White River girls headed to state basketball quarterfinals

The Yakima Valley SunDome is home this week to the best Class 2A basketball teams in the state, a field of 24 that survived last weekend’s regional round of the state tournament.

It’s also a collection of hoop talent that includes three teams from the Plateau. Making the Yakima trip are the boys from Enumclaw High School and the girls’ squads from both Enumclaw and White River.

The Yakima portion of the Class 2A tournament opens today (Wednesday) and wraps up with a trio of games Saturday that will decide a state champion, a runner-up and third through sixth places.

Here’s the situation for the three Plateau representatives and how they earned a SunDome berth.

White River girls: With a victory in Saturday’s opening round of the Class 2A state tournament, the White River girls have jumped directly into the tourney quarterfinals.

White River’s state debut involved a trip to Mount Vernon, where the Hornets defeated Lynden 51-45. By virtue of their seeding (White River entered at No. 7, Lynden at No. 2), both were assured of advancing to play in the SunDome.

It was a come-from-behind effort that saw the Hornet girls trailing by four points at halftime. Making all the difference for White River was a 22-8 advantage in the third quarter. Vivian Kingston scored 11 points in the win and Morgan Greene tallied 10.

White River’s girls begin Yakima play with a late game (9 p.m.) Thursday against Sammamish or Sequim. The winner will head to the tourney semifinals with a 9 p.m. game Friday while the loser heads to the consolation bracket and a game at 2 p.m. Friday.

Enumclaw girls: Coach Danny Graham and his crew (the tourney’s No. 12 seed) were paired against the Columbia River Tides (No. 13) in the state tourney’s opening round and responded with a 58-47 victory.

The game at Auburn High was a loser-out affair and the EHS girls made an early statement. The Hornets jumped to a 22-8 advantage after eight minutes of play and led 33-22 at intermission. Charlee Torgison scored a game-high 20 points, including all 11 of Enumclaw’s second-quarter points.

Enumclaw’s girls are now paired against No. 5 Tumwater in a game slated for 7:15 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) in the SunDome. It’s a loser-out contest with the winner taking the court at 7:15 Thursday against No. 3 Burlington-Edison in a quarterfinal matchup.

Enumclaw boys: Needing a victory in Saturday’s opening round to stay alive in the state playoffs, the Enumclaw High boys responded in fine fashion. Leading start to finish, the No. 10-seeded Hornets mashed the No. 15 Ridgefield Spudders 49-33.

The loser-out game was staged at Auburn High School and sent the winner to the Yakima Valley SunDome for a “round of 12” contest today (Wednesday).

Enumclaw’s game today begins at 10:30 a.m. against the highly-regarded squad from Anacortes High (No. 2). It’s another battle of the loser-out variety.

Today’s winner advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round and a 10:30 a.m. showdown against the No. 1-ranked Pullman Greyhounds.

Enumclaw’s opening-round victory included double-figure scoring by Noah Seabrands, who finished with 14 points, and Karson Holt, who added 11.