20 Mid-Columbia teams qualify for WA regional basketball tournaments
What a busy, busy prep sports weekend we just had.
And while I spent the entire week at the Oregon coast, I kept tabs on the preps from afar.
The state high school wrestling championships concluded in Tacoma on Saturday, and our region had 12 wrestlers crowned as state champs.
That included four from Chiawana — Isaiah Anderson, Darion Johnson, Isaiah Medina and Alanna Haney.
The Riverhawks boys, in fact, won another Class 4A team title. That was their third consecutive state team championship, and it came in Jack Anderson’s final year as head coach.
Anderson is stepping down to spend more time with his family, as well as watch son Isaiah wrestle at Oregon State University beginning this fall.
There will be more this week on recapping the state wrestling tournaments.
Also, Hanford finished a respectable fifth in the Class 4A team standings at the state high school boys swimming and diving championships in Federal Way on Saturday.
We’ll recap that this week too.
As for high school basketball, the WIAA came out with its pairings on Sunday for the upcoming state regional playoff games, set for Friday and Saturday at various sites around the state.
In all, 20 Mid-Columbia boys and girls basketball teams have earned berths — some with guarantees to be in the final group in either Tacoma, Yakima or Spokane; others with loser-out matchups.
Here’s a look at each classification going into this week:
4A BOYS
Kamiakin was given a 4 seed, and will play No. 5 Tahoma at 4 p.m. Saturday at Richland High School. Because of that high of a seeding, Kamiakin (win or lose) will be in the Tacoma Dome next week.
The Braves lost the District 8 title game last Friday in the Spokane Arena, falling to Gonzaga Prep 57-54, as the Bullpups’ Jamir Miller sank a half court shot at the buzzer to win the game.
Meanwhile, the bigger surprise was that Richland failed to advance out of district.
The Bombers beat Chiawana 74-49 in a loser-out district game last Thursday to advance to the third-place game on Saturday at the Spokane Arena.
However, Central Valley held off the hard-charging Bombers 60-57 in the waning seconds to clinch the district’s third state regional berth.
The top seed in the 4A boys tournament is Mt. Si.
4A GIRLS
The Mid-Columbia will have four teams playing this week.
Pasco, which was stunned last week when Richland beat the Bulldogs 53-42 in the district tournament, came back through the losers bracket to beat Gonzaga Prep 55-45 on Saturday for the district’s third and final berth to state regionals.
The seeding committee, noting that the Bulldogs have been near or on top of the RPI rankings all season, gave Pasco a 3 seed.
The Bulldogs will play No. 6 Emerald Ridge at noon Saturday at Richland High School. Win or lose, either way Pasco will play at least one game next week in the Tacoma Dome.
So will Richland, which ended up winning the district title Friday in Spokane by beating Chiawana 42-32.
The Bombers are a No. 7 seed, and will travel to play No. 2 Sumner. That game is set for 12 p.m. Saturday at Auburn High School.
Then Richland travels to Tacoma next week.
Chiawana is a No. 10 seed, and will play No. 15 Sunnyside in a loser-out state regional game at 8 p.m. Friday at Richland High School.
Winner goes to Tacoma, loser is done for the season.
Woodinville was given the No. 1 seed for the tournament by the seeding committee.
3A BOYS
Because Class 3A has almost 80 schools in its rankings, the boys and girls tournaments involve 20 teams, rather than the usual 16.
The Kennewick boys went 3-0 last week in the District 8 tournament, beating University, then Mead, and finally Ferris 45-43 in the title game in the Spokane Arena on Friday.
Somehow, though, the seeding committee gave Ferris a 12 seed, while the Lions got a 15.
That means Kennewick must host a play-in game at 7 p.m. Tuesday, with No. 18 Ferndale. (Tickets for this game must be purchased online).
If Kennewick can win, the Lions will travel to play No. 10 Lake Washington at Bellevue College at 6 p.m. Friday in a win-and-go-to-Tacoma, lose-and-you’re-out game.
No. 1 seed in the tournament is Garfield.
