State high school basketball: Seven Clark County teams still playing in final week of tourneys

The Columbia River Rapids have advanced to the Yakima Valley SunDome for the Class 2A boys basketball round of 12 for the third consecutive season. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Union girls and Columbia River boys won Saturday in Clark County, and five other teams — Prairie boys, Evergreen girls, King’s Way Christian girls, Seton Catholic girls, and Columbia Adventist boys — have qualified for the final week of competition at state tourneys

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

The Columbia River Rapids did it again.

The Union Titans are looking to make program history.

And five more basketball teams from Clark County are also still playing as the calendar has turned to March.

This is the final week of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s state basketball tournaments, and Clark County will have teams in Tacoma, Yakima, and Spokane, all among the final 12 of their tourneys.

The Union girls, seeded second, defeated No. 7 Bothell in a seeding game Saturday to advance directly to the Class 4A quarterfinals.

The final score? That’s up for debate. Seriously, there was a scoring error during the third quarter that was never corrected. So on the bracket, it says 51-43. But it was probably 50-43.

What we do know is that Myla Larry went on one of those patented Myla Larry bursts of energy to start the second half, scoring 10 of Union’s first 12 points as the Titans took control. Bothell’s defense limited Union to 14 points in the first half. Union scored 19 in the third quarter and never trailed again.

“We knew what we needed to do to win,” Larry said. “When we got into halftime, our coaches told us that we needed to turn it up a notch, and that’s what we did.”

Myla Larry scored 10 of her 18 points in the decisive third quarter Saturday, leading Union to a win over Bothell in the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament. Union has advanced to the quarterfinals and will play this week in the Tacoma Dome. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Brooklyn Haywood scored 22 points, Larry had 18, and Aleya Smith had 10 for the Titans.

Last year, the Titans made it to the round of 12 in Tacoma. This year, they bypass Wednesday and get to go directly to the quarterfinals. Union’s best finish in program history was a fifth-place finish in 2020.

“We’re just showing everybody that we are the No. 1 team in the state,” Larry said. “I think we are proving that to everybody right now. We just have to keep it up, keep the momentum going, and hopefully we can pull it off.”

Brooklynn Haywood of Union gets a shot off with a hand in her face Saturday in a Class 4A state girls basketball tournament game at Camas High School. Union won to advance to the state quarterfinals. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Union will play at 2 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals in the Tacoma Dome. The Titans will face Wednesday’s winner between No. 9 Auburn and No. 8 Sumner.

The No. 11 Columbia River boys, after surviving the difficult Class 2A District 4 tournament, had no problem Saturday against No. 14 Clover Park. This is the third year in a row that Columbia River has won an elimination game in the state’s opening round weekend to advance to Yakima.

Columbia River has nine seniors on its roster, including Luca Phillips, who said it is a privilege to play with this group.

“Honestly, I couldn’t be happier right now,” he said Saturday after the 77-41 victory.

Columbia River’s Luca Phillips led a balanced scoring attack for the Rapids, scoring 19 points in the team’s victory over Clover Park on Saturday at Camas High School. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

Columbia River led 22-4 after the first quarter.

“It starts with defense. It starts with energy. We have the best energy in the county,” Phillips said. “We just want to fight.”

Phillips led River with 19 points. Alex Pont scored 16, Josh Paxton added 14, and Kellen Clary hit double figures with 13 points.

Phillips said the Rapids fed off the energy provided by the student section. He heard his teammates on the bench, as well. It was contagious, and then that wave of energy crushed the opponent.

Columbia River will play No. 3 Selah at 3:45 p.m. in the round of 12 Wednesday at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

The Union and Columbia River victories were played at Camas High School on Saturday. Two other games were played there Friday, with the Camas boys and Fort Vancouver boys falling in elimination games.

The state tournament has a quirky system with its opening round games. The teams seeded 1 through 8 play each other in seeding games, with winners advancing directly to the quarterfinals and the losers falling to the round of 12. The other seeds play each other in elimination games, with winners going to the round of 12.

Other Clark County teams played throughout the state this weekend:

In Class 3A boys, Prairie, the 6-seed, lost to No. 3 Mt. Spokane 69-63 but remains alive in the tournament. Prairie will face No. 11 Edmonds-Woodway at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Tacoma.

In Class 3A girls, Evergreen, the No. 7 seed, fell to No. 2 Snohomish 52-39. Evergreen will play No. 15 Meadowdale at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Tacoma.

In Class 1A girls, King’s Way Christian pulled off a big shocker. The 16-seeded Knights took down No. 9 Nooksack Valley 43-36 to advance to the round of 12. King’s Way will take on No. 8 Lakeside at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Yakima.

Meanwhile, Seton Catholic is also in the round of 12. The Cougars, No. 7, fell to No. 2 Zillah 49-27 in a seeding game. Seton Catholic will take on No. 10 Cascade Christian at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Yakima.

In Class 1B boys, Columbia Adventist has won two state playoff games to reach the round of 12. The 1B boys have a 20-team tournament. No. 17 Columbia Adventist beat No. 16 Concordia Christian earlier last week, then took down No. 9. Willapa Valley 63-60 on Saturday. Columbia Adventist will face No. 8 Wahkiakum at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the round of 12 in Spokane.

As noted earlier, the Camas boys, in Class 4A, lost on Friday.

In Class 3A boys, Mountain View just missed pulling off a shocker, losing to Auburn Mountainview by three points in an elimination game.

In Class 2A girls, No. 16 Ridgefield saw its season come to an end with a 52-40 loss against No. 9 Fife on Saturday.

In Class 1A boys, Fort Vancouver, No. 9, and King’s Way Christian, No. 15, lost in their elimination games on Friday.