At this juncture, the state girls basketball picture breaks down into two distinct tiers. Dominant teams are the norm in the three smaller classifications, where Lynden Christian, Okanogan and Colton appear to be clear favorites to win state at 1A, 2B, and 1B, respectively. All three teams are undefeated against opponents in their own classification, and all own an average margin of victory of at least 18 points per game.
At the upper levels, though, parity reigns. The 4A field is as wide open as it’s been in recent memory. The race is a bit slimmed down at 3A — one could probably call Lynnwood the frontrunner — but the depth of talent concentrated in Seattle and Tacoma means the road for the Royals will be anything but easy. And the craziest classification of them all may be 2A, where four different teams are ranked No. 1 by various polls around the state. The days of Mark Morris and W.F. West hegemony are kaput.
We took the temperature of boys basketball in Washington on Thursday. Now it’s time for the girls. Same style: I divided the state into five regions and highlighted the good, the bad, and the interesting from each after a month-plus of action.
Once again, thanks to ScoreCzar.com for their stellar database of prep information, as well as Tim Martinez at The Columbian for compiling this lovely table detailing the different top ten rankings released by various outlets around the state.
SEA-TAC
Girls basketball, boys basketball, it doesn’t matter: Some of the highest-quality hoops in the entire Pacific Northwest are played in the Metro League. This season, West Seattle (11-0) and Bishop Blanchet (9-0) look like the two top teams, and thus two of the overall favorites in Class 3A. A little further down the table, though, looms Cleveland (7-2), winner of two straight state titles before finishing as runners-up last March. To count out the Eagles this early would be foolish, even though point guard Jayde Christopher and post Joyce Harrell are now plying their trade at D-I schools.
Elsewhere in the Pugetopolis, Stanford-bound guard Anna Wilson and Bellevue (7-0) are staking their own claim as a top team in Class 3A — the Wolverines are averaging nearly twice as many points a game (83.4) as they’re allowing (42). Mercer Island (9-0) looks like their main challenger in KingCo 3A. Farther south, star guard Tamia Briggs and Lincoln (10-1) continue to dominate the Narrows.
Even without 6-5 post Deja Strother, now off to the UW, defending 4A runner-up Inglemoor (9-2) is ranked in the top ten by most outlets. Unbeaten Bothell (11-0), currently ranked No. 2 in the state by the AP, figures to be the Vikings’ greatest challenger in the KingCo. And in Tacoma, Beamer (9-1) is back to its bullying ways, rounding out a triumvirate of contenders in 4A.
In smaller school news, Archbishop Murphy (6-1) and King’s (8-3) are up to their usual tricks. The Wildcats are a consensus top-10 team at 2A, and don’t be fooled by the Knights’ ho-hum record: One of the losses came against a Canadian team, and the other two were to big-time 3A programs Lakeside and Mercer Island. The absence of Savanna Hanson (now at Santa Clara) may prove to play a factor down the line, but for now, sister Daylee Hanson and the rest of the Knights are still a top contender to defend their 1A state crown.
THE COAST & THE LOWER COLUMBIA
Few areas have as much of a stranglehold over a classification as the Lower Columbia does over Class 2B — the Sea-Tac region’s dominance of 3A hoops is probably the closest thing. Five of the state’s top ten teams as ranked by the AP reside here, including four with real dreams of making noise at the state tournament in Spokane.
Chief among them is No. 2 Toutle Lake (9-0), a deep, versatile team led by senior Sam Woodley, as natural a scorer as you’ll see in the state. The Ducks have passed every test they’ve been given thus far with flying colors, including a 57-45 victory over Kalama on Jan. 2. TL’s primary competitors in the Central 2B are No. 6 Napavine (6-1) and No. 7 Wahkiakum (7-3). All three teams made it to state last season, with the Mules snagging the second-place trophy, and all three have to like their chances of a return trip. Pacific 2B leader No. 5 Ilwaco (10-2) may have something to say about the matter, though. Led by a stifling defense and sophomore forward Makenzie Kaech, the Fisherwomen are winning by more than 20 points per game. A 68-50 triumph over Wahkiakum on Jan. 2 in a rematch of last year’s state regional round surely provided a confidence boost.
In the GSHL 4A, Camas (6-1) is ranked No. 8 by the AP and Mountain View (9-3) is waiting in the wings. Prairie (9-3) is the clear class of the GSHL 3A. Washougal (8-2) is the leader of a lukewarm group in the GSHL 2A, while first-year coach Erik Bertram has R.A. Long (6-4) in surprisingly good shape.
It’s a strong year in the EvCo: WFW (8-2) and Black Hills (10-2) are ranked fifth and sixth by the AP in Class 2A, respectively. And at 1A, Elma (9-1) and Jordan Spradlin-led Montesano (9-2) are both ranked in the top ten by most folks around the state — both have been winning by nearly 20 points per game.
