The 2025-26 season tips off this Saturday, Nov. 29, and Whatcom basketball fans are looking forward to another exciting and successful year.
Will it be as extraordinary as last season when all 22 of our teams reached the playoffs, eight earned state berths, five took home state trophies, and two — the Lummi Nation boys and Lynden girls — claimed state championships?
Only time will tell. But before our boys and girls battle for Northwest Conference and Northwest 1B League titles and head into postseason, fans will notice several differences from the past several seasons.
Here’s a quick look at some of the changes you’ll see:
Class 2A teams have extra shot at state berth
With the Northwest Conference keeping the same 16 schools, the playoff format for the Class 3A, 2A, and 1A Northwest District tournaments will remain pretty much the same — with one major exception.
After the latest attendance counts for all the schools, the WIAA determined that our District 1 would have 2.5 state berths for both boys and girls instead of just two as we did last season. Since you can’t send half a team, the third state berth will be decided by a play-in game against another district with 2.5 berths.
In this case, the third-place finishers in the Northwest District boys and girls tournaments will play the third-place finishers from District 5 with the winners going to state. District 5 encompasses nine schools, including Ellensburg and the Yakima-area teams.
This season, the girls game will be at the home of the District 1 school, while the boys game will be at the District 5 school. Due to this extra play-in state game, the District 1 tournaments will also start sooner than in the past.
The number of state berths for the local Class 3A, 1A, and 1B teams will remain the same.
Doubleheaders, unbalanced schedules
There are a lot of scheduling quirks this season, including an increase in the number of girls-boys doubleheaders with both varsity teams playing on the same night at the same venue, the continuation of the Northwest Conference’s unbalanced schedules, and a few non-league contests between two conference teams.
The doubleheaders have been a regular occurrence for Lummi Nation because of the distance the Northwest 1B League schools must travel and for NWC schools without junior varsity or C teams.
But now almost every school participates, which is a great way for families and fans of boys and girls teams to watch both instead of having to choose between attending home or away contests the same night. So, let’s give a big thank you to our coaches and athletic directors for making it happen.
In addition, the Northwest Conference once again gave struggling programs the opportunity to opt out of playing stronger league teams to allow both to schedule more competitive non-league opponents and give student-athletes more positive experiences.
The Blaine and Bellingham girls took advantage of the option again this season. The Borderites will not play Lynden, Nooksack Valley, or Burlington-Edison, and the Bayhawks will not play Lynden, Lynden Christian, or Burlington-Edison — all during the regular season.
Because the change will make for unbalanced Northwest Conference schedules, the regular-season standings will remain the same but district standings (and playoff seeding) will be determined by a committee at the end of the regular season.
In addition to double-checking the tipoff time for games, be sure to note if the game is a league contest.
The Sehome girls take on Squalicum and Ferndale in non-league games before playing them in conference contests later in the season. The Bellingham and Blaine girls will have their conference game first and the non-league one later in the season.
Bellingham, Sedro-Woolley to host jamborees
Eight Whatcom teams will open their seasons with jamborees this Saturday, Nov. 29. None of the “games” will count toward the regular-season schedule or standings but will be opportunities to scrimmage against other squads.
Bellingham will host Sehome and Squalicum in all-city jamborees for both boys and girls. Each game will be roughly 15 minutes with a running clock.
The girls varsity schedule will have Bellingham vs. Sehome at 3 p.m., Sehome vs. Squalicum at 3:20, and Squalicum vs. Bellingham at 3:40 p.m. The boys will follow with Bellingham vs. Sehome at 4 p.m., Sehome vs. Squalicum at 4:20 p.m., and Squalicum vs. Bellingham at 4:40 p.m.
Tickets are $5 for all students and adults and admit you to all the games. There are also C team boys and junior varsity girls and boys games starting at noon.
Meanwhile, the Meridian and Mount Baker girls will participate in a jamboree at Sedro-Woolley. The Trojans will play La Conner at 1 p.m. and Mount Vernon Christian at 1:50 p.m., and the Mounties will take on the host Cubs at 1:25 p.m. and La Conner at 2:15 p.m.
Admission is $5 for adults with students with ASB cards and children under 10 getting in free. There also will be junior varsity games at the same time.
Week 1 preview: top games, schedules
Every Sunday, Whatcom Hoops plans to come out with boys and girls recaps of the previous week that include top games, top individual performances, a summary of every team’s games, and up-to-date standings, plus a preview of the upcoming week’s games.
The season officially starts on Friday, Nov. 29, when the Meridian boys host Bear Creek. Then three boys teams open their seasons on Saturday, when Blaine hosts Bear Creek, Ferndale hosts Redmond, and Nooksack Valley travels to Cedar Park Christian (Bothell).
The rest of the Whatcom teams begin play next week. Here’s a preview of Week 1 (Dec. 1-6):
Boys
TOP GAME
With only non-league games on the docket, including Lynden Christian’s international slate against teams from Australia and Canada, the most interesting contest could be on Saturday, Dec. 6, when Lummi Nation visits Sehome at 5 p.m. Last year, the Blackhawks shocked the Class 2A Mariners on the way to winning the Class 1B state championship.
SCHEDULE
Monday, Dec. 1: Tenison Woods Catholic (Australia) at Lynden Christian, Coupeville at Mount Baker
Tuesday, Dec. 2: La Conner at Blaine, Sehome at Marysville-Pilchuck, Snohomish at Ferndale, Nooksack Valley at Sultan, Lummi Nation at Lakewood
Wednesday, Dec. 3: Blaine at Friday Harbor, Mount Baker at Orcas Island, Holy Cross (B.C.) at Lynden Christian
Thursday, Dec. 4: Holy Cross (B.C.) at Sehome, Sultan at Squalicum, Mount Vernon Christian at Meridian, Grace Academy at Lummi Nation
Friday, Dec. 5: Holy Cross (B.C.) at Meridian
Saturday, Dec. 6: Lynden Christian at Lake Stevens, Squalicum at Marysville-Getchell, Lummi Nation at Sehome, Meadowdale at Lynden, Marysville-Pilchuck at Bellingham
Girls
TOP GAMES
In the only games involving two Whatcom teams, Ferndale is at Sehome next Tuesday and Sehome is at Squalicum next Friday, both at 7:15 p.m., in non-league battles of veteran squads looking to improve on last year’s successful campaigns. Lummi Nation will open league play against Grace Academy on Thursday with the Lady Blackhawks starting at 6 p.m. and the boys game following at 7:30.
SCHEDULE
Monday, Dec. 1: Tenison Woods Catholic (Australia) at Lynden Christian, Everett at Squalicum
Tuesday, Dec. 2: Meridian at Friday Harbor, La Conner at Blaine, Nooksack Valley at Sultan, Ferndale at Sehome, Onalaska at Lynden Christian
Wednesday, Dec. 3: Blaine at Friday Harbor, Mount Baker at Orcas Island, Squalicum at Sultan, Marysville-Getchell at Bellingham
Thursday, Dec. 4: Grace Academy at Lummi Nation
Friday, Dec. 5: Ferndale at Jackson, Sehome at Squalicum, Mount Baker at Mount Vernon Christian
Saturday, Dec. 6: Lynden Christian at Lake Stevens, Bellingham at Marysville-Pilchuck
