BREMERTON — Same stuff, different year.
Following a blowout loss to Olympic followed with a Thursday game against Bremerton in which a postseason spot on the line is almost an exact replica of the conclusion of the 2014 regular season for the Sequim Wolves.
Last year in this same situation, Sequim fell to the Knights at home 14-13. The Wolves loss dropped the Wolves into a three-team tie for Olympic League 2A’s final postseason berth.
A win tonight in Bremerton clinches third place outright for Sequim, which holds a one-game lead over the Knights and Kingston.
This year, the three teams are vying for two spots. Therefore, a loss by Kingston to Port Angeles tonight also would secure Sequim a postseason berth, regardless of what happens in Bremerton.
Obviously, being on the border of making or missing the postseason isn’t ideal, but at least the Wolves control their own destiny.
The Knights, meanwhile, not only have to beat Sequim, they’ll likely have to do it by more than three points to lock down a postseason spot.
If Bremerton and Kingston win tonight, then the two teams will be tied with the Wolves at 3-3 in league play. With play-in games looming Tuesday for the two teams that earn bids, there isn’t time to break the tie as it was broken last year – a three-team playoff.
“We aren’t going to play it off,” Sequim athletic director and assistant coach Dave Ditlefsen said.
“We would use existing tiebreaking criteria, and due to us all losing to each other, it would come down to point differential.”
Sequim has a 13-10 victory over Kingston, while Kingston has a 24-21 victory against Bremerton.
That puts the Wolves’ point differential at plus-three, Kingston’s at zero and Bremerton’s at negative-3.
“So if we lose by four or more we are out,” Ditlefsen said.
“If Bremerton wins by one or two points, Sequim still is the No. 3, Kingston is the No. 4 and Bremerton is out.”
If the Knights win by three, they’re still in the running for the postseason.
“If Bremerton wins by exactly three, the tie isn’t broken and some other tiebreaker will have to take place,” Ditlefsen said.
He said that likely would be a coin flip.
“There was no preseason draw between Olympic League teams,” Ditlefsen said.
Kingston at Port Angeles
KINGSTON — Win or lose, the Roughriders’ season ends tonight.
They’ll be looking to play spoiler — and rival-helper — against some familiar schemes.
“We feel like we can win,” first-year Port Angeles coach Bret Curtis said.
“They do a lot of things we do, offensively and defensively.
“We do similar things. It’s going to be good for us to essentially run our same schemes [in practice].”
Forks vs. Eatonville
MONTESANO — The Spartans are playing out the string with a neutral site contest against the Cruisers.
Forks (0-6, 1-7) could play the role of spoiler if it could break through for the program’s first Evergreen League win on the season.
If Eatonville (3-3, 4-4) wins, the Cruisers are the league’s No. 3 seed to districts.
If the Spartans pull off the upset and Tenino (3-3, 5-3) gets past Rochester on Friday, the Beavers are playoff bound and Eatonville, last season’s 1A runner-up, stays home.
