State draw splits Snohomish; Stanwood in good spot

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

RENTON – Snohomish basketball fans, you’re in for a long day.

Six Western Conference teams learned Sunday where their paths in the Class 4A state tournament will begin.

After watching team names being drawn from a bowl at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s offices in Renton, those six teams know who and when they will be playing when the tournament begins Wednesday at the Tacoma Dome.

The Snohomish girls and boys teams will both play on the same day, but it may not feel that way for those wishing to see both teams.

The girls will open the tournament at 9 a.m. against 19-7 Ferris. The boys will close the joint down with an 8:30 p.m. meeting with 18-7 Bethel.

Snohomish girls coach Ken Roberts is not sure what will come of the six rooter buses the school was planning to send to Tacoma.

“We were hoping to be a little closer together,” said Roberts, still wearing the smile that emerged when his Panthers beat Oak Harbor Saturday night for the Northwest District title. “I don’t think we’ll talk people into bringing the rooter buses down at 6 and leaving them there until 12. I’ll try to talk (athletic director Eric Cahan) into bringing them in at 6 and let the kids hang out all day, but that probably won’t go over too well.”

The draw went about as well as could be expected for the boys teams.

District-champion Stanwood will open against 17-10 Federal Way – a team that finished seventh to earn the final state berth from its bi-district tournament – at 10:30 a.m.

The Spartans lie in the same quarter-bracket as Mariner, which means the teams could meet in the second round. The Marauders (17-7), who finished third at districts, open against 10th-ranked Battle Ground at 9 a.m.

Sixth-ranked Stanwood (21-2) would likely face a tough team should the Spartans make their second straight trip to the semifinals. In Stanwood’s half of the bracket, top-ranked Garfield drew fifth-ranked Shadle Park. The winner of that game would likely play No. 2 Lincoln. Whichever team sneaks through that collection of giants could face either Stanwood or Mariner.

That, coach Nate DuChesne said, is a long way off.

“I like our position,” DuChesne said. “Getting that No. 1 seed helped us out. But, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing in the state tournament. You’ve got to be playing well.”

Mariner coach Dexter Griffen said he was just glad to be sitting in the crowded WIAA meeting room. The Marauders finished 1-19 just two years ago and won eight games last season. Many of the seniors on this year’s team played on the team that went winless in the Wesco two years ago as sophomores.

“Who would have thought that this group of kids – considering they were not very successful in junior high and their first couple of years of high school – would be where they are right now?” Griffen said. “We’re just happy to be here. Whatever happens, happens.”

The night-owl Snohomish boys will play Bethel in the only first-round game featuring unranked teams. The 18-5 Panthers are 18-2 against all non-Stanwood teams this season and could be a dangerous team in the tournament. Should they beat Bethel, the Panthers would face either No. 3 Ferris (22-3) or ninth-ranked Puyallup (20-5).

As kind as the draw may have been to the boys, it was equally cruel to a pair of girls teams making their first-ever state tournament appearances.

Kamiak (18-6) has a 10:30 a.m. date with Enumclaw, the No. 3 team in the state. Eighth-ranked Oak Harbor will open against No. 2 Prairie at 3:30 in one of only two first-round matchups featuring ranked teams. Prairie won state titles in 1998 and 1999 and has finished no worse than third the last four seasons.

“Anybody here is a tough team,” Oak Harbor coach Dwight Lundstrom said. “We’ll come ready to play and give it our best shot.”

Should the 19-4 Snohomish girls get by Ferris (19-7) in the first round, the Panthers would face either Kamiak or Enumclaw. Snohomish is 3-0 against the Knights this season.

The Class 2A draw was also held Sunday. No local teams qualified for the 2A tournament, which begins Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome.