PORT ANGELES — The Northwest Conference Basketball Tournament is back on, only now in another state.
The tournament, which was being held at Everett Community College, was postponed last week because of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the Seattle area. An Everett College student tested positive for the virus, prompting the shutdown of the NWAC men’s and women’s tournaments after a few games had been played.
The women’s tournament will now be played beginning Thursday at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Ore., while the men’s tournament will be played Thursday at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore.
Both the Peninsula College men and the women are in the tournament. The Peninsula men will play at 8 p.m. Thursday against the West Region champion Lower Columbia. The Pirates (20-7) are a No. 4 seed out of the North Region, having to win a tiebreaker game with Edmonds to make the NWAC Tournament. Lower Columbia (25-4) is a No. 1 seed and is ranked No. 4 in the NWAC.
The Peninsula College women will also play at 8 p.m. Thursday against Clackamas College. Peninsula (18-7) is a No. 2 seed out of the North Region while Clackamas (21-6) is a No. 3 seed out of a very tough South Region that features a 29-0 Umpqua team that is ranked No. 1 in the NWAC.
The women were set to play an unusual 10 p.m. game at Everett College before the suspension of the tournament but are now playing their tournament opener two hours earlier.
Both games can be watched online at www.nwacsportsnetwork.com.
There is no consolation bracket. If the women win, they play the winner of Walla Walla and Highline at 7 p.m. Friday. If the men win, they play the winner of Portland and Wenatchee Valley at 7 p.m. Friday.
Three of the women’s games did get played last week before the tournament was suspended. Wenatchee Valley beat Tacoma 70-48, Mount Hood beat North Region champion Whatcom 78-72 and North Idaho bet Lower Columbia 83-80.
