By Nathan Joyce
MaxPreps.com
And now the big schools take the stage.
Washington is in the middle of its three-week run of state basketball tournaments. Last week, the 1B classification, the smallest schools in the state, decided its champion. This week the Class 4A schools give it a go at the Tacoma Dome.
In the boys tournament, the Franklin Quakers (21-2) fill the role of defending champ and tournament favorite. The Quakers, who haven't lost a game to in-state competition, are looking for their third state title in five years. Franklin is led by Venoy Overton and super sophomore Peyton Siva.
Overton made some pre-tournament headlines by pulling back his commitment to USC in favor of staying home to play for Lorenzo Romar's Washington Huskies.
Franklin must survive what definitely looks like the tougher half of the bracket to advance to the state title game. The bottom half of the bracket features three of the top four teams in the state. Either second-ranked Ferris (25-0) or fourth-ranked Federal Way (19-4) could meet Franklin in the semifinals on Friday. Ferris and Federal Way make for an interesting potential quarterfinal match on Thursday.
The best opening-round game? That distinction goes to No. 3 Decatur (23-2), which won the West Central District title on Saturday. The Gators drew Snohomish (22-2) in the opening round because the Panthers were upset in their district tournament and entered as a third seed.
"Snohomish, we look at them as another No. 1 [district] seed. But they slipped up," Decatur coach Kevin Olson told the Seattle Times. "You've got to play good teams, and we'll start off with one of the best."
On the girls side, this is expected to be the best state tournament in years.
The tourney gets off to a great start when top-ranked Kentwood (25-0) plays No. 10 Skyview of Vancouver (19-5), and No. 6 Jackson of Mill Creek (21-2) takes on Mead of Spokane (21-6). The winners of those two games meet in the quarterfinals.
The amount of quality teams is staggering. No. 2 Roosevelt (23-0) could face No. 4 Lewis and Clark of Spokane (22-3) in the quarters. LC is the defending state champ.
There's also No. 3 University of Spokane, which features one of the top players in Tennessee-bound Angie Bjorklund, the only player in the state to be named to the McDonald's All-American team. There's also No. 7 Prairie (18-3), which is looking for a 10th consecutive top-four finish at state.
Kentwood and Roosevelt, which both entered state undefeated, could meet in the semifinals.
"This is a special year," Lewis & Clark coach Jim Redmon told the Seattle Times. "You go through the 16 teams, and there's some great talent."
State Basketball: Class 2B Tourney Has New Feel
The Class B state tournament was a fixture every year in Spokane, with entire towns showing up at the Spokane Arena to watch the small schools play.
This year is the first year the B classification was divided. The smallest of the small schools played their state tourney last week. The Class 2B schools will descend on Spokane this week.
Defending champs and top seed Northwest Christian (25-1), from north of Spokane, and second-seeded Republic (25-2) are favored to meet in the title game. In the girls tournament, Liberty of Spangle (24-2) is a favorite along with LaSalle (22-2) and Mossyrock (22-1).
And the Class 1A tourney will begin Wednesday at Yakima's SunDome. King's dropped down to the Class 1A this year, and the top-ranked Knights (23-2) are making their 14th-straight trip to state. They won the last two Class 2A titles. The King's boys (21-3) and Bellevue Christian (19-3) are among the favorites for the boys title.
State Basketball: Sunnyside Goes Undefeated in 1B
The Sunnyside Christian Knights wrapped up an undefeated season (26-0) by winning the Class 1B state title at the Yakima SunDome. Cole Van de Graaf, the tourney MVP, scored 20 points in the title game.
Sunnyside beat Tulalip Heritage (23-4) in the title game 58-40. The Marysville school with an enrollment of 36 was making its first appearance at a state tourney in any sport.
The Knights (22-4) almost had a sweep of the 1B titles. The girls lost in the title game to Sprague-Harrington 67-48. Roni Jo Mielke, the tourney MVP, led the Falcons (25-4) with 22 points.
