The Mount Baker boys and the Meridian girls advanced to their respective Class 1A District 1 tournaments with impressive victories in play-in games on Saturday night, Feb. 8.
The Mounties, the fourth seed from the Northwest Conference, were in command all the way in beating Coupeville, the No.5 team from the North Sound Conference, 69-48.
The Trojans, also the fourth seed from the NWC, also had little trouble in beating Sultan, 65-34. The Turks also were the No.5 team from the North Sound.
Braedan Hart continued his hot hand with 31 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead the Mount Baker boys. Garrett Smith added 12 points, Truman Anderson had 8, and Aidan Corning and Ayden Rodriguez added 6 each.
With the victory, the Mounties (6-15) advance to the first round of the district tournament and will play North Sound champion King’s (11-9) in Seattle on Monday at 7:45 p.m. The loss ended Coupeville’s season at 6-13.
Monday’s other first-round boys games will pit Cedar Park Christian (Bothell) at Meridian, and Nooksack Valley at South Whidbey, both at 7 p.m., and Sultan at Lynden Christian at 7:45 p.m.
On the girls side, Meridian (10-11) advances to also play North Sound champ King’s (15-5) in the first round of district on Monday. The 6 p.m. contest is a rematch of a game in the Cloud 9 Christmas Classic that the Knights won on a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Monday’s other first-round district games will see Coupeville at Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker at Cedar Park Christian (Bothell), both at 7 p.m., and South Whidbey at Lynden Christian at 6 p.m.
Sultan’s girls had their season end at 7-14.
