Before we can talk about what’s coming up on the schedule this week, we still have some work to clean up from last week.
The Columbian published results from several basketball games, two boys swimming meets, two wrestling regionals and portions of two others.
But we didn’t get results reported to us on all events. And by the look on Twitter, we weren’t the only publications that suffered from this lack of reporting.
So, a day late, here’s what we missed on Saturday. Better late than never, so they say.
GIRLS WRESTLING: Erin Locke of Washougal (130 pounds) and Kearsten Williams of Mountain View (170) captured regional titles at the Region 3 tournament Saturday in Battle Ground.
Also advancing to state were Prairie’s Quinn O’Bryant (2nd, 100 pounds), Battle Ground’s Kassi Strano (3rd, 106) and Mixtly Simon (2nd, 190), Camas’ Taryn Lommasson (3rd,112), Fort Vancouver’s Lisa Spangler (4th, 137) and Washougal’s Tara Duey (4th, 112),Sara Sanchez (2nd, 124), Haven Camden (3rd, 124) and Jessica Biron of Washougal (3rd ,155).
1A BOYS WRESTLING: Stevenson had a pair of regional champions at the regional at Castle Rock. Tyler Miller won at 132 pounds and Jacob Schneider won a 145 pounds.
Also qualifying for state were La Center’s Perry Nelson (4th, 126 pounds), Dustin Veysey (2nd, 138), Gabe Bunker (2nd, 160), Stevenson’s Alec Brenan (4th, 132) and Woodland’s Kurtis Patterson (3rd, 170) and Zack Wardle (2nd, 195).
2A BOYS WRESTLING: Grant Gaspar of Ridgefield was the lone Clark County champion at the regional in Bremerton, capturing the 106-pound division.
Other local state qualifiers were Washougal’s Zac Oster (2nd, 106), Wyatt Eakins (4th, 113), Jesse Reagan, (3rd, 120), Tanner Baldwin (3rd, 145) and Stephen Camden (3rd, 160). Also advancing were Ridgefield’s Clayton Farr (4th, 160) and Hockinson’s Walker Gillispie (4th, 220).
The state championships for wrestling, gymnastics and boys swimming will be Friday and Saturday: wrestling at the Tacoma Dome, gymnastics at the Tacoma Dome exhibition hall and swimming at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Basketball
There’s an old adage that says “two out of three ain’t bad.” That is unless you happen to be the 4A Greater St. Helens regular season champions, then it ain’t good either.
That’s because there’s another sports adage that says it hard to beat a good team three times in a row.
The Union boys and Skyview girls fell victim to that adage on Saturday.
4A BOYS: Union finished the regular season 9-1, which included two wins over Evergreen. But in Saturday’s district title game, the Plainsmen got the best of the Titans, giving Evergreen the No. 1 seed to the bi-district.
Evergreen will host Bethel of Spanaway on Wednesday in the first round of the double elimination tournament. Union must travel to play Todd Beamer of Federal Way, and No. 3 seed Battle Ground travels to play Curtis of University Place.
The tournament continues with games on Friday, Saturday and Monday in the Tacoma area. Two wins and you move onto the state regional round. Two losses and you’re out — unless your second loss comes after your second win, then you still advance to regionals because it’s a 16-team tournament that sends eight teams to state.
And remember, the state tournament is officially a 16-team tournament, but the first round games are played at regional sites to whittle the field down to the final eight that will advance to the Tacoma Dome (or Yakima or Spokane, depending on classification).
4A GIRLS: Skyview finished 10-0 in the 4A GSHL, including two wins over Union. But Union topped the Storm in the district final on Saturday.
The good news for the Skyview girls is that, unlike the boys bracket, the girls bi-district tournament gives the GSHL No. 2 seed a first-round home game. So the Storm will host Kentwood on Tuesday, while Union hosts Kentridge. The GSHL’s other team, Camas, travels to play Kentlake. Just kidding! I got on a roll there with the “Kent” schools. It’s actually Mount Rainier of Des Moines.
From there, the girls bracket follows the boys’ with games Friday, Saturday and next Monday.
3A BOYS: Columbia River overcame the third-time-is-the-charm adage by beating Mountain View for the district title. Unlike the 4A bracket, first-round games in the 3A bi-district tournament are loser-out games.
Mountain View faces Mount Tahoma of Tacoma on Wednesday at Clover Park High in Lakewood. That game will be followed by Fort Vancouver vs. Enumclaw.
The tournament continues with games Friday, Saturday and Monday. After the first-round, the bracket becomes double elimination. Columbia River gets a first-round bye and will host the winner of Decatur-Foss on Friday.
3A GIRLS: Which is the prettier mountain to look at, Rainier or Hood? That question will be answered when Mountain View faces Auburn Mountainview in a loser-out game Tuesday at Clover Park.
Prairie gets the first round bye in the bi-district tournament, and will face the winner of Bonney Lake-Timberline on Friday at Columbia River. The 3A bracket follows the same format as the boys.
2A BOYS: After losses Saturday, Washougal and Hockinson both face a long road to reach state, needing to win three games each to get there. And they won’t both get there.
The journey starts Wednesday with loser-out games: Hockinson vs. Centralia in Chehalis, and Washougal vs. Tumwater in Centralia. If they survive, there are two more loser-out games possible on Saturday and Feb. 19.
2A GIRLS: It’s the same deal for the Washougal and Hockinson girls: three possible loser-out games this week.
The first comes Tuesday when Washougal faces Centralia in Chehalis and Hockinson takes on Aberdeen in Centralia. Other loser-out games are on Saturday and Feb. 19.
1A BOYS: We are assured of one local team advancing to the state regional round. La Center takes on Woodland on Wednesday in Kelso for a state berth. The loser is done. The winner will play a seeding game on Friday in Chehalis.
1A GIRLS: The 1A girls bracket is one step behind the boys. La Center faces Rainier on Tuesday in Kelso. If the Wildcats survive that game, they will play another loser-out game Thursday in Chehalis against Montesano or Woodland for a state regional berth.
Woodland faces Montesano Tuesday in Tumwater. It will be the Beavers’ first of two potential shots at reaching state. If Woodland wins, the Beavers will clinch a state berth and advance to the district title game on Saturday in Chehalis.
1B BOYS AND GIRLS: Both Columbia Adventist teams missed out on chances of securing a state regional berth by losing on Saturday. But both Kodiak teams will get a second chance Saturday in Montesano against undetermined opponents.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart
