First-timers dominate inaugural 1B tourney

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Fans of the only Yakima Valley school with a team in the inaugural Class 1B state tournament can expect to be in for a long day.

As for what else to expect when the state's smallest schools do basketball battle Wednesday through Saturday on the SunDome courts, that's hard to say.

The WIAA classification changes that led to the creation of the 1B class have opened the door to many first-time state-trippers who could produce surprises during those four days in the SunDome ... or they could be summarily shoved aside by the programs accustomed to accruing state-tourney hardware.

One of the latter is Sunnyside Christian, whose teams have accounted for 15 state trophies and three boys titles (2005, 2002 and 1992). Both Knight teams are championship contenders again, the boys (22-0) as the top-ranked favorites and the girls (19-3) as one of the heavies in a lead pack that might be five or six teams deep.

If Sunnyside Christian's girls are to make a splash in this tourney, they'll have to earn it. To start with, they open at 9 a.m. Wednesday against Garfield-Palouse (14-9), which knocked off powerhouse Sprague-Harrington in district play. If they get over that hurdle, the Knights likely will face another favorite, Inchelium (17-5) in the second round -- if Inchelium can get past 18-1 Taholah, that is -- with the winner of that second-rounder likely facing explosive Colton (20-5) in the semifinals.

While the Knight girls won't get to sleep in on opening day -- and neither, presumably, will their fans -- the Sunnyside Christian boys are in the bottom bracket, opening at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday against an Odessa team that played a largely 2B schedule and is better than its 8-15 record might imply.

If the Knights get by their opener, they would face the winner of an intriguing matchup between scrappy, fast-breaking Lummi (11-11) and St. John-Endicott (14-12), and if it's the latter it could be interesting. Last year, Sunnyside Christian edged SJE 54-53 on Chad Den Boer's buzzer-beating 3-pointer that television replays later revealed to be a two-point basket.

Still, the Knight boys have to like their place in the lower bracket, while co-favorite Moses Lake Christian (20-2) finds itself in the muscle-weighted upper-half bracket with such heavy hitters as Liberty Christian (17-8) and Tulalip Heritage (20-3).

The girls' tournament seems to be a bit more evenly split in terms of heavyweights, with Sunnyside Christian, Inchelium, Taholah and Colton in the upper bracket, and top-ranked Curlew (22-1), Sprague-Harrington (21-4), Entiat (19-2) and Tekoa-Oakesdale (17-7) are in the lower half.