeaten Federal Way its first loss of the season to win the bi-district title. The Hornets are a tough draw for Skyview.

The Union boys (21-5) took third place in the bi-district tournament to lock up the No. 3 seed. And who did the Titans draw? Federal Way, the No. 6 seed.

The good news for the Storm and Titans is, as a top-8 seed, if they win this week, they will advance to the state quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome. And if they lose, they’ll move to the round of 12 at the Tacoma Dome, a loser-out game to advance winners to the quarterfinals.

And after putting in some long miles the past couple of weeks — Skyview logged 1,324 miles over five trips in the bi-district; Union logged 878 miles in three trips — both teams will get to play closer to home this weekend. Skyview plays Enumclaw at 6 p.m. Saturday at Battle Ground High School, followed by Union vs. Federal Way at 8 p.m.

The Camas girls (16-7) won’t be so lucky. After wavering around the No. 10 spot, it wasn’t clear if the Papermakers would secure a top-8 berth or not.

But then on Sunday morning, Camas did lock in at No. 8. Hooray, Papermakers! And then came the opponent — top-ranked and unbeaten Central Valley of Spokane (23-0).

Not only does Camas have to play Central Valley, which is 77-1 over the past three seasons, but the Papermakers have to add to their 878 miles traveled this postseason with a trip across the state. Camas plays Central Valley at noon Saturday at University High School in Spokane.

But at least Camas is assured a trip to the Tacoma Dome next week.

There are some advantages to the new state format, which is in its second year. Games between the top 8 teams in the bracket this weekend are not loser-out games. However, the games between teams seeded 9-16 are loser-out games.

And while the bracket isn’t put together randomly as in the past, it does create one situation avoided in the previous format. And that’s teams from the same district facing off in this regional round of state.

That’s the situation the Prairie girls team is in. The Falcons (21-3) are the No. 7 seed in 3A and will travel to play the No. 2 seed, Gig Harbor (18-6) — the very same team Prairie beat for third-place in the bi-district tournament on Friday. The Falcons and Tides meet at 6 p.m. Friday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

Two other local teams earned top-8 positions — the Columbia River boys at 3A and the La Center girls at 1A. Both of those teams will be headed to Yakima. The River boys (19-4) are the No. 7 seed and will travel to play No. 2 Selah (21-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Ellensburg High School. The La Center girls (21-1) are No. 6 and will travel to play No. 3 La Salle (19-4) of Union Gap at 4 p.m. Saturday at Eisenhower High School in Yakima.

The Prairie boys (19-6) were hoping to secure a top-8 spot, but settled in at No. 9. The Falcons will face No. 16 Arlington (16-8) in a loser-out game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Battle Ground High School.

Like the Prairie girls, the Union girls (18-7) will face a bi-district rematch at regionals. The No. 16 Titans will travel to play No. 9 Todd Beamer (20-5), a team that beat Union 69-45 on Thursday. The rematch of Titans will be 8 p.m. Friday at Puyallup High School.

Four other Clark County teams will play loser-out regional games this week.

2A GIRLS: No. 10 Washougal (19-5) will face No. 15 Fife (15-9) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Battle Ground High School.

1A BOYS: No. 11 La Center (16-7) will face No. 14 Montesano (19-5) at 8 p.m. Friday at Mark Morris High School. No. 15 King’s Way Christian (13-10) will play No. 10 Wahluke (17-7) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Eisenhower High in Yakima.

1B GIRLS: No. 13 Columbia Adventist (13-2) will play No. 12 Clallam Bay (15-8) at 8 p.m. Saturday at Rogers High School in Puyallup.

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.

Loading...