By PAUL SHUGAR
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Forget the financial impact on the area, local high school basketball teams have their own selfish reasons to keep the 2A state tournament in the SunDome.

Since the tournament moved to Yakima from Tacoma in 1999, area teams have been reaping the benefits with a 42-14 record at the event. Only one team did not place -- East Valley's boys in 2001 -- and three teams have won state championships -- Grandview boys in 2002 and East Valley girls in 2002 and 2003.

Both those teams -- Grandview's boys and East Valley's girls -- will be back at the SunDome this week trying to add more hardware to their trophy cases. Unfortunately this might be the last time for both teams to excel so close to home.

If the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association decides to adopt a new classification -- Class C -- in a meeting April 29, the 2A state tournament should move back to the Tacoma Dome to make way for the new Class C in the SunDome.

"I definitely think it's nice to have it right here so close so our teams can keep the same routines and not stay in hotels," Greyhound coach Scott Parrish said. "As a coach it's nice to relax and know they are at home and not worrying about supervising in a hotel. We also have the opportunity to play in the SunDome earlier in the year since we are so close and get a chance to get familiar with it.

"It will be a big loss for us and the community and the area. ... I'll be sad to see it go if it does."

Grandview's Jimmy Vela is averaging 13.2 points per game this year.   Yakima Herald-Republic file

Grandview (21-2) will make its first state appearance since winning the event in 2002 with a similar team to that championship year. Undersized and quite speedy, the Greyhounds are being listed as favorites after knocking off No. 1 Cashmere (20-3) 85-70 in the district tournament.

"We hit some shots, we just caused (Cashmere) some problems with our defense," Parrish said. "We played good team basketball. We got the basketball to the guys we wanted shooting. (Point guard) Jimmy (Vela) played really well; he's been playing well the last half of the season. He's causing problems for people."

Vela's strong play is one reason this year's Grandview team, which opens play against Mount Baker at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, is being compared with 2002's team, a squad that had the 2A state player of the year Phillip Candanoza at shooting guard and Stephen Sanchez handling the ball at the point.

Vela, who averaged 13.2 points per game this season, is a much better shooter than Sanchez and does a good job distributing the ball, Parrish said. The only area that Sanchez might have the edge is in defense, but Vela still is one of the Greyhounds' better defensive players averaging 1.9 steals per game.

"It's hard to compare the teams (2002 and this one)," Parrish said. "We had Phillip Candanoza, the player of the year that year, but the makeup of the team is similar. We're quick, maybe not as quick as we were then. Size-wise, we're pretty comparable; don't have much size to speak of. But defensively, we're pretty similar. We're not as quick as we were then, but we're not too far off of it."

East Valley's girls know all about having success in the SunDome. The Red Devils have placed every season since 1999 and finished fourth at last year's tournament. Their worst finish during the six-year span is fifth in 2001, and they are 20-4 in state tournament play.

Six-foot center Tana Stickney paces East Valley with 11.6 points and 8 rebounds per game.  Yakima Herald-Republic file

This season's team will look to match the 26-1 record of 2002's state championship squad with four straight wins this week. East Valley (22-1) just missed coming to the state tournament with a perfect record, losing to defending state champion Chelan 58-48 in the district tournament championship game.

"I don't think (the girls) are any different (after the loss)," Red Devil coach Robi Raab said. "We just want to play well. For the most part we played pretty well this year, but we broke down defensively and didn't make shots that we normally make."

Now East Valley can look at the fact Chelan is on the other side of the bracket as good or bad luck. While the Red Devils wouldn't play the Goats until the state championship game, they must deal with Riverside (18-5) out of the Great Northern League at 9 p.m. Wednesday. If they manage to deal with the Rams, dangerous Lynden Christian 21-3 and King's (22-1) could await in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

"Our side of the draw is very tough," Raab said. "If you're playing on Saturday, regardless of what time, after coming out of our bracket, you played well this week and beat some good teams that deserved to place."

Dealing with the Great Northern League caused plenty of trouble for East Valley last season. The Red Devils lost to Pullman 40-23 in the second round and Riverside should cause plenty of problems as well.

Raab must find a way to match his team up against 6-foot-2 center Angela Hartill, who is on her way to the University of New Mexico next season and averaged a double-double of 15.8 point and 11 rebounds per game this season.

East Valley counters with 6-foot center Tana Stickney, who averaged 11.6 points per game and 8 rebounds per game to lead the Red Devils. But team defense is how Raab plan to deal with Hartill.

"Were just going to play solid defense and try to limit her touches," Raab said. "You've just got to play good basketball and make it tough for her to get the ball. Because if she does get it, she is going to score it."