State tournaments are this week. Several Olympia area teams are competing

All eight Olympia-area teams that played in the weekend’s regional round of the state tournament advanced to either the Tacoma Dome or the Yakima Valley SunDome for the “Terrific Twelve” of their classifications.

Heading north to Tacoma are the Olympia High School boys in 4A and the Capital girls in 3A. Traveling east to Yakima are Black Hills and Tumwater in boys 2A, Black Hills, Tumwater and W.F. West in girls 2A and Elma in girls 1A.

4A BOYS: OLYMPIA FACES REMATCH WITH AUBURN

Evenly matched teams seem to find each other in the post-season.

Auburn finished sixth in the boys West Central/Southwest Bi-District tournament, Olympia seventh. When the teams met in the consolation round, the Trojans scored a narrow, 53-49, victory.

When the No. 10 Bears routed No. 15 Eastmont, 69-46, in a regional loser-out game at Tumwater on Saturday and No. 7 Auburn dropped a seeding game to No. 2 Glacier Peak, 69-43, at Shorewood’s gym, a rematch was set.

Olympia (20-6) and the 4A North Puget Sound League-champion Trojans (23-6) will meet Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome, in the loser-out first round.

“They came out early in the district game and threw punches we didn’t combat well,” said Bears coach John Kiley. “We can handle the ball a bit more smoothly, and we should be able to shoot the ball better as well.”

Dae’Kwon Watson, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, led Auburn with 18 points in their loss to Glacier Peak, a game moved from Jackson in Mill Creek to Shorewood because a Jackson student had been diagnosed with coronavirus.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to play them again,” Kiley said.

Against Eastmont, the Bears weathered a breakneck early portion of the game then pulled away with strong offensive execution and an ability to locate and contest the Wildcats’ array of outstanding shooters.

“We had a great week of practice. We came out with excellent focus,” said Kiley. “It’s a cliché, but I thought everybody did their jobs well. We got into some foul trouble, so our bench contributions were huge.”

This will be the first time any of the current Bears, including top scorers Kai Johnson (17.6 points per game), Jackson Grant (16.8) and Ethan Gahm (10.2) have reached the Dome, where Olympia placed fourth in 2011.

The Bears have won two state championships, the first in 1929, the second in 1986.

3A GIRLS: CAPITAL MEETS SHORECREST NEXT

Meanwhile, in another rematch, No. 12 Capital (19-6), which had fallen to No. 13 Wilson, 50-46, in the bi-district consolation championship game, flipped the script with a vengeance, eliminating the Rams, 59-35, in a regional loser-out girls game Saturday night at Tumwater.

The game was close early until, with five minutes left until halftime, Cougars’ point guard Kendall Hooper buried a 3-pointer from the right wing to give Capital a 26-24 lead. The Cougars, with Nicole Lindblom knocking down threes, pulled away from there.

Capital’s reward is a 7:15 Wednesday night meeting with No. 5 Shorecrest (21-3) at the Tacoma Dome. The Scots fell 78-49 to No.4 Mt. Spokane on the road in their regional matchup. Five-foot-8 guard Sydney Van Ness led Shoreline with 15 points.

Capital coach Tiffany Twiddy said her team adjusted well in the week between its games with Wilson.

“We made some adjustments to our defensive matchups,” she said. “We rebounded well and took care of the ball better than our first matchup. We limited possessions, controlled the clock and pace.”

Twiddy praised Lindblom for making good decisions offensively and being ready to shoot any time the Rams left her alone and Raegan Henry’s energy. However, the biggest individual performance may have been the defense played by Capital senior wing Kyra Ashton on the Rams’ stellar junior guard, 5-10 Jocelyn Wyatt.

“Kyra really frustrated her defensively. It limits Wilson when they don’t have Wyatt to count on,” Twiddy said.

Twiddy, named South Sound Conference coach of the year in her first season at Capital after coming over from Shelton, doesn’t mind having to the play a Wednesday game at the Dome.

“Obviously, having that first-round bye would be ideal, but there’s something to be said for keeping our energy and momentum rising.

Shorecrest has shown the Capital coaching staff strong shooting and guard play on video.

“At this point, all 12 teams left are solid basketball teams and are going to present challenges,” she said.

2A BOYS: BOTH TUMWATER TEAMS REMAIN IN FIELD

Both No. 6 Tumwater (20-4) and No. 9 Black Hills (19-6) won their regional round games and head for the Yakima Valley SunDome this week.