The Trico 1A has two dominant teams of its own: La Center (9-1), a deep, versatile bunch that can you beat you in different ways, and Kalama (9-3), a not-so-deep group that makes up for it with two of the classification’s very best players in Parker Esary and Kaelyn Shipley, a pair of 6-footers with complete games each averaging more than 17 points and 11 rebounds per contest. The AP No. 6 Wildcats and No. 9 Chinooks will square of Monday to establish an early league favorite.
In total, the previous two paragraphs mean that the Southwest 1A District tournament will be one of the most fiercely contested around: With only three state spots up for grabs, either Montesano, Elma, La Center, or Kalama will see its season end painfully early.
THE NORTHWEST
Wesco 3A is pretty darn stacked, led by defending state champ Lynwood (11-0) and guard Mikayla Pivec, a top-25 national recruit bound for Oregon State who’s averaging 22 points and 14.5 rebounds per night. Arlington (11-0) and Glacier Peak (10-2) join the Royals in a heated league race.
There are a few contenders in 2A from the state’s upper-left corner, chief among them Burlington-Edison (11-0), currently the top choice in the AP poll. The Tigers were talented last year, too, but ran into Tiana Parker and WFW in the state regional round, which meant no trip to Yakima. This year should be a different story. Lynden (10-1) will challenge BE for the Northwest 2A title.
The competition is just as fierce in the Northwest 1A. Kara Bajema (who will play volleyball at the UW) and Lynden Christian (11-1) are the favorites and the state’s unanimous No. 1 team, but Mount Baker (10-1) is also in the picture. LC is yet to play any of their three other primary league rivals, so there’s still a lot to be said about how the race will unfold.
SPOKANE & FRIENDS
Minus Otiona Gildon and Laura Stockton, Gonzaga Prep (5-6) ain’t what it used to be — then again, after consecutive state titles, that’s an awfully high standard. The apparent successor to the Bullpups’ throne in the Greater Spokane 4A is Central Valley (10-0), currently ranked first in the state by the AP and The Seattle Times. The Bears have been winning by margins like 73-30 (vs. Ferris), 75-38 (vs. North Central) and 69-15 (vs. Rogers).
Four miles due north at East Valley H.S. (don’t think about the geography), the Knights are off to a 9-2 start and ranked second in the state at 2A, one of a handful of teams fighting to fill the vacuum of power left by Mark Morris and WFW. But by far the most interesting team on the eastern side of the state resides in Class 1B, a location heretofore unexplored in this column.
The Colton Wildcats won the 1B state title last year, just as they did the six seasons before that. They began this season with eight consecutive victories, running their winning streak to a staggering 79 games — a span of more than three years and a state record for all classifications. And then on Dec. 29, the Wildcats lost to Okanogan, 73-57, their first defeat in 1,096 days. A week later, they started a new streak with a 59-50 win over Grangeville.
Either there’s something in the water of Colton, a town of 418 people about ninety minutes south of Spokane, or coach Clark Vining really knows what he’s doing. Considering the Wildcats had been to only one state tournament in program history before Vining arrived in 2005, we’re banking on the latter.
(Dustin Brennan and Jim Crawford actually wrote a story about Colton for ESPN.com last February, which can be found here).
THE MIDDLE
This would be as good a time as any to discuss Okanogan, I suppose. The team that snapped Colton’s streak is no slouch itself, possessing as the Bears do a 8-0 record, last year’s Class 2B state title, and one of the state’s most dominant multi-sport athletes: junior Jill Townsend. She won the Central Washington League’s MVP award last basketball season, did the same during softball season, and then won MVP again in girls soccer this fall, when she scored 35 goals and led Okanogan to a state title. Being the best player in the league in three different sports is not an easy thing to do. But Townsend may be at her best on the hardwood, which is why the Bears are a near-unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in the state. (Well, that and the fact that they’re beating teams by an average of 48 points per game.)
At 1A, Granger (10-0) is a clear top-ten team and should be one of the primary challengers to the Lynden Christian-King’s oligopoly at state. At 2A, Selah (8-2) and Ellensburg (8-1) have built contenders in the center of the state with stunningly similar statistical profiles: Selah is scoring 57.4 points and allowing 39.4 per game, while Ellensburg is averaging 57.1 points for and 40.8 against. For what that’s worth.
Central Washington girls basketball is at its best in Class 4A, though, where Moses Lake (11-0) and Sunnyside (9-0) both look like as good of bets as anyone to emerge from a wide-open statewide race. The Chiefs may have a particular itch after coming so close last year, when they fell to Inglemoor by four points in the state semis. In recent football and boys basketball history, the story has often been of Big 9 teams with lofty records entering the postseason only to be smushed by competition from elsewhere in the state. From early indications, either Moses Lake or Sunnyside could have what it takes to rewrite the script.