3A GIRLS
Hermiston and Kennewick qualified for state regionals, but both are low seeds and must also play in play-in games on Tuesday.
Hermiston, which lost to Mead 66-47 in the district title game last Friday, is a No. 14 seed. The Bulldogs will play host to No. 19 Peninsula at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a loser-out contest.
If they should win, the Bulldogs would then travel to play No. 11 Everett at 2 p.m. Saturday at Everett Community College.
Kennewick is seeded 20th, and Daron Santo’s team will visit No. 13 Gig Harbor at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
A win there, and the Lions will take on No. 12 Bonney Lake at 2 p.m. Saturday at Auburn High School in another loser-out contest.
The Lions qualified by winning the district third-place game Saturday, edging Ferris 55-54.
Mead is the top seed in the tournament.
2A BOYS
CWAC district champion Prosser earned a 14 seed, while Grandview — which bounced back to earn the second state regional berth — is a 12 seed.
Because of that, they must fight for their playoff lives in a loser-out state regional game this coming weekend.
Prosser takes on No. 11 Mark Morris of Longview at 12 p.m. Saturday at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.
Grandview will play No. 13 Enumclaw at 12 p.m. Saturday at Davis High School in Yakima.
Prosser entered the six-team district tournament as the No. 3 seed. But the Mustangs beat No. 2 Ellensburg 68-66, then topped top-seeded Grandview 68-59 in the title game.
North Kitsap is the state tournament’s top seed.
2A GIRLS
Prosser’s girls placed second in the CWAC district tournament, and earned a No. 11 seed for state regionals.
The Mustangs will play No. 14 Enumclaw at 6 p.m. Friday at Richland High School, in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.
Tumwater is the tournament’s top seed.
1A BOYS
Wahluke got into the tournament by earning the third and final SCAC district state regional berth last week.
The Warriors are ranked 16th in the state regional, and must play No. 9 Blaine at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.
The winners earns a spot in the Yakima Valley SunDome field next week. The loser is done.
King’s is the tournament’s top seed.
1A GIRLS
No area teams qualified for state regionals.
Lynden Christian is the top seeded team.
2B BOYS
This one is troubling. Despite being No. 4 in the state RPI rankings and boasting a 22-1 record, Columbia-Burbank was handed a 10 seed by the tournament seeding committee.
The Coyotes, who won the EWAC district title last Saturday, will play No. 15 Ilwaco at 2 p.m. Saturday at Richland High School in a loser-out game.
Very confusing.
Also making the field: Mabton is a 14 seed, while upstart River View got in with a 6-17 record and was awarded the 16 seed.
Both will play loser-out games this weekend.
Mabton takes on No. 11 Toutle Lake at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mark Morris High School in Longview.
River View, which started the season out 0-13 but went 6-4 in its last 10 games, plays No. 9 Lake Roosevelt at 2 p.m. Saturday at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee.
Kalama is the top seeded team.
2B GIRLS
Warden, Mabton and Columbia-Burbank all qualified.
Warden is the 2 seed, and will play No. 7 Liberty of Spangle at 6 p.m. Friday at Wenatchee High School in a game that guarantees both teams will play next week in the Spokane Arena.
Mabton is No. 12, and plays No. 13 Saint George’s in a loser-out game at 6 p.m. Friday at Davis High School in Yakima.
And No. 14 Columbia-Burbank will take on No. 11 Rainier at 6 p.m. Friday at Tumwater High School in another loser-out game.
La Conner is the top seed of the tournament.
1B BOYS
Sunnyside Christian and DeSales are both ranked in the top eight, which means they will be in the Spokane Arena next week for certain.
SSC, which beat DeSales 47-44 in the District 9 1B title game, will play No. 4 Willapa Valley at 4 p.m. at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.
Meanwhile, No. 8 DeSales will take on No. 1-seeded Almirante-Coulee-Hartline at 12 p.m. Saturday at Eastmont High School.
1B GIRLS
No local teams qualified for state.
Mount Vernon Christian is the field’s top seed.