It’s that great time of year again when all 22 of our Whatcom boys and girls teams begin district tournaments with the goal of reaching their respective state tournaments and bringing home the gold ball that is the state championship trophy.
Playoff action starts this week with District 1 tournaments for our three largest classifications. The top finishers in each tourney will move on to the Class 1A, 2A, and 3A state regionals — although there are a couple of changes that work to Whatcom County’s advantage. (See Class 1A and 2A below.)
The 1B schools began their District 1 boys and girls tournaments last week, and the Lummi Nation teams already won their quarterfinal and semifinal games and will play for district championships on Tuesday. Win or lose Tuesday, they’ve already qualified for the next step — the District 1/2/3 tri-district tournaments.
State regionals for all classifications are Feb. 27 and 28 at local venues with the state tournaments running from March 4 to 7 in Spokane (1B), Yakima (1A and 2A), and Tacoma (3A).
You can follow all the coverage at WhatcomHoops.com each day starting Monday. Until then, here’s a look at each classification and how our teams fit in.
CLASS 1B: Lummi Nation teams to play for district titles
The District 1 boys and girls tournaments started last Wednesday with Lummi Nation and the rest of the Northwest 1B League joining the smaller schools from the Northwest 2B/1B League in nine-team playoffs.
On Thursday, the top-seeded and defending state champion Lummi Nation boys won their quarterfinal game against ninth seed Lopez Island, 86-18, and on Saturday, the Blackhawks won their semifinal over fifth-seeded Shoreline Christian, 100-44.
The top-seeded Lady Blackhawks, meanwhile, won their quarterfinal Thursday, overpowering ninth-seeded Shoreline Christian, 96-19, and their semifinal Saturday, crushing fourth-seeded Lopez Island, 72-18.
The top five teams at district will move on to their respective tri-district tourneys, which start Saturday with play-in games. Both Lummi teams should be seeded in the top four, which means they will host first-round games on Feb. 17. The top seven placers in the tri-district tournaments qualify for the state regionals.
BOYS: With their two wins last week, the Blackhawks (19-1-1) advance to the district finals at home Tuesday at 7 p.m. against rival Tulalip Heritage (17-4). The Blackhawks swept their tribal rivals earlier this season, winning at Tulalip on Jan. 5, 65-62, and at home last Tuesday, 75-62.
Win or lose this Tuesday, the Blackhawks are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team District 1/2/3 tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 17. A win in the tri-district quarterfinal would qualify Lummi for the state regionals.
GIRLS: Like the boys, the Lady Blackhawks (18-2) won the Northwest 1B League title and with Saturday’s win advance to the district championship game where they will host Concrete (17-5) on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. It will be a rematch of last year’s district final, which Lummi Nation won, 59-24.
Win or lose Tuesday, the Lady Blackhawks also are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team District 1/2/3 tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 17. A win in the tri-district quarterfinals would qualify Lummi for the state regionals for the third year in a row.
CLASS 1A: Top two finishers head directly to state regionals
All 10 Whatcom teams automatically qualify for the District 1 boys and girls tournaments, which are, in essence, league playoffs. The format is the same with play-in games between the fourth and fifth seeds with the winners advancing to the double-elimination portion of the tourney and the losers having their seasons end.
The district championship games will be played on Feb. 17 and the consolation finals are on Feb. 21, all at Lynden High school. But there is one important — and for our Whatcom teams, finally fortuitous — change.
Instead of our top two district finishers having to play crossover games with District 2 squads to advance to the state regionals as they have the past couple of years, the winners of the championship games and consolation finals will move straight to the state regionals.
BOYS: The tournament opens Wednesday at 7 p.m. with fifth seed Mount Baker (3-15) at fourth seed Blaine (4-17) in the play-in, loser-out game. The winner visits top seed Lynden Christian (20-1) at 7:30 p.m. in one of Friday’s semifinals. Second seed Meridian (6-14) will host third seed Nooksack Valley (8-13) at 7 p.m. in the other semi.
The Lyncs, despite “rebuilding” again this season, are the heavy favorites having finished unbeaten in the Northwest League. But unless there is a major upset, the real drama will be the battle for the second state spot, which could be claimed by any of the remaining four who finished within three games of each other.
GIRLS: The tournament begins with fifth seed Blaine (4-17) at fourth seed Meridian (7-13) in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. play-in game with the winner traveling to top seed Lynden Christian (19-3) in Friday’s semifinals at 5:30 p.m. In the other semi at 5 p.m., third seed Mount Baker (5-14) travels to second seed Nooksack Valley (12-9).
