Snow not expected to disrupt state regionals at local sites

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, February 24, 2011

With a few possible exceptions, the high school state regional basketball playoffs will proceed as planned despite this week’s blast of snow and ice.

Of the 32 sites around the state scheduled to host boys and girls regionals Friday, three faced possible weather-related problems as of no

on Thursday, according to Cindy Adsit, assistant executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA).

The three locations in question are Tumwater High School near Olympia, Black Hills High School in Olympia and Juanita High School in Kirkland. Class 2A tournament games are scheduled at Tumwater and Black Hills, and 4A games — including the Monroe boys team versus Olympia at 6 p.m. Friday — are scheduled at Juanita.

Like many school districts in Western Washington, the Tumwater School District (which includes Tumwater and Black Hills high schools) and the Lake Washington School District (which includes Juanita) were closed Thursday because of inclement weather. Adsit said those districts do not allow sports activities or team travel during school closures, which means there is a problem if bad weather causes those districts to cancel school again Friday.

If that happens, any affected state regional games could be moved to Monday and Tuesday, Adsit said — although that would create a time crunch and a more physically grueling route for teams that advance to the state quarterfinals, which start March 3 at various venues throughout the state.

A more desirable alternative for games scheduled at Juanita is to find a backup gym, which Juanita’s site manager is looking into, Adsit said.

“It’s just one more factor,” Adsit said about the challenge of coordinating and possibly adjusting schedules in the first year of the WIAA’s revamped state basketball format. “We’ve dealt with weather issues at state events before and we have an inclement weather policy.”

Check out the WIAA’s inclement weather policy here.

Fortunately, weather forecasts in the Puget Sound region call for lots of sun on Friday and little chance of snow until Saturday night.

As of Thursday afternoon, play at none of the five local regional sites appeared to be in jeopardy. Games are scheduled Friday and Saturday at Jackson (4A), Marysville-Pilchuck (3A), Stanwood (2A), Glacier Peak (1A) and Mountlake Terrace (1B).

“We’re definitely going (forward as planned). We have to,” Marysville-Pilchuck High athletic director Mike Lowery said. “We’ve already got it OK’d; even if we don’t have school we’re going to go ahead with the tournament.”

There were still a few inches of snow on the ground in Marysville on Thursday, but “right now, looking at the weather forecasts, hopefully we’re not getting any more snow and the roads will be in pretty good shape,” Lowery said.

Things are also full speed ahead at Jackson High School in Mill Creek, according to Everett School District athletic director Robert Polk. “I don’t anticipate any problems,” he said.

In Stanwood, which got hit much harder by the snow storm, around 6 to 8 inches of snow blanketed the ground at the high school as of late Thursday morning, Spartans assistant athletic director Tom Wilfong said. But the games will go on.

“We’ve got a lot (of snow),” Wilfong said, “but the main roads are clear. … Even if we don’t have school (Friday), we’ll be playing.”

Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.