With spring sports just around the corner, the winter season is heading into an exciting final home stretch. That means basketball takes center stage, opening this weekend with regional rounds of the various state tournaments. The hoop hoopla concludes March 8 with championship contests in all the state’s classifications.

On the Plateau, only the girls’ team from White River High remains alive.

The following is a look at what’s in store for the Hornet girls, along with a final look at last weekend’s state’s wrestling, gymnastics and swim and dive championships.

BOYS WRESTLING

White River: The Hornets proved to be the cream of the crop, capturing a state championship during their first year of competition at the Class 3A level.

White River totaled 252 team points after taking 15 wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome, boasting two individual Mat Classic champs and seeing six others place in the top eight in their weight class.

Taking No. 1 honors after two days of competition were Hornet seniors Caleb Dale, the champion at 150 pounds, and Riley Simmons, who topped the field at 215. Each received a first-round bye and then won five straight matches.

Other White River grapplers earning Top 8 honors were senior Luke Lisherness, who battled to the finals at 175 pounds and took second place; senior Hunter Oswold, fourth at 165; freshman Joshua Wilson, fourth at 113; senior Tyson Moran, fifth at 190; senior Joshua Hanson, sixth at 157; and senior Thomas Stanhope, sixth at 285.

Other Hornets who qualified for the February 20-21 Class 3A competition in Tacoma were seniors Trevor King at 144 pounds, Levi Northam at 165, Jack Berdan at 190 and senior Mason Brame at 285; sophomores Brayden Thacker at 132 pounds and Dallas Stryker Simmons at 175; and freshman Morgan Presley at 125 pounds.

Enumclaw: The EHS program sent seven wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome to compete in the February 20-21 matches.

Representing Enumclaw High were seniors Caleb Grantham in the 138-pound weight class and Mason Elder, who wrestled at 157; juniors Gaven Gemmell at 106 pounds and Eddie Cormier-Higgins at 138; sophomores Romeo Gwerder at 132 and Cole Schumacher at 150; and freshman Bo Bruhn at 144.

While none advanced into Top 8 territory, six Hornets won individual battles on the Dome mats.

Gemmell won four matches in the Dome; Gwerder, Grantham and Schumacher each won three times; and Cormier-Higgins and Bruhn were two-time victors.

BASKETBALL

White River girls: The Hornets have made a habit of qualifying for the state basketball tournament during the past couple of decades, but this year’s appearance is a bit different. After establishing the program as an annual Class 2A power, coach Chris Gibson has guided his program to the state festivities in the 3A ranks.

The first year in the larger classification in recent memory (the Hornets last played 3A hoops in 2010) also brings a change in venue. While the Class 2A state tourney is traditionally staged in Yakima, the 3A gathering is at the Tacoma Dome.

But before talk turns to Tacoma, the Hornets have a regional contest, part of the 20-team state format. For White River, that means a Saturday, March 1, game against Lakeside, a private, independent school from Seattle and a member of the Metro League. The two will square off at 4 p.m. at Auburn High School. White River (22-3 on the season) enters the game as the overall No. 3 seed; Lakeside (22-4) comes in at No. 6.

Both teams will advance to play in the Tacoma Dome. The winner will skip the opening day of Dome competition and take the court at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, March 6; the loser will play at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 5. For both teams, the state tourney is a double-elimination affair.

White River advanced to state play after winning three of four games in the District 3/4 tournament. The Hornets defeated Silas High 80-41, slipped past Evergreen of Vancouver 59-46 and beat Decatur 62-49 to earn a spot in the district championship. That game, played February 22 at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School, saw the Hornets fall to North Thurston.

White River boys: Two losses in three games brought the season to a close for the White River High boys basketball team.

After splitting the first two contests of the District 3/4 tournament the Buckley crew needed a February 18 victory to keep their state dreams alive. Heading south to Clark County for the second time in a week, the Hornets faced the Prairie Falcons and fell 88-73 in a loser-out affair.

Trailing 42-34 at halftime, White River fell into a deeper hole when the hosts posted a 26-16 advantage in the third quarter, a deficit the Hornets could not overcome.

White River opened the 16-team district tourney with a loss, falling 67-60 in Vancouver to host Mountain View High. Two nights later the Hornets handled Kent-Meridian 94-66 to stay alive in the tournament that qualified seven teams into the Class 3A state tourney.

Coach Zach Johnson’s squad finished the season with an overall record of 15-9, which included a 9-5 mark in North Puget Sound League 3A play.

Enumclaw boys: The Hornet boys basketball team picked up one victory in the District 3/4 tournament but it was the two losses that brought an end to Enumclaw’s 2024-25 campaign.

