Sixteen isn’t so sweet for La Conner High’s basketball programs.
The school’s state-bound hoops teams each received No. 16 seeds on Sunday and were assigned long road trips by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) for elimination games in first round action this week.
The La Conner boys, despite having captured the Bi-District 2B tourney title with upset wins over Auburn Adventist and Mount Vernon Christian, drew No. 9 Napavine for an 8 p.m. tipoff Feb. 21 in Longview, nearly 200 miles away and less than an hour from Portland, Oregon.
The La Conner girls, Bi-District runners-up to MVC, drew No. 9 Mabton for a 10 a.m. pairing in Yakima Feb. 22, just over 200 miles southeast across the Cascades.
The winners of the Feb. 28 and March 1 loser-out games advance to the state Round of 12 from March 5-8 at the Spokane Arena.
Napavine, 21-3 overall, won the Central 2B boys’ championship and placed third in its District trials, defeating Forks and Rainier after dropping a 55-42 decision to Toledo.
The Tigers were led by 6-4 senior forward Karsen Denault, who delivered 20 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, and three assists in Napavine’s 46-39 District triumph over Rainier (15-10), which is seeded 13th at state.
Napavine also defeated visiting Coupeville, against whom La Conner swept a two-game NW2B/1B series this season, by a 76-52 margin in non-league play on Jan. 13.
La Conner (14-9) will counter Napavine with a veteran lineup of seniors Brayden Pedroza, C.J. Edwards, Tyler Cicotte, and Corran Eisen and junior Nathan Bailey.
Mount Vernon Christian (15-7), which won twice in three matchups with La Conner this season — losing 48-46 to the Braves for the Bi-District boys’ championship — is seeded 15th and paired opposite No. 10 Liberty Bell (15-10) Saturday (6 p.m.) in Wenatchee in another elimination contest.
On the girls’ side of the state bracket, La Conner (13-11) faces a 24-4 Mabton team coming off a 60-53 District victory against Columbia in Moses Lake last week. The Mabton Vikings, known for their uptempo style, are led by 5-3 guard and three-point specialist Alana Zavala.
their players during a timeout in last Saturday’s Bi-District 2B girls’ hoops matchup with
Orcas Island at Coupeville. Whatever was said worked. La Conner fought back from an
early deficit to secure a Round of 16 state tourney berth opposite the
Mabton Vikings at Davis High School in Yakima on March 1. Photo by Bill Reynolds/La Conner Community News
La Conner saw seven players — Kiana Jenkins, Nora McCormick, Faith Jenkins, Reese Bird, Maeve McCormick, Abi Poulton, and Shaniquah Casey — reach the scoring column in the Braves’ 37-23 Bi-District win over Orcas Island Feb. 22 that clinched their state bid.
The Mount Vernon Christian girls (19-3) are seeded No. 6 and have a 4 p.m. March 1 date in Wenatchee opposite No. 3 Brewster (20-4). Both teams automatically advance to Spokane based on their seeding.
