The good news is, the Sumner High girls are heading to the Sweet 16 – the state 2A basketball tournament.

The bad news? Just when they had to play their best basketball of the 2011 campaign, the Spartan girls turned in their worst performance of the season, losing 41-25 to Port Angeles Saturday.

The Spartans had knocked off the Roughriders during subdistrict play but it was a different story Saturday, when Sumner shot horribly from the floor and Erika Olsen was suffering with a breathing disorder and could not play the second half.

The Spartans played a commendable game defensively, holding a Port Angeles contingent that averaged around 70 points per game to a subpar total of just 41 points again.

The only problem Sumner had was getting their buckets to drop, shooting 15 percent from the floor.

Sumner will still be heading to Stanwood for the first phase of the 2A state tournament as either the third or fourth seed out of Region III. Sumner and White River met at Curtis Monday to decide those slots.

The incentive for the senior-based Spartans to beat White River Monday was that if they finally did overcome the jinx that White River apparently holds over them, then they would only have to win one game before advancing on to the primary phase of the state tournament at the SunDome in Yakima March 4, 5 and 6.

If Sumner lost Monday, it will have to win twice in Stanwood before being Yakima.