Bring it on.
Mossyrock, Napavine and White Pass are primed and ready for a long run at the 2007 WIAA State 2B Girls Basketball Tournament, which tips off Wednesday at the Spokane Arena.
Mossyrock and Napavine must be considered state title contenders and White Pass fits the 'dark horse' role to a T. But the road to a 2B title won't be an easy one.
"I think this might be one of the toughest in a long, long time," said Napavine coach
Shane Schutz. "If you don't come ready to go - for four straight days - you might be going home early."
Here is a brief look at the three local teams heading to Spokane:
Mossyrock
The Vikings, who finished third a year ago, are rolling after handing Napavine its first loss of the season Saturday night in the District IV title game.
Mossyrock is 21-2 with the only losses coming in regular-season matchups with Napavine. The Vikings, ranked No. 5 last week, face No. 10 Liberty Bell at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
"It's an old cliche, but you have to get there first and then take it one game at a time," said Mossyrock coach Gary Stamper.
"It's tough to win it all, but I've felt we've had a legitimate chance the last couple years and this year is no different.
"I really believe it's a realistic goal. We've been there before and know what it's all about. Now, we just have to go over and play like we're capable of."
The Vikings showed how tough they can be with the win over Napavine.
Lexi Belcher is the Mossy leader, averaging over 20 points a game. The Tigers slowed her down some (14 points), but Tisa Pelletier picked up the slack with 22 points.
Pelletier (5-foot-10) and Alysha Kuse (5-10) combined to average 20 points a game inside. Corina Allen is a threat outside and averaged nine points during the season.
Those four are all seniors and this is Mossyrock's eighth straight trip to Spokane. But the Vikings do have some young faces that have stepped up in the postseason. Junior Sarah Petrino had 12 points off the bench against Napavine while Elena Belcher (sophomore) and Corissa Durga (junior) have both played well at the district tournament.
Napavine
The Tigers are looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss (22-1) on Saturday against Mossyrock. They open with Bear Creek, which was throttled by No. 3 Shoreline Christian 71-24 in the third-place game of the Western Bi-District tournament.
"I really don't know much about them, hopefully, we'll run down some information," Schutz said.
But the main concern for the Tigers is the Tigers themselves, and rebounding from the loss to Mossy.
"It's funny, but I think the kids have been so focused on being unbeaten that I'd be lying if it didn't get to them a little bit," Schutz said. "It's almost like they feel they let someone down. You try to keep things in perspective, but these are 14-17-year-olds and their life, right now, revolves around basketball. It's easy to make things bigger than they are."
Schutz said he felt his team tightened up a bit against Mossyrock and the Vikings took it to the Tigers.
"Now we can relax and get back to our old style of rough-and-tough defense," Schutz said.
The Tigers rely on point guard Courtney May (15 points a game) and 6-foot post Alicia Richardson (11). But Sarah Hylton and Kristen Lantau can also score and the Tigers also have others (Aden McNelly, Nicole Hamre and Molly Erven) who can put the ball in the basket.
Napavine is staring at a quarterfinal matchup with defending champion La Salle, which knocked off Mossyrock last year in the semifinals.
"It is what it is," Schutz said. "La Salle is well coached and a very talented group. In order to be the champs, you have to beat the champs. But we'll deal with Bear Creek first. If we're lucky enough to get to that point (play La Salle) we'll compete and get after it."
White Pass
The Panthers come in with the worst record of the 16 teams (15-9), but talk about a deceptive statistic.
White Pass lost three times to Mossyrock, twice to Napavine and once to Toutle Lake - all state 2B qualifiers. Throw in a four-point loss to state 1A qualifier Forks and an eight-point loss to 1A power Chelan and you're talking about a battle tested club. The only 'bad loss' came on the first night of the season, a 66-54 loss to Raymond.
Panther coach Tom Kelly had his team playing its best ball toward the end of the season.
White Pass has a potent one-two punch in senior post Deanna Riffe and the always dangerous Breanna Moody. Moody, who stands 6-foot-1, but plays a lot of the time at the point, is a tough matchup for anyone. She averaged more than 18 points a night for the Panthers.
Kelly knew it would take some time for his club to jell with a number of younger players playing key roles (Laci Eastman, Mickey Redmon and Jennifer Mullins). But White Pass is used to success. They were third at the 1A tournament last year and fourth the year before that.
"We've needed the young kids to step up and take some big shots and hit those shots," Kelly said last week. "It's been like night and day with them (younger players). I'm really proud of this group and how they've played."
The Panthers open with a tough Shoreline Christian squad at 4 p.m. The Crusaders were ranked third in the final poll.
White Pass has shown it can play with the best in the state. Now, the Panthers just need to beat one of those teams.
Notes: Washingtonpreps.com ranked the 16 teams in the field with La Salle being No. 1 followed by Evergreen Lutheran and then Napavine. Mossyrock was fourth and White Pass 12th. … The top three teams, in their poll, are all on the top half of the bracket. … Washingtonpreps.com picked Mossyrock to reach the finals, falling to La Salle. … The Vikings could have a tough quarterfinal matchup if King's West can get past St. George's. King's West is 18-5, but two of those came to Evergreen Lutheran, a four-point loss to Napavine at the Raymond Holiday Tournament, a 12-point loss at La Salle and a seven-point loss to Olympic, which won the 2A/3A Olympic League. Plus, the Warriors' eight-point loss to Evergreen Lutheran in Saturday's district title matchup came without star player Chloe Mosey. … Quick trivia question: What is Bear Creek's nickname? The Grizzlies, of course.
