Battle Ground High School has provided a home-court advantage away from home for Clark County high school basketball teams in state playoffs over the past seven years.
Battle Ground has been a host site for what was previously referred to as regional-round games — the WIAA is now calling this weekend’s games opening-round games — for every state tournament since 2016.
And Clark County teams playing at Battle Ground since 2016 are 18-4.
Now teams that get slotted to play close to home in this round of state are higher-seeded teams, and those teams should be considered favored to win.
But in state play, anything can happen. So that 82 percent winning percentage is a good sign for Clark County teams playing at state.
This season, four local teams will hit the court at Battle Ground this weekend. The Camas girls and boys teams will play at Battle Ground on Friday night. The Union boys and King’s Way Christian boys will play there on Saturday.
So here is a look at the opponents for all 11 of teams from Southwest Washington playing opening-round games this weekend in Classes 4A to 1A, plus one Clark County 2B team.
Friday games
4A GIRLS: No. 7 Kamiakin (20-3) vs. No. 2 Camas (21-3), 6 p.m. at Battle Ground HS
Winner to state quarterfinals; loser to round-of-12.
Kamiakin of Kennewick was the 4A/3A Mid-Columbia Conference champion, going 16-0 in league play. The Braves won 15 straight before falling to Richland 61-55 Saturday in the District 8 title game. This will be Kamiakin’s first game this season against a team west of the Cascades. The Braves’ other losses came to AC Davis of Yakima, seeded No. 6 in the 4A bracket, and Post Falls of Idaho.
4A BOYS: No. 15 West Valley-Yakima (13-8) vs. No. 10 Camas (17-7), 8 p.m. at Battle Ground HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
West Valley tied for second in the Columbia Basin Big 9 Conference with an 8-4 record. The Rams qualified for the opening round of state with a 72-70 playoff win over Eastmont. West Valley beat Kelso 60-41 in the SunDome Shootout in December. Camas beat Kelso 77-57 on Jan. 20.
1A BOYS: No. 14 Seton Catholic (17-7) vs. No. 11 Seattle Christian (15-6), 6 p.m. at Auburn HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
Seattle Christian tied for second in the Nisqually League. The Warriors advanced to the opening round of state with a 61-57 win over Vashon Island. Three of Seattle Christian’s losses came to No. 3 seed Annie Wright. The first two were blowouts. The third was 65-60 loss last week.
2A GIRLS: No. 15 Mark Morris (17-7) vs. No. 10 Othello (16-9), 6 p.m. at Ellensburg HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
Othello tied for second in the Central Washington Athletic Conference, tied with No. 4 Prosser. The CWAC champion was No. 1 Ellensburg, who is a heavy favorite to win another state title. After losing a league tiebreaker to Prosser, Othello won two district playoffs, plus a district crossover to advance to the state tournament.
Saturday games
4A BOYS: No. 16 Sumner (13-14) vs. No. 9 Union (18-6), noon at Battle Ground HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
Sumner finished tied for third in the South Puget Sound League. The Spartans went 2-2 in the District 3/4 Tournament, reaching the opening round of state with 53-49 win over Emerald Ridge. Union advanced with a 73-45 win over Emerald Ridge. Sumner has lost four of its last six games.
2A BOYS: No. 5 Sehome (18-4) vs. No. 4 Mark Morris (22-2), 4 p.m. at WF West HS, Chehalis
Winner to state quarterfinals; loser to round-of-12.
Sehome tied for second among 2A teams in the 3A/2A/1A Northwest Conference at 13-2. Two of Sehome’s four losses came against No. 2 state seed Anacortes, including a 55-45 loss in the district title game.
2A BOYS: No. 8 R.A. Long (20-4) vs. No. 1 Pullman (23-0), 2 p.m. at West Valley HS, Spokane
Winner to state quarterfinals; loser to round-of-12.
Pullman was the 2A Greater Spokane League champion. No team has managed to stay with single digits of the Greyhounds this season. Pullman’s closest games were a 71-61 win over East Valley-Spokane on Jan. 27 and a 64-53 win over West Valley-Spokane in the district playoffs on Feb. 16.
2A BOYS: No. 15 Ridgefield (13-10) vs. No. 10 Enumclaw (20-3), 4 p.m. at Auburn HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
Enumclaw was the 2A South Puget Sound League champion with a 15-1 record. It feels like the Hornets got a rough seeding spot at No. 10. In the District 2/3 Tournament, Enumclaw beat Port Angeles and North Kitsap before falling to Renton 57-54 in the title game. Renton is seeded No. 3 in the state.
2A GIRLS: No. 13 Columbia River (17-5) vs. No. 12 Enumclaw (17-6), 2 p.m. at Auburn HS
Enumclaw was the 2A South Puget Sound League co-champion with No. 7 state seed White River. The Hornets enter state play after back-to-back losses in the District 2/3 Tournament — first to No. 6 state seed Sequim (60-55) and then to White River (53-38) in the district third-place game.
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
1A BOYS: No. 13 La Salle (15-9) vs. No. 12 King’s Way Christian (15-8), 10 a.m. at Battle Ground HS
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
La Salle of Union Gap was the third-place team in the South Central Athletic Conference West Division behind No. 2 state seed Zillah and No. 6 Toppenish. After losing to Zillah 65-39 in the district playoffs, La Salle beat Wahluke and Naches Valley to reach state.
1A GIRLS: No. 13 Seton Catholic (20-3) vs. No. 12 Seattle Academy (15-6), noon at Bellevue College
Winner to state round-of-12; loser out.
Seattle Academy was the third-place team in the Emerald Sound Conference, behind No. 5 state seed King’s and No. 4 Sultan. Seattle Academy beat Sultan 56-38 in the conference tournament semifinals before falling to King’s 54-38 in the title game. Seattle Academy lost to Montesano 60-45 on Jan. 21. Montesano beat Seton Catholic 72-36 last Friday.
1B BOYS: No. 19 Columbia Adventist (16-9) vs. No. 11 Mossyrock (18-6), 8 p.m. at W.F. West HS, Chehalis
Columbia Adventist reached the 1B round-of-16 with a 52-49 win over Summit Classical Christian on Tuesday. Now the Kodiaks will get their fourth matchup with Mossyrock. The Vikings won the previous three meetings by an average margin of 18 points.
