March 2026 will mark one decade since the last time a Central 2B League boys basketball team made a run to the 2B State Championship Game.
Mossyrock was the last to accomplish the feat in 2016, falling to Northwest Christian (Colbert) 75-48 in Spokane. C2BL teams have earned plenty of hardware since then, as six schools are responsible for 10 trophies, but the state title game trip has been elusive.
The C2BL came up empty altogether last season at state, with four teams losing ahead of the quarterfinals. Those four — Napavine, Adna, Toledo and Rainier — were the only teams to finish the year with a winning record in the C2BL.
But the nine-school league is due to earn the right to play for all the marbles in March. Breaking tradition is difficult, especially when history isn’t on the side of the C2BL, but a handful of contenders are looking to etch their name at the top of 2B.
Napavine is one of those contenders and the Tigers will have some new leaders after the graduation of C2BL MVP Karsen Denault and starting center Jack Nelson. Even without high-flyer Denault, the Tigers can still be a run-and-gun team. Speaking of new leaders, Kayden Kelly takes over as the third head coach of the program in as many years.
All-C2BL honorees Cal Bullock, Hudson Chambers and Beckett Landram are all a year older and looking to lift Napavine to its first state championship game appearance since 2011 and first title in school history. Newcomer Tyce Vigre, who starred for Mossyrock in its run to the 1B state title game in 2023 and helped Toledo win the 2B District 4 title last year, wins everywhere he goes.
Adna brings back most of its core minus Gavan Muller, and the Pirates added Winlock transfer Landen Cline to go along with returners Trevin Salme, Grayson Humphrey and Jackson Knittle. Few teams can keep up with Adna’s outside shooting prowess when snipers like Salme and Humphrey get hot.
Toledo knocked off both Napavine and Adna en route to its first district championship in six years and a 22-win season, but the Riverhawks were one-and-done at state. They bring everyone but Ryker Sorensen and Vigre back, including star senior forward Cooper Fallon, 3-point specialist Conner Hill, and seniors Adam Kruger and Eli Weeks. Fallon, at 6-foot-6, averaged 15.7 points, 15.3 rebounds, 4.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game last winter.
Rainier clinched its first trip to state in 28 years, but the Meldrum trio has moved on after five years together with the Mountaineers. The team now belongs to Peyton Sheaffer, an athletic wing with a knack to score the ball. Nehemiah Linson and Jordan Pringle are a couple of veteran leaders, while freshman guard Ryder Martin has made an impact early in the season.
Winlock, Toutle Lake, Mossyrock and Onalaska were all district teams last year, and the Loggers were a win away from state. Each of those teams has returning talent and the capability to pull off some upsets to shake up the C2BL standings.
Morton-White Pass no longer has the luxury of the area’s leading scorer in Judah Kelly, who averaged 27.4 points per game, but Logan Mays and Sebastian Gonzalez headline key returners for a team that finished last in the C2BL standings last season.
