SPOKANE — Neah Bay is the only school on the Olympic Peninsula that has two teams at the Hardwood Classic and the only school on the peninsula with a boys’ team at State.
Both the Red Devils’ boys (16-7) and girls (22-2) are making the long trek completely across the state to Spokane, a familiar trip for both teams.
The girls were strong from the get-go, among the top-ranked teams in the RPI all season. They eventually went 22-2 and earned a first-round bye at state as the No. 5 seed at the 12-team tournament. The girls have won 10 straight and one of the highlights of their season was beating a 4A team — Auburn — which was believed to be the first-ever Neah Bay win over a 4A school.
The boys had a tougher row to hoe. They actually got off to a bit of a rough start, going 4-5 over their first nine games. However, those five losses were by a total of just 26 points. Two losses were to a very good 1A team, Forks, and another was to a 2B team, Darrington.
So, that should have been a sign that the Red Devils were much better than a 4-5 team. Sure enough, Neah Bay responded by winning 12 out of its next 14 games, going undefeated in the North Olympic 1B League and winning two games out of three in the postseason, including an 80-58 win at regionals over Pateros to qualify for state.
All year, the Red Devils have had trouble getting all their players healthy and eligible, but now they have their entire roster available.
“We’re coming together pretty well,” said coach T.J. Greene. He said the team is getting over illnesses that bothered them the past couple of weeks.
The team has been powerful since the return of seniors Keith Johnson Jr. and Cameron Moore, both of whom can fill it up from outside. Sean Bitegeko, another 6-3 senior, has been a force all year inside, notching a ton of double-doubles all season.
It helped in the Pateros game that Bitegeko was actually in foul trouble, Greene said, because that forced the team to look at some different rotations without him. Sophomore Meric Soeneke came through with a huge game, scoring 23 with nine rebounds.
Neah Bay as a No. 10 seed gets No. 2 seed Odessa right out of the gate at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. Odessa is 22-2 and they are led by point guard Ryan Moffet. “He’s the complete package,” Greene said.
Greene said the team is taking the Odessa game as a challenge.
“We’re excited about it. To be the best, you have to beat the best,” he said. “It’s just another tough game. The guys are excited about it.”
The girls as a No. 5 seed and have won eight in a row. Like the boys, they went undefeated in league. They are also unbeaten in the postseason. The girls won their regionals game 58-40 over Mount Vernon Christian, which was actually ranked higher (fourth) in the RPI than the Red Devils.
Neah Bay is a very deep, but young team, with zero seniors and just one junior — Cei’J Gagnon.
A team of almost all freshmen finished fifth in the 1B tournament last year. The Red Devil girls have said they want to do better than that this year.
The strength of this team is its pesky, swarming defense and ability to get scoring from a variety of sources. At various times during the season, the Red Devils were led in scoring by either Gagnon, Oceana Aguirre, Laila Greene, Ruth Moss or Courtney Swan. Other than Gagnon, all of those other girls are either freshmen or sophomores.
The Red Devils begin their state run at 9 a.m. Thursday against either No. 14 Inchelium (17-8) or No. 6 Sunnyside Christian (19-5).
A win Thursday and the Neah Bay girls are already in the state semifinals because they are getting a first-round bye.
