It’s do-or-die for three Twin Harbors prep basketball teams as their state-tournament journeys begin with state first-round elimination games on Saturday.
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL
No. 13 Sultan vs. No. 12 Montesano
When and where: 4 p.m. Saturday at Tumwater High School
For much of the latter half of the league season and into the postseason, the Montesano Bulldogs have been in unfamiliar territory.
After basement-dwelling in the 1A Evergreen League over the past two seasons, Montesano turned it around in 2023-24 under new head coach Leonard Barnes to win 19 games – seven more than the two previous seasons combined – and earned a trip to the state tournament for the first time since 2018.
Led by junior guard Delon Chan (18 points per game, 6 rebounds per game), senior forward Tyce Peterson (10 ppg, 5 rpg) and senior foward Gabe Bodwell (8 ppg, 8 rpg), the Bulldogs(19-6 overall) are currently ranked No. 10 in the sblive.com rankings and enter the 1A State Tournament as a No. 11 seed.
Monte will take on No. 12 Sultan in the tournament’s first round on Saturday.
The Turks (15-6) finished third in the 1A Evergreen Sound Chinook Conference this season and was ousted by No. 9 King’s 70-57 in the District 2 semifinal.
Sultan then beat Eastside Prep 87-48 and earned its spot in the state playoff with a 66-51 win over Bear Creek in the district-elimination final.
The Turks like to get the ball up the floor and have a team full of adept 3-point shooters, including senior twins Toby and Eli Trichler – sons of Turks head coach Nate Trichler – each of whom have both scored over 1,000 points in their prep careers and exhibited NBA-range 3-point shooting capabilities this season.
“The team is very athletic, up-tempo and they want to get up and down the court,” Montesano head coach Leonard Barnes said of the Turks. “Excellent defensive players with lots of pressure defense in both full and half-court. They are very good shooters from the 3-point line but also a are a very good offensive team in the half-court. An excellent team that plays well together.”
The winner advances to the state Round of 12 and will face the loser of the No. 5 Seattle Academy-No. 4 Freeman first-round matchup on Feb. 28 in Yakima.
PHOTO BY FOREST WORGUM Montesano forward Jillie Dalan, seen here in a file photo, puts up a shot against Elma in the District 4 Tournament earlier this month. Dalan and her teammates take on Cascade Christian in a 1A State first-round game on Saturday in Tumwater.
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL
No. 14 Cascade Christian vs. No. 11 Montesano
When and where: 2 p.m. Saturday at Tumwater High School
Despite fielding one of its youngest teams in recent memory, the Montesano Bulldogs made school history by winning their fourth-consecutive 1A District 4 championship on Saturday, advancing to their seventh-consecutive state tournament (no tournament in 2021 due to COVID).
The Bulldogs’ reward? A No. 11 seed and state first-round game against No. 14 Cascade Christian.
Montesano (15-9) is led by sophomore forward and 1A Evergreen League MVP Jillie Dalan, a double-double machine who has averaged 15.3 points per game to lead the Bulldogs this season.
Montesano has also received a boost from sophomore forward Lex Stanfield (8.1 ppg) and freshman point guard Tieander Olson (8.7 ppg), whose games have improved with more varsity experience under their belts.
Those three are likely to lead Monte against the Cougars (16-7), which placed third in the 1A Nisqually League and enter the state tournament coming off a 50-34 loss to Bellevue Christian in the District 3 championship game.
Despite being slightly smaller than Monte, with just one player standing at 5-foot-10 to three Bulldogs starters at that height, Cascade Christian still poses some challenges.
“I would say they are very balanced. They have a number of girls that can score. They’re not just relying on one person and have shown they can shoot the ball very well,” Montesano head coach Mark Mansfield said. “Defensively, the play both man and zone and want to apply pressure to you. They are capable of putting pressure on you.”
Mansfield added Monte’s keys to the game come down to executing his team’s game plan and doing the little things well.
“For us, we have to play our same defensive game. We have to make it difficult for them to get good looks at the basket,” he said. “We have to rebound. They do a very good job of crashing the boards. We have not rebounded well the last few games … We’ve given up too many offensive rebounds. So we need to take care of the ball. … It comes down to little things.”
The two teams are scheduled to face off at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Tumwater.
The winner will advance to the state Round of 12 and will face the loser of the No. 6 Lakeside (Nine Mile Falls)-No. 3 Lynden Christian first-round game on Feb. 28 in Yakima.
No. 14 Taholah vs. No. 11 Lummi Nation
When and where: Noon, Saturday at Mount Vernon High School
After placing second in the 1B District 4 Tournament, the Taholah Chitwhins will take on Lummi Nation in a 1B State Tournament first-round game on Saturday at Mount Vernon High School.
Taholah (15-6) enters the tournament as a No. 14 seed and had three players – freshman guard Luvaila Smith, eighth-grade guard Maliah Pluff and freshman forward Shirley Stafford – score in double-figures in a District 4 Tournament win over Pe Ell.
The Blackhawks (17-8) take their fair share of 3-point shots and enter the tournament coming off two district losses to Neah Bay and Crosspoint in the 1B District 1/2/3 Tournament.
The winner will face the loser of the No. 6 Oakesdale-No. 3 Waterville-Mansfield first-round game on Feb. 28 at the Spokane Arena.