LC and Nooksack figured to be the favorites. The Lyncs have been ranked in the top three in the state all year, and the Pioneers own wins over Mount Baker and Meridian, but didn’t play Blaine during the regular season.
The Mounties’ record is misleading as they had to forfeit five victories because of an administrative technicality that caused a player to be ruled ineligible. They will be at full strength, however, for the playoffs.
CLASS 2A: Third-place finishers get extra shot at state
All eight of our Whatcom teams are in the two nine-team District 1 tournaments, which open Monday for the boys and Tuesday for the girls with two play-in games for seeds 8 and 9.
The play-in winner in each tourney advances along with the top seven seeds into the double-elimination portion starting with the quarterfinals on Wednesday for the boys and Thursday for the girls.
The semifinals are on Friday (boys) and Saturday (girls) at Mount Vernon, and both championship games are Feb. 19 at Mount Vernon with the district champions and runners-up advancing to the state regionals.
But there’s a major change (due to WIAA state allotments), which allows District 1 to not only have its usual two state berths in both boys and girls but to have a chance at a third berth for each.
In addition to the district champions and runners-up advancing to the state regionals, the third-place finishers will face the third-place teams from District 5 (the Ellensburg/Yakima Valley region) in crossover games in winner-to-state, loser-out games.
The crossover games will be on Feb. 21 with the District 1 third-place girls hosting and the District 1 boys heading east of the Cascades.
BOYS: Eighth-seeded Bellingham (8-12) will host ninth seed Marysville-Pilchuck (5-15) on Monday at 6 p.m. in the loser-out play-in game. Should the Bayhawks win the rematch with the Tomahawks (Bellingham won on Dec. 6, 71-24), they would play at top seed Lynden (15-6) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup.
In other quarterfinal games on Wednesday, third seed Sehome (14-6) will host sixth seed Archbishop Murphy (11-9), and seventh seed Squalicum (9-10) is at second seed Anacortes (17-4). Both games are at 6 p.m.
While Lynden and Sehome have been hot the second half of the season, Squalicum and Bellingham have already shown upset potential. And with Anacortes, Lakewood, and Burlington-Edison joining the Lions and Mariners in the top 17 RPI state rankings, it figures to be a wild tournament — and a great year to have a third state team.
GIRLS: Eighth-seeded Bellingham (10-10) opens the tournament on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when it hosts ninth seed Marysville-Pilchuck (1-19) in a loser-out game and a rematch of the Bayhawks’ 53-13 victory on Dec. 6. Tuesday’s winner will hit the road to face top seed Lynden (20-0) in a quarterfinal contest on Thursday at 6 p.m.
In Thursday’s other quarterfinals, third seed Squalicum (17-3) will host sixth seed Burlington-Edison (6-14), and fourth seed Sehome (15-6) will host fifth seed Lakewood (14-7), both at 6 p.m.
With two-time defending state champion Lynden looking unstoppable, it appears to be a battle for second and third. Second-seeded Archbishop Murphy (16-4) will be seeking a return trip to state, but Squalicum has been playing as well as anyone, and Sehome also has shown the potential to break into the top three.
CLASS 3A: Ferndale boys, girls on road for first round
The top nine teams from the Western Conference (Wesco) and top three 3A teams from the Northwest Conference qualify for their respective District 1 boys and girls tournaments.
The top four seeds move directly into Saturday’s quarterfinals and the remaining teams play loser-out games on Wednesday (boys) and Thursday (girls). From there it is double elimination with the top four teams in each tournament advancing to the state regionals.
BOYS: The final seeding has 10th seed Ferndale (8-12) visiting seventh seed Meadowdale (16-6) in the loser-out game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Should the Golden Eagles win, they would play at second-seeded Monroe (17-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Golden Eagles face a stacked district with fifth-ranked Edmonds-Woodway (20-1), No.9 Monroe, No. 13 Sedro-Woolley (16-4), No.17 Meadowdale, and No.18 Shorewood (15-7) all in the 3A top 20. Ferndale is ranked 50th.
GIRLS: Ferndale (8-13) is the 10th seed and will visit seventh-seeded Everett (12-9) on Thursday in a loser-out game at 7 p.m. The winner will hit the road to take on second seed Edmonds-Woodway (18-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Golden Eagles will have a tough go of it to qualify for state. Three teams are in the 3A top 20 RPI rankings — No.5 Stanwood (17-4), No.6 Snohomish (15-6), and No.8 Edmonds-Woodway — and four others are ranked ahead of No.44 Ferndale.
