Five are still alive. Olympia-area schools ready for this week’s state basketball tournament
Pack up and get ready to travel — five high school basketball teams from the greater Olympia area are still in the hunt for state championships.
The Capital boys (Class 3A), Black Hills girls (2A), W.F. West girls (2A), Elma girls (1A) and Rainier girls (2B) will each head to tournament sites across the state Wednesday to play in opening-round loser-out games.
Capital (20-4) is the only boys team in the area that is still playing after upending Shorecrest, 59-52, in a 3A state regionals loser-out game Saturday night in Tumwater.
Chris Penner scored a game-high 24 points for the Cougars in the win, while Gabe Landers had 10.
“It’s win or go home at this point, and I don’t want my high school career to end now,” senior forward Grant Erickson said. “I want it to end on our terms, at the Tacoma Dome.”
The Cougars will play in the Tacoma Dome for the second time in three seasons, and this time hope to avoid repeating their one-and-done outing against Wilson in the 2017 tournament.
The program hasn’t won a state trophy since placing seventh in 1996.
Capital, the No. 9 seed, plays No. 8 West Seattle (17-8) at 9 p.m. Wednesday in a loser-out game.
“The guys got a taste of it two years ago and they wanted to go back,” Capital coach Brian Vandiver said.
Defending 2A girls state champion W.F. West (17-7) lost its regional game against top-seeded Lynden on Saturday, 66-45, but still advances to Yakima.
The No. 8 Bearcats will play No. 9 Burlington-Edison (20-5) in an opening-round loser-out game at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
W.F. West has taken home a state tournament trophy seven of the past eight seasons, including winning it all last season and in 2014.
No. 13 Black Hills (17-8) will also play Wednesday in the 2A girls tournament with its season on the line.
The Wolves, who have now advanced out of the regional round each of the past four seasons — and took home trophies in 2016, 2017 and 2018 — topped Grandview, 52-37, on Saturday afternoon to return to Yakima.
Central Washington signee Maisy Williams (11 points, 17 rebounds) and Mia Flores (13 points) paced the Wolves in the win.
Black Hills plays No. 5 Archbishop Murphy (19-4), last year’s state runner-up, at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
Despite losing to a fourth-seeded Cashmere team that features one of the nation’s top players in the 2020 class — Hailey Van Lith — the Elma girls (21-3) have secured their first trip to a tournament site since 2010.
Cashmere topped Elma, 47-34, in the regional round Friday night in Wenatchee — though the Eagles held Van Lith, who averages 34 points per game, to 16.
“When she penetrated, (Jalyn) Sackrider was waiting for her,” Elma coach Lisa Johnson said.
Kali Rambo led Elma with 11 points, while Sackrider had 10 in the loss.
The fifth-seeded Eagles play No. 13 Overlake (18-4) in a loser-out game at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in Yakima.
In 2B, the No. 8 Rainier girls (21-3) are in the tournament for the first time since 2010. The Mountaineers lost, 74-13, to top-seeded Wahkiakum on Saturday evening, but still qualify for the 12-team bracket in Spokane.
Rainier plays No. 9 Brewster (19-4) at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
Contributing writer Dave Weber contributed to this report.
