The march toward this weekend’s Washington state basketball regionals continues with a third installment of the most comprehensive preview guide you’ll find on the internet. Today, it’s Class 2A’s turn, where the defending champion Clarkston boys and Mark Morris girls are both back to defend their crowns — although one of the pair has a much better chance at repeating than the other.
The Bantams and Monarchs are two of the eight schools whose boys and girls teams will both be in action. The others: Lynden, Liberty (Issaquah), Ellensburg, Shorecrest, North Kitsap, and River Ridge. Of that rather large group, Lynden would seem to have the best chance of pulling off a sweep in Yakima. The Lions boys are ranked No. 2 and the girls are No. 3; in a strange twist, both will face Liberty this weekend. An under-the-radar pick who could make noise in both genders: Shorecrest. And that’s not just because Shoreline is an exemplary suburb.
We kicked the week off by previewing Class 2B and 1B here, continued with Class 1A here, and will finish things off with the big schools in the coming days. But first things first.
(Note: All rankings are from the Feb. 10 AP poll. All records are the best info I could find.)
CLASS 2A BOYS
No. 2 Lynden (22-2) vs. Liberty (Issaquah) (12-11)
Time: 4 p.m. Saturday at Renton High School
The pick: Lynden, 78-64
It’s tough to get a read on the Patriots, a 2A team that plays much of its schedule against 3A competition. They stunned River Ridge at districts, which provides some pause, but Lynden is the favorite here. The Northwest League is always loaded, and the Lions will be eager to get past the regional stage after last year’s defeat to Mark Morris.
Lindbergh (16-8) vs. No. 10 Wapato (18-4)
Time: 8 p.m. Saturday at Eisenhower High School
The pick: Wapato, 80-67
The Wolves can definitely score points, nearing 90 on multiple occasions in the past few weeks. The question will be if Lindbergh can keep up.
Ellensburg (13-10) vs. No. 7 Mark Morris (19-4)
Time: Noon Saturday at Bellevue College
The pick: MM, 72-60
MM was originally slated to play Selah, but their opponent was changed to Ellensburg on Monday morning, which is a little strange. But anyways. The Monarchs should be able to take care of business, and don’t be surprised if guard Will Burghardt goes off for a hefty point total.
Steilacoom (16-8) vs. Shorecrest (15-8)
Time: 7 p.m. Friday at Mountlake Terrace
The pick: Shorecrest, 65-48
As the only 2A school in Wesco, Shorecrest plays much of its schedule against larger schools, much like Liberty does. The difference is that in its few excursions into Class 2A, the Scots have been utterly dominant: Last week, they beat Lynden by nineteen and then topped Squalicum by six to win the district title. They look like a dark-horse pick to make a lengthy run.
Renton (15-11) vs. No. 3 Clarkston (22-1)
Time: 6 p.m. Friday at Ellensburg High School
The pick: Clarkston, 63-39
The defending state champs should have little to worry about against the third-place finishers from the mediocre Seamount League. Bantams guard Trevon Allen might be the best player in the classification.
Woodland (16-8) vs. No. 9 North Kitsap (21-4)
Time: 8 p.m. Friday at Mt. Tahoma High School
The pick: North Kitsap, 58-52
North Kitsap has been beating up on some teams, but the Olympic League isn’t typically the bastion of basketball depth. There could be some win inflation there. On the other hand, nobody has blown the Vikings out: All four defeats came by four points or fewer. Woodland is well coached with lots of size, but may lack the firepower to pull this one off.
No. 4 Squalicum (19-4) vs. No. 1 River Ridge (21-2)
Time: 8 p.m. Friday at Puyallup High School
The pick: Squalicum, 74-66
Neither team won its district tournament, which accounts for their meeting this early in the postseason. I’m aware River Ridge won by 22 when the teams met last year at state, but consolation round games are always tricky to judge — might the Storm have checked out after losing their chance to win the whole thing? If the Hawks do go down, it would be their second loss in three games after starting the year 20-1.
