Girl power!
I think reporter Meg Wochnick put it best, in describing the front page of The Columbian’s sports section on Sunday.
Saturday concluded a historic high school basketball postseason in Clark County.
Twelve teams advanced to state tournaments, eight of which moved on to the final tournament sites in Tacoma and Yakima.
Of those final eight teams, six were boys teams — Union, Battle Ground, Prairie, Columbia River, La Center and King’s Way Christian.
The other two were the Prairie girls and the Washougal girls.
By the end of the week, two teams stood on the top podium as state champions — the Prairie girls and the Washougal girls.
Girl power, indeed.
Prairie and Washougal became the 16th and 17th high school basketball state champions in Clark County.
And because I know I’m going to get an email asking the question, here is the rundown of those previous 15 champions: 1938 Vancouver High boys, 1964 Hudson’s Bay boys, 1990 Battle Ground boys, 1991 Battle Ground girls, 1993-94 Prairie girls, 1995 Evergreen boys, 1996-97 La Center boys, 1998-99 Prairie girls, 2003 Prairie girls, 2010 Union boys, 2012 Prairie girls and the 2012 Skyview girls.
Wow, the 1990s was quite a decade for Clark County prep hoops.
Could Clark County be ready to make another such run?
Well, you can never tell because state titles are so hard to come by these days. But area hoops have been on the rise.
Clark County has sent at least seven basketball teams to state each of the past five seasons, including a dozen in each of the past two.
And while every state team will have seniors to replace, there remains a lot of talent coming back next season.
The Union boys bring back all-leaguers Tanner Toolson and Brad Lackey, Battle Ground boys have Kaden Perry coming back. The Prairie boys have all-leaguers Aidan Fraly and Zeke Dixson to build around. Nate Snook and Alex Miller return for Columbia River.
The Trico League boys is filled with talented returnees: Hunter Ecklund and Evan Norris for La Center, Brady Metz, Bryson Metz, Kobi Cason and Gage Koenders for King’s Way Christian, and Gabe Anderson, Xavian Rushing and Andy Olson for Seton Catholic.
On the girls side, Katelynn Forner and Jalena Carlisle return for Camas. Hudson’s Bay returns its power trio of Aniyah Hampton, Jaydia Martin and Kamelai Powell. Abby Cummins and Laurel Quinn return for King’s Way Christian.
And then there are the two champions. Both lose Division-I players – Prairie’s Brooke Walling and Cassidy Gardner and Washougal’s Beyonce Bea.
But that doesn’t mean those teams won’t be in the mix next season.
Prairie returns Allison Corral and Kendyl Carson. And let’s face it: Prairie is Prairie. The Falcons will always be in the mix.
As for Washougal, the Panthers return Skylar Bea, McKinley Stotts and Jaiden Bea – all of whom played pivotal roles this season.
And then there are several teams that just missed advancing to state that look primed not to miss it next season.
Add in new faces ready to step into the spotlight on varsity next season, and it looks like Clark County hoops could be in store for more historic seasons in the future.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep editor for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
