Prep basketball: Local teams set to battle for state berths
With both Chiawana and Richland opening the Mid-Columbia Conference/Greater Spokane League sub-regionals with a win and a loss, the MCC’s top 4A girls basketball teams will battle Tuesday for a chance to extend their seasons.
MCC No. 1 seed Chiawana (16-6) will host No. 2 Richland (11-10) in a loser-out game at 5 p.m. The team that wins still needs two more loser-out victories (against GSL teams with no fewer than 14 wins) to lock up a state berth.
The Riverhawks won both regular-season meetings, topping the Bombers 59-55 on Dec. 16 in Richland and locking up the top seed with a 55-49 win Feb. 1 in Pasco.
The winner will face either Mead (15-8) — which beat Chiawana 69-65 in opening round — or Lewis and Clark (13-9) — which lost to Richland 74-72 — on Friday.
4A BOYS: MCC No. 2 seed Walla Walla is in a similar situation as the Chiawana and Richland girls, facing elimination against Ferris and needing three straight wins to make state.
The Blue Devils (10-9) host the Saxons (17-5) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will host either Central Valley (16-6), which beat Walla Walla in the opening round, or Lewis and Clark (14-9) on Friday.
Richland (17-4) hosts Gonzaga Prep (21-1 No. 2 in RPI) in the sub-regional championship on Friday (time dependent on the Richland girls’ Tuesday result). Richland lost at home to G-Prep 79-51 on Dec. 27 in a game where the Bombers went 0 for 14 from 3-point range and allowed the Bullpups to shoot 49 percent from the field.
The sub-regional champ earns a state berth. The loser hosts the survivor of the losers bracket on Saturday in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.
3A GIRLS: Kamiakin hosts Mt. Spokane (9-13) in the sub-regional championship at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The MCC-champion Braves (20-1) are riding a 12-game win streak, and 17 of their victories have been by double-digit margins this season. Another win will advance them to the glue crossover with SeaKing District 2, with a shot at earning their seventh consecutive state berth.
Southridge (11-10) hosts North Central (8-14) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a loser-out game, with the winner traveling to play at the loser of the Kamiakin-Mt. Spokane game, on Saturday. The winner of Saturday’s game will also advance to the glue crossover.
3A BOYS: Following the girls championship on Thursday, Kamiakin will host Shadle Park at 7 p.m. in the boys championship.
The Highlanders had to fight for their 17-4 record this season, with season splits against 4A powers Ferris and Central Valley.
The Braves (19-3) have won 16 of their last 17, with the only blemish coming in a 72-52 home drubbing by MCC-champ Richland.
SMALL SCHOOLS: Having already locked up their spot in the state tournament, the Prosser girls (18-3) play Wapato (18-2) in the CWAC district championship at 5:30 p.m. Friday (Location TBA). The Prosser boys (13-9) play Toppenish (14-7) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to determine which team will travel to play the Great Northern League champ (either Pullman or Clarkston) in the glue crossover, and which will host the GNL No. 2. The crossover games take place at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Columbia-Burbank (21-1) and River View (17-4) girls teams will meet for the third time this season (Burbank won the first two games) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Toppenish Middle School in a winner-to-state, loser-out game in the SCAC 1A tournament. In the boys tournament Saturday, Connell (11-9) will play Warden (16-6) at 2:30 p.m. and Wahluke (17-4) will play Granger (14-8) at 4 p.m. at Wapato High School in winner-to-state, loser-out games.
In the District 5/6 2B boys tournament, Tri-Cities Prep (13-8) will play the winner of Monday’s Manson-Tonasket game, at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Eastmont Junior High in a loser-out game. The winner plays DeSales (14-6) at 5 p.m. Friday at Eastmont High School and needs one win in two games to qualify for state.
RPI RANKINGS FINALIZED
The WIAA announced Monday that its state RPI rankings were finalized. The rankings will decide team seeding in the state basketball playoffs.
Like the past six tournaments, 16 teams will advance to the regional round of the state playoffs. But this year, four games involving the top eight seeds will have the winner get a bye in the first round of the 12-team state tournament, while the losers will have to play in the first round. The other four games — involving the bottom eight seeds — will be loser-out games.
The remaining MCC boys teams are: No. 14 Richland, No. 32 Walla Walla in 4A; and No. 22 Kamiakin in 3A. The girls teams are: No. 18 Chiawana, No. 36 Richland in 4A; No. 7 Kamiakin and No. 41 Southridge in 3A.
A full list of the rankings can be found at wiaa.com.
This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 8:06 PM with the headline "Prep basketball: Local teams set to battle for state berths."