Winter weather continues to wreck prep sports schedules

Snow and ice throughout the region have wreaked havoc on high school sports this week, causing numerous postponements and cancellations.

And with many forecasts predicting more snow Friday and Saturday, inclement weather could affect postseason events this weekend.

Here’s a sport-by-sport update on where things stand as of Wednesday evening:

Basketball

Inclement weather has forced nearly every Wesco basketball team to cut its regular season short by one game.

One notable exception is the regular-season finale between the Kamiak and Lake Stevens boys basketball teams, which needs to be played to determine Wesco 4A’s fifth and final berth to the Class 4A Wes-King Bi-District Tournament. The game has been moved to 5 p.m. Thursday at Kamiak.

If Kamiak wins, the Knights would finish two games ahead of Lake Stevens in the conference standings and earn the No. 5 seed.

If Lake Stevens wins, the two teams would finish tied for fifth place and split the regular-season series. To determine the final bi-district berth, a tiebreaker game of two eight-minute quarters would be held 30 minutes after the conclusion of the original game, according to Northwest District athletic director Robert Polk.

Polk said a tiebreaker game typically would be held the following day. But with the bi-district tournament scheduled to begin Friday, he said the only option in this case would be to play it the same night.

“We ran out of time,” Polk said, “and it’s better than a coin toss.”

Some 3A district tournament dates also have changed. The boys and girls tournaments are now both scheduled to hold their play-in games Thursday and their quarterfinals Friday.

Adjustments also have been made to the start times of many postseason basketball games over the next few days.

Boys swim and dive

The 4A and 3A Northwest District swim and dive championships at Snohomish Aquatic Center began Wednesday with the diving preliminary rounds. The 4A swimming prelims are scheduled for Thursday, and the 3A swimming prelims for Friday.

The 4A district swim and dive finals currently are slated for 10 a.m. Saturday, and the 3A finals for 4 p.m. Saturday.

Polk said inclement weather could force the start times for Saturday’s finals to be moved back an hour or two. He said if one or more schools can’t reach the venue Saturday because of inclement weather, the times and scores from the preliminary rounds would serve as a replacement for Saturday’s finals.

“Every attempt will be made to have the finals,” Polk said. “But if we can’t do it, that’s the plan.”

Wrestling

Polk said the weigh-in and start times for Saturday’s regional wrestling tournaments may be adjusted. He said each tournament is making decisions on the matter, but that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has guidelines to follow, since regionals are a state-level event.

Polk said if a number of schools can’t reach a venue because of inclement weather, regionals could be moved to Sunday or Monday.