Facing Bellarmine in a loser-out contest the evening of February 18, EHS fell 72-54 in Tacoma. The first half was the Hornets’ undoing, particularly the second quarter that saw the host team enjoy a 26-13 advantage. The fact that Enumclaw outscored the Lions during the second 16 minutes wasn’t near enough to change the outcome.

Enumclaw dropped its first district contest, losing 61-55 to Timberline on the Blazers’ home court in Lacey. The Hornets kept their season alive two nights later, hosting River Ridge and rolling to a 70-47 win.

Under the direction of first-year coach Sam Oliver, the Hornet boys ended the season with a record of 14-9. That included a 9-5 mark in North Puget Sound League 3A games.

Enumclaw girls: The Hornets were dealt a tough hand as they waded into district play, given the No. 11 seed and taking the court without their leading scorer.

The result was the dreaded “two and out” which spelled an end to the 2024-25 season for coach Danny Graham and his troops.

The Hornets struggled down the stretch, dropping five of eight games after losing senior standout Kalee Swanson to a knee injury.

The District 3/4 tournament saw EHS open against Auburn Mountainview, a road game that resulted in a 42-23 loss. Forty-eight hours later the Hornets were again in enemy territory, traveling to Tacoma to face the Bellarmine girls. Enumclaw fell into a major deficit early, scoring just 12 points in the first half, and were ousted from tourney play with a 53-30 loss.

The EHS girls finished the season with an overall record of 11-9 which included an 8-5 mark in North Puget Sound League 3A play.

GIRLS WRESTLING

White River: The nine Hornets who competed in the girls Class 3A division fared well enough to land a No. 10 placing after two days of Tacoma Dome competition.

The Buckley group was headed by senior Lilyana Lamothe who opened with a bye and then pinned four consecutive opponents to earn a state championship at 130 pounds. Falling just a match short were sophomores Amanda Lillie at 120 pounds and Marli Miller at 135; each won four straight battles before falling in the finals and claiming second-place honors.

Other White River girls who had advanced to the state meet were senior Nancy Woodard at 155 pounds; junior Mya Turcott at 115; sophomores Evelyn Amerson at 120, Ruth Schweickert at 125, and Sydnee Hloshyk at 235; and freshman Ariena Jones at 190 pounds.

Enumclaw: Taydem Bylin wrestled to a Class 3A championship and Sydney Poe claimed second-place honors to lead the Enumclaw High crew at Mat Classic.

Bylin, who wrestled at 140 pounds, won her first four matches by fall before earning a major decision in the championship pairing. Poe opened with a bye and won three straight matches before falling in the title round to claim second-place honors.

In all, there were nine competitors from EHS in the February 20-21 competition. Others who earned trips to the Tacoma Dome were juniors Lily Pedersen at 125 pounds and Madison Cooper at 170; sophomores Avery Sawyer at 100 pounds, Alexandra Soriano-Ross at 120 and Brookelynn Miller at 140; and freshmen Lily Hammond at 110 pounds and Maisy Norton at 135.

GYMNASTICS

Enumclaw’s Aly Posey had a banner day as the state gymnastics meet kicked off a three-day run at Sammamish High School. Competing February 20, Posey took all-around honors in the 3A/2A/1A division, topping a field that totaled 158 gymnasts.

The EHS sophomore was joined at state by the White River trio of sophomore Jayden Saborio, senior Maci Roach and freshman Ainsley Koehn. On Day 1 of the meet, Saborio tied for 35th place in the all-around, followed by Roach at No. 53 and Koehn in a tie for 63rd.

The White River trio performed well enough to land at No. 13 in the overall team standings.

The second day at Sammamish was for individual competition in the 3A event finals, consisting of a select group who had advanced.

Posey was again a force in the field, placing third in both the uneven bars and vault while tying for third place in the beam and floor exercise.

SWIM & DIVE

Six Plateau athletes joined their peers from throughout the state for the WIAA swim and dive championships. The all-classification meet took place February 20-22 at the traditional site, the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

The top local performance was turned in by White River junior Conroy Meyers, who placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle with a finals time of 21.67 seconds. He had also earned a state berth in the 100-yard freestyle but did not advance from the preliminary round.

Meyers was joined by three teammates – sophomore Eli Long and seniors William Halaas and Evan Weisheyer – in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Their state experience was limited to the prelim round.

Enumclaw was represented at state by David Prince, who qualified in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, and diver Riley Jensen. Both seniors, they competed in preliminaries but did not advance to the finals.

Photo by Kevin Hanson Gemmell: Enumclaw High junior Gaven Gemmell was a Mat Classic force at 106 pounds, winning four of his six matches. Here’ he attempts to turn Max Park Taber on his way to registering a technical fall over his Franklin High opponent.