No. 6 Selah (20-3) vs. Tumwater (16-6)
Time: 6 p.m. Friday at Mt. Tahoma High School
The pick: Selah, 62-59
The Thunderbirds are probably still smarting from a one-point loss to Fife in last year’s regional round. Then again, it’s tough to feel too much pity for a school that seems to make the state tournament in every single sport. Selah, meanwhile, has had a confusing past three games: A loss to so-so Ellensburg, a narrow win over average Toppenish, and then a 29-point beatdown of a really good Pullman team to get here. So anything’s in play.
AP top 10 teams already eliminated: No. 5 Pullman, No. 8 Anacortes
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Shorecrest (14-10) vs. Franklin Pierce (18-6)
Time: 4 p.m. Saturday at Puyallup High School
The pick: Shorecrest, 58-43
Much like the Shorecrest boys, these Scots are better than their record. They played lots of bigger schools and fared relatively well, for instance losing by just eight points to 3A Arlington, which started the year 22-0. Franklin Pierce scored a grand total of 20 points in a district title game loss, so consider me one of little faith.
River Ridge (15-9) vs. No. 4 Ellensburg (20-2)
Time: 6 p.m. Saturday at Eisenhower High School
The pick: Ellensburg, 70-53
River Ridge won a game this season by a final score of 28-8. Not that relevant, just wanted to get it out there. Ellensburg was probably the second-best team at 2A state last year and appears to be a championship contender this time around. One of their losses was to 4A Chiawana, and the other was to Selah, a top-ten team whose season already came to a premature close.
Toppenish (12-12) vs. Mark Morris (15-8)
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday at Bellevue College
The pick: MM, 52-46
A well deserved GSHL 2A Coach of the Year nod to MM rookie Sean Atkins, who managed to shepherd the Monarchs back to the final sixteen despite replacing all five starters off the defending champs. Their second-place finish at districts is rewarded with a sweetheart matchup: The Wildcats knocked of Selah in their own district tournament, but other than that haven’t been overly impressive.
No. 10 Port Angeles (20-5) vs. No. 9 Anacortes (16-7)
Time: 6 p.m. Friday at Mt. Vernon High School
The pick: Anacortes, 48-41
Weirdly enough, this is the only matchup of top-ten teams in the entire regional round. That’s due to a whole host of highly ranked teams losing during their district tournaments, which one in turn could argue is due to the 2A classification in general this year comprising a large quantity of pretty good teams and probably no great teams. As for this game: When it doubt, go with the team from the Northwest League.
North Kitsap (16-8) vs. No. 1 East Valley (Spokane) (20-3)
Time: 4 p.m. Saturday at Ellensburg High School
The pick: East Valley, 56-35
The Vikings have thus far struggled against the best of the best in Class 2A, suffering big defeats to Burlington-Edison, Tumwater and White River in nonleague action. East Valley may be better than all three of those teams. The Knights should cruise.
Washougal (18-6) vs. No. 5 White River (21-3)
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday at Puyallup High School
The pick: White River, 72-57
Take a moment to bask in the glow of one of the best names in the state: Washougal freshman Beyonce Bea. But her Panthers may be overmatched against the Hornets, who haven’t lost to a Class 2A opponent since Dec. 5. Kendall Bird and Darian Gore are a killer combo down low.
No. 3 Lynden (20-3) vs. Liberty (Issaquah) (10-14)
Time: 6 p.m. Saturday at Renton High School
The pick: Lynden, 64-50
Believe it or not, the Lions have only played three games all season that were decided by single digits, two wins and a loss. That number should hold for at least another week. But Liberty could certainly surprise. The Patriots have spent the past two months playing much larger, better schools like Bellevue, Skyline, Curtis and Mercer Island, so a return to the 2A ranks could bring improved results.
Clarkston (16-8) vs. No. 8 Black Hills (20-3)
Time: 2 p.m. Saturday at Centralia High School
The pick: Clarkston, 62-60
Black Hills is coming off a surprisingly easy district title run, hammering MM by 23 points in the title game with guard Lindsey Nurmi helping lead the way. But Clarkston is pretty legit: Five of their losses were to teams from Idaho, and the other three were to East Valley, the classification’s No. 1 team. They should be able to advance.
AP top 10 teams already eliminated: No. 2 Burlington-Edison, No. 6 Selah, No. 7 Archbishop Murphy