Basketball Game Preview: Wapato Wolves vs. Naches Valley Rangers

The Wapato Wolves will take on the Naches Valley Rangers at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Wapato's favor as the team sits on six straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Naches Valley has been banged up by four consecutive losses on the road.

In Saturday's Canine Competition, Wapato didn't have enough. They opened the new year with a less-than-successful 74-67 defeat to Cashmere. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Friday (66), the Wolves still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, Naches Valley came up short against Royal on Tuesday, falling 80-56. While losing is never fun, the Rangers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Washington basketball rankings (they are ranked 303rd, while the Knights are ranked fifth).

Wapato's loss was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 2-1 and their overall record down to 7-3. As for Naches Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-8.

Wapato strolled past Naches Valley when the teams last played back in February of 2024 by a score of 74-59. Does Wapato have another victory up their sleeve, or will Naches Valley turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.