Ready or not, it is once again playoff time for all 22 of our Whatcom boys and girls teams as they begin district tournaments with the goal of reaching their respective state tournaments and bringing home the gold ball that is the state championship trophy.
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.
The 1B schools began their District 1 tournaments last week, and the Lummi Nation boys and girls already won their quarterfinal and semifinal games to not only advance to Tuesday’s district finals but qualify for the next step — their District 1/2/3 tournaments.
State regionals for all classifications are Feb. 28 and March 1 at local venues with the state tournaments running from March 5 to 8 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.
The Lummi Nation boys will shoot for a district title on Tuesday.
CLASS 1B
Despite the snow storm, the District 1 boys and girls tournaments started last week 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 Friday, the top-seeded Lummi Nation boys won their quarterfinal game against eighth seed Concrete, 81-18, and on Saturday, the Blackhawks won their semifinal over fifth seed Lopez Island, 59-29.
The top-seeded Lady Blackhawks won their quarterfinal Thursday, chopping down Cedar Park Christian (Lynnwood), 88-17, and their semifinal Saturday, crushing Grace Academy, 66-24.
The top five teams at district move on to their respective tri-district tourneys starting Saturday with play-in games. Both Lummi teams are expected to be seeded in the top four, which means they will host first-round games on Feb. 18. The top six placers in the tri-district tournaments qualify for the state regionals.
BOYS: With their two wins last week, the Blackhawks (18-3) advance to the district finals at home Tuesday at 8 p.m. against rival Tulalip Heritage (18-1). The two teams split their league games with the Blackhawks winning at home on Jan. 30, 69-63.
Win or lose Tuesday, the Blackhawks are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team District 1/2/3 tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 18. A win in the tri-district quarterfinal would qualify Lummi for the state regionals.
GIRLS: Like the boys, the Lady Blackhawks (19-3) won the Northwest 1B League title and with Saturday’s win advance to the district championship game where they will host Concrete (16-6) on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. Lummi won the non-league season-opener between the two teams, 52-33, on Dec. 3.
Win or lose Tuesday, the Lady Blackhawks also are guaranteed a spot in the 12-team District 1/2/3 tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 18. A win in the tri-district quarterfinal would qualify Lummi for the state regionals.
The LC girls and boys are favored in their Class 1A district tournaments.
CLASS 1A
All 10 Whatcom teams automatically qualify for their District 1 tournaments, which are, in essence, league tournaments. The format is the same as last year with a play-in game between the fourth and fifth seeds with the winner advancing to the double-elimination portion of the tourney and the loser having their season end.
The championship games will be played Saturday afternoon and the consolation finals are on Feb. 16, all at Lynden High school. Once again — unfortunately — the top two boys and girls teams have to play crossover games with District 2 squads on Feb. 22 at King’s High School to advance to the state regionals.
BOYS: Lynden Christian (18-2) and Meridian (11-6) earned the top two spots in Wednesday’s district semifinals. The top-seeded Lyncs will host the winner of Monday’s play-in game between Mount Baker (8-12) and Blaine (3-17), and the Trojans will host third seed Nooksack Valley (10-9).
The Lyncs, despite “rebuilding” this season, are the heavy favorites having beaten all the other squads. But unless there is a major upset, the real drama will be between the rival Trojans and Pioneers for the second spot, especially after Meridian’s last-second victory last season that sent the Trojans to state and ended Nooksack Valley’s state dream.
GIRLS: Lynden Christian (17-3) and Nooksack Valley (13-7) are once again the top two seeds although this year the Lyncs return to the top spot while the two-time defending state champion Pioneers have to settle for second. Blaine (4-14) is at Mount Baker (6-13) in Monday’s play-in game with the winner heading to LC in one Wednesday semifinal and Meridian (14-6) traveling to Nooksack Valley in the other semifinal.
The Lyncs, who have been ranked No.1 or No.2 in the state all year, are the clear favorites, but barring a big upset, the Pioneers and Trojans will go at it for the district’s second qualifier. Nooksack finished higher in the Northwest Conference, but lost to Meridian in their regular-season meeting.
The Lynden girls and boys are top-ranked and undefeated.
CLASS 2A
All eight of our Whatcom teams are in the two nine-team District 1 tournaments, which open Monday for the girls and Tuesday for the boys 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 girls and Thursday for the boys. The championship games are Feb. 19 with winners advancing to the state regionals.
Unfortunately for local teams, District 1 only gets two state berths this year in both boys and girls. That means the championship game loser will drop into the consolation final with the winner of that game getting the final state slot. The consolation finals will be played on Feb. 22 for both boys and girls.
BOYS: Eighth-seeded Sehome (5-15) will host ninth seed Marysville-Pilchuck (1-19) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the loser-out play-in game. Should the Mariners win, they would play at top seed Lynden (21-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup.
In the other quarterfinal games on Thursday, fifth seed Squalicum (11-9) is at fourth seed Anacortes (12-8) and seventh seed Archbishop Murphy (8-12) is at second seed Lakewood (15-6), both at 7 p.m., and Bellingham (8-12) is at third seed Burlington-Edison (14-6) at 6 p.m.
Despite having an upset scare in its last regular-season game, undefeated and top-ranked Lynden is still the big favorite to nab one of the two state spots. But after that is a logjam with hot Squalicum and dangerous Bellingham among the contenders.
GIRLS: Eighth-seeded Bellingham (5-13) opens the tournament on Monday at 7 p.m. when it hosts ninth seed Marysville-Pilchuck (0-20) in a loser-out game. The winner will hit the road to face top seed Lynden (21-0) in a quarterfinal contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
In Wednesday’s other quarterfinals, fifth seed Anacortes (12-7) is at fourth seed Squalicum (11-8) and seventh seed Sehome (8-12) is at second seed Archbishop Murphy (19-1), both at 7 p.m., and sixth seed Lakewood (9-12) is at third-seeded Burlington-Edison (18-3) at 6 p.m.
Even though there may be no tougher district tournament in the state with three teams ranked in the top four state RPI, undefeated and top-ranked Lynden is still the clear favorite. Archbishop Murphy and Burlington-Edison are the other two serious contenders, which will make it difficult for the Bellingham schools to break into the top two.
The Ferndale boys and girls will be shooting for state.
CLASS 3A
The top nine teams from the Western Conference (Wesco) and top three 3A teams from our Northwest Conference qualify for their respective District 1 boys and girls tournaments.
The top four seeds move directly into the quarterfinals and the other eight play loser-out rounds 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 eighth seed Ferndale (10-9) hosting ninth-seeded Meadowdale in the loser-out game on Thursday at 7 p.m. Should the Golden Eagles win, they would play at top-seeded Edmonds-Woodway (21-1) on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles face a stacked district with Edmonds-Woodway, Shorecrest (19-2), and Monroe (16-1) all in the 3A top 10 and Marysville-Getchell (14-7), Shorewood (14-8), and Sedro-Woolley (11-6) all in the top 20. Ferndale is ranked 40th.
GIRLS: Ferndale (10-9) is the eighth seed and will host ninth-seeded Mountlake Terrace (9-11) on Wednesday in a loser-out game at 7 p.m. The winner will hit the road to take on the top seed Snohomish (14-6) on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Golden Eagles will have a tough go of it to qualify for state. In addition to Snohomish, three other teams — Stanwood (17-4), Meadowdale (14-5) and Mount Vernon (14-6) — also are in the 3A top 20 RPI rankings, while Ferndale is 33rd.