The Thunderbirds, 60-55 winners over No. 3 North Kitsap on Saturday night at Mt. Tahoma, earned a first-round bye and will meet the winner of a loser-out first-round game between No. 4 Lindbergh and No. 12 Lakewood on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

Black Hills, which topped No. 16 Woodland, 55-42, at Tumwater on Saturday, has a Wednesday at 9 p.m. against No. 8 Mountlake Terrace (18-7).

“Our kids continue to make history with back-to-back (2A Evergreen Conference) titles and our first-ever trip to Yakima,” said Wolves’ coach Jeff Gallagher, whose team won potential elimination games over Columbia River, R.A. Long and Woodland, after a decisive District 4 second-round loss to Tumwater, to reach the SunDome.

Black Hills had to survive a Cinderella scare from the 13-13 Beavers, who led by as many as six during the first half and had the scored tied, 39-39, with five minutes to play.

“Woodland made it a grind like we knew they would,” said Gallagher, whose team shot an uncharacteristic 2-for-24 from 3-point range. “That’s usually a recipe for disaster.”

But sparked by a pre-game message from long-time Major League Baseball infielder Willie Bloomquist about playing under pressure, the Wolves found a way, shooting 17-of-22 from the foul line and getting a team-high 18 points from senior guard Avery Armin.

Junior post Justin Hicks recorded a 12-point, 18-rebound double-double while Evan Ellison drew a couple of key charges and Zach Loveless provided a dose of instant defense off the bench.

Black Hills’ assistant coaches have been reviewing film of Mountlake Terrace, which finished third in the Wesco League, since the matchup was set.

“Anything can happen in a tournament setting,” said Gallagher, but I’m really confident in our kids.”

Meanwhile, Tumwater coach Josh Wilson is thankful his team earned a high enough seed to gain a first-round bye.

“For us, it’s a huge advantage,” he said. “If your focus is offense, you may want to have played in the Dome already to get used to the depth perception. With our defensive focus, we want our legs and the extra day to scout, so we couldn’t be happier.”

A big offensive night from Ethan Dillon, who scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime and smart distribution from point guard Cam Oram made the difference against North Kitsap, as did 6-foot-7 senior post Damon Gaither’s six-point, 16-rebound game.

“I just decided after halftime, I could take my guy,” said Dillon, who also liked the idea of a first-round bye. “That’s just huge. It gives us one more day of rest and we get to check out who we play.”

Tumwater’s coaches have seen both Lindbergh and Lakewood play in person already.

“Lindbergh is extremely athletic. Lakewood is undersized but plays tough, hard-nosed defense,” Wilson said. “Their game will be interesting to watch. Either team could come out with the win.”

2A GIRLS: A QUARTER OF THE FIELD COMES FROM EVCO

It’s no exaggeration to call a league one of the toughest statewide if half its members reach the final 12 of the state tournament, two earning first-round byes.

Such will be the case in Class 2A as three EvCo members will play at the SunDome.

Despite missing a layup and three front ends of 1-and-1 free-throw chances, No. 3 Tumwater (23-2) hung on for a 58-57 regional victory over Port Angeles at Mt. Tahoma and will face either No. 13 East Valley or No. 4 White River at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday

“That was not one of our better games,” Tumwater coach Robin Johnson said. “Maybe it was being our first trip to state. We were more nervous than I thought we’d be. We didn’t flow. To get out of here with a win, I’m just really happy.”

Sophomore Natalie Sumrok led Tumwater with 27 points against the Roughriders while senior Olivia Bailon added 14.

No. 7 W.F. West (18-6) became the second EvCo team to reach the quarters, topping previously undefeated No. 2 Ellensburg, 60-47, at Davis High School in Yakima on Saturday. Taya McCallum led the Bearcats with 17 points while Drea Brumfield added 15 and Annika Waring 14.

The Bearcats will play the winner of a game involving the third EvCo school in a quarterfinal matchup Thursday at 2 p.m.

The loser-out game between No. 9 Black Hills (19-5) and No. 8 West Valley of Spokane will provide W.F. West’s foe.

The Wolves knocked off North Kitsap, 66-46, on Friday at Tumwater to advance. Addie Ainsworth scored a game-high 28 points and Megan River added 17 as Black Hills beat the Vikings for the second time this season.

1A GIRLS: ELMA

No. 12 Elma (17-6) edged No. 13 Deer Park, 39-38, at Tumwater on Saturday to make it to the SunDome for the second year in a row. Senior forward Jill Bieker’s free throw after a steal broke a 38-38 tie with a minute to go.

Kali Rambo scored 12 points for the Eagles, who will meet No. 4 Freeman on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

Doug Drowley contributed to this report.