No. 2 O'Dea splits showdowns with No. 1 teams

The top stories from the Washington prep sports scene:

O'DEA SPLITS GAMES AGAINST NO. 1 TEAMS
The O'Dea (Seattle) Fighting Irish played two city rivals last week, both ranked No. 1 in the state. O'Dea, ranked No. 2 among Class 3A schools, beat Class 4A No. 1 Garfield 78-76, despite falling behind 14 points in the opening minutes. Dustin Watts scored 33 to spark the rally. Just a few days earlier, O'Dea lost to Class 3A No. 1 Rainier Beach in overtime, 75-73.

MEAD WINS TRI-STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Mead (Spokane) won the team title at the Tri-State wrestling championships in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. The 39-year old tournament is one of the most prestigious wrestling events in the northwest.

KASEN WILLIAMS IS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Skyline receiver Kasen Williams, a Washington commit, was named the Associated Press state football player of the year. Williams had 235 receptions for 4,121 yards and 56 touchdowns and two state championships (and a second-place finish) in his three-year career.

BELLEVUE TO COMPETE FOR VIRTUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bellevue Wolverines, who have won eight of the last 10 Class 3A state football championships, will compete for the Massey Virtual National Championship next month. Ken Massey, whose computer models were used for college football's Bowl Championship Series, created the formula that will take 64 teams, seeded into a bracket, and wins will be decided by computer-simulated matchups.

STATE SOFTBALL TOURNEYS ON THE MOVE
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced it's moving the Class 4A and 3A state softball tournaments from Tacoma. The Class 4A tournament is headed to Spokane's Merkel Sports Complex. The Class 3A ifinal s now in Lacey's Regional Athletic Complex.

TOP 5 PERFORMERS
* Taniela Tupou, Archbishop Murphy football: The lineman and Washington recruit is among 42 seniors to play for the United States team in the second annual U-19 Team USA vs. Team World game in Austin, Texas on Feb. 2.

* Rachel Roeder, Issaquah volleyball: The senior was honored as the Gatorade state player of the year. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter had 469 kills, 252 digs and 67 aces.

* Jacob West, Sammamish basketball: The junior forward hit a school-record 11 3-pointers and scored 35 points in a 89-64 win over Lake Washington.

* Cody Shackett, Cascade Christian (Puyallup) basketball: The reigning Class 1A state state tournament MVP scored 38 points as his team beat Class 4A Spanaway Lake 72-60. He was two points off the school record

* Trent Gallagher, Olympic (Bremerton) basketball: The junior scored a career-high 33 points as the Trojans beat Peninsula.

RECRUITING NEWS
Auburn running back Alphonse Wade has committed to Air Force. ... King's quarterback Thomas Vincent has an offer from Air Force, the Seattle Times reported.

UPCOMING EVENTS
There's no end to the holiday tournaments coming up next week. Among them are the Slalom Slam boys tournament at Seattle Prep, which includes teams from California and Nevada, and the Bellevue College Christmas Classic. Also, the Les Schwab Christmas Classic is another favorite.

NATE'S NOTES
Just wanted to take a minute to wish everybody a happy holidays. Thanks for reading.

Nathan Joyce has covered high school sports in Washington for 13 years. He works for the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton.