Washington's top boys basketball team falls

This week's happenings from the Washington prep sports scene:

CALIFORNIA TEAM TOPS No. 1 RAINIER BEACH
In a game featuring two Pac-10 recurits, Oregon signee Jabari Brown and Oakland (Calif.) beat Class 3A top-ranked Rainier Beach (Seattle) and Washington-signee Hikeem Stewart 62-60. Oakland lost to No. 8 Lakes (Lakewood) 67-63 the day before.

WROTEN RETURNS ON TOP
Garfield point guard Tony Wroten Jr., a Washington signee, missed last season with a torn ACL. He's played well to start this season. He had 23 points and 10 rebounds as Class 4A No. 1 Garfield beat Federal Way 63-48. Wroten has averaged 19.3 points in his first three games.

KENTWOOD IS STILL A CONTENDER
The Kentwood (Covington) Conquerors are the reigning Class 4A state boys basketball champs, but with 6-foot-10 center Josh Smith a freshman at UCLA a repeat might have seemed out of the question. The No. 9 Conquerors showed they are still a power by beating the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the state last week. Kentwood beat No. 3 Auburn 40-37 and No. 4 Jackson 67-58 in a rematch of last year's state title game. The wins vaulted Kentwood from No. 9 to No. 3 in the Seattle Times' rankings.

MADDIE MEYERS PLACES 26TH IN SAN DIEGO
Maddie Meyers of Northwest (Seattle) finished 26th at the Foot Locker nationals in San Diego. The three-time state champ ran the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 19 seconds.

BELLEVUE SCHEDULES TOUGH
Three-time Class 3A state football champ Bellevue has loaded up its non-conference schedule for next season. Bellevue will play at national power Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.). Then they will play Class 4A state runner-up Skyline.

TOP FIVE PERFORMERS
* Jordan Chatman, Union boys basketball: Chatman scored 37 points as Union beat Camas 67-63.

* Tana Pritchard, Clover Park boys basketball: The senior had 28 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and four blocks in a 62-47 win over Issaquah.

* Kat Cooper, Auburn Riverside girls basketball: Cooper scored a career-high 39 points in an 83-44 win against Kent-Meridian.

* Payton Pervier, Glacier Peak (Snohomish) boys basketball: The 6-foot-11 senior had 26 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks and hit the game-winner with 49 seconds remaining in a 60-58 win over Shorecrest.

* Allie Weathersby, Glacier Peak girls basketball: Weathersby hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to lift Glacier Peak past Shorecrest 74-72. She also had 20 points and 17 rebounds.

RECRUITING NEWS
Archbishop Murphy football recruit Taniela Tupou took a visit to Washington over the weekend. ... Skyview football player Ellis Henderson has committed to Hawaii. ... Archbishop Murphy (Everett) pitcher/third baseman Amber Manuel, the reigning Cascade Conference co-MVP, has committed to Division-III Whitworth.

UPCOMING EVENTS
There's one more week of league games before the holidays. Of course, the holidays mean there's plenty of tournaments coming up between Christmas and New Year's.

NATE'S NOTES
I'm a football guy. I played the game unimpressively in high school, and it's the sport I'm most likely to watch on TV.

Still, I love covering the high school basketball season around Washington more than any other. The state has produced as much Division I and NBA talent as any other basketball hotbed.

The playoffs are events that can rival March Madness.

Welcome back, basketball season.

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