That long road to the dome makes a stop close to home for three local high school basketball teams.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s tournament seeding committee announced opening round pairings for the boys and girls state basketball tournaments on Sunday.
While the area’s highest-seeded teams were assigned games out of the area, Columbia River boys, Mountain View girls and Woodland girls will play at Mark Morris High School in Longview on Saturday.
Since those will be loser-out games, all three will gladly take any advantage that comes with not travelling too far.
The top eight seeds in each tournament are guaranteed passage to at least the Round of 12 in the Tacoma Dome (Class 4A and 3A) or the Yakima Valley SunDome (Class 2A and 1A).
For everyone else, next weekend’s opening-round games are loser-out. That’s where No. 11 Mountain View, No. 11 Columbia River and No. 9 Woodland find themselves.
The 3A Greater St. Helens League champ Mountain View girls clinched their first state berth in 24 years on Friday. The Thunder face either No. 14 Shorecrest or No. 19 Garfield, which play Tuesday in the first round of the 20-team 3A tournament.
Columbia River boys, which won a winner-to-state, loser-out game Thursday, face No. 14 Renton.
The Woodland girls, which likewise won a district loser-out game, face No. 16 Sultan.
Class 4A
With losses Saturday in the bi-district championship to Auburn, the Camas boys and girls possibly missed a top-four seed and the chance to play close to home.
Instead, the Camas boys are the No. 5 seed and will play at No. 4 Richland on Saturday. The No. 7 seed Camas girls take on No. 2 Lake Washington in the Seattle area Friday.
4A Greater St. Helens League champion Union girls, which lost to Camas in the bi-district semifinals, are the No. 5 seed and face No. 4 Woodinville at Bellevue on Friday.
Class 3A
3A GSHL champ Prairie boys got a tough draw. The No. 17 seed Falcons travel to Spokane for a Tuesday first-round game against No. 16 Central Valley. The winner advances to a loser-out game against No. 9 Eastside Catholic in the Seattle area.
If the Mountain View girls win this weekend, the Thunder would face No. 3 White River or No. 6 Lakeside on March 5 in the Tacoma Dome.
Class 2A
The No. 2 seed R.A. Long boys will also play at Mark Morris. The Lumberjacks (22-1) will face No. 7 Foster with the winner clinching a spot in the quarterfinals March 6 in Yakima.
2A GSHL runner-up Mark Morris boys are the No. 8 seed and face top-seeded Lynden in Mount Vernon.
While the Rapids boys get to stay close to home, the 2A GSHL’s fourth state qualifier Ridgefield is the No. 15 seed and travels to Richland to face No. 10 Prosser.
On the girls side, 2A GSHL champ Columbia River avoids a loser-out opening round game as the No. 7 seed. But the Rapids face undefeated No. 2 seed Ellensburg, the second consecutive year River has faced the powerhouse Bulldogs in the opening round.
The Ridgefield girls, who are the No. 14 seed, travel to face No. 11 Eatonville on Friday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
If the No. 9 Woodland girls win this weekend, the Beavers would face the loser of No. 8 Bainbridge vs. top-seeded Lynden in the Round of 12.
Class 1A
Winning the District 4 tournaments earned both the Seton Catholic boys and girls a top-eight seed.
The Cougars boys head to Mount Vernon as the No. 6 seed to face No. 3 Lynden Christian. The Seton girls, also a No. 6 seed, head to Yakima to face No. 3 Zillah.
Two other Trico League boys qualifiers are also on the road for loser-out games. No. 13 Fort Vancouver, making its first state appearance since 1990, faces No. 12 Bellevue Christian in Issaquah. No. 14 La Center head headed to Wenatchee to face No. 11 Cashmere.
The King’s Way Christian girls, which punched their state ticket in a loser-out game Saturday, head to central Washington to face No. 11 Wapato.
Class 1B
The Columbia Adventist boys, which won the 1B Columbia Valley League and are 18-4, earned the No. 16 seed. The Kodiaks host a loser-out game Tuesday against No. 17 Sound Christian.
