PORT ANGELES — A look at state regional round matchups for the five area prep basketball teams playing tonight and Saturday.
Class 2A No. 6 Port Angeles vs. No. 3 Clarkston
• Location: Richland High School, 2 p.m. Saturday.
RICHLAND — The Roughriders (20-3) will have to stop high-scoring sophomore Ashlyn Wallace, a 5-foot-6 guard who averages in the high 20s per game and scored 39 points in a district crossover win over Selah last week.
“A very good 3-point shooter, great range out to 24 or 26 feet,” Port Angeles coach Michael Poindexter said. “Extremely quick and a good defender. A good teammate and a good leader. She gets fouled a lot, her quickness makes her difficult to guard. She will be by far, the best guard we have faced all year.”
But the Bantams (22-2) are not a one-person team.
“It’s not just her, they have three kids at 6-foot and above and another at 5-10,” Poindexter said. “It’s the team with the most size we have faced.”
Poindexter said he’s not concerned with Clarkston’s height advantage.
“That doesn’t bother me a lot, I think we play taller than we are and our taller kids run the floor well,” Poindexter said. “I think we will be OK. There is a danger of focusing on one kid so much defensively, but we won’t take [Clarkston’s other players] lightly. They got their record by other people contributing.”
• With a win: Port Angeles would get a first-round bye at state and play at 7:15 p.m. Thursday in Yakima against the winner of a Wednesday game between regional round foes Black Hills/Grandview and Archbishop Murphy/White River.
• With a loss: The Roughriders would face the winner of tonight’s Sequim/Foster matchup in a loser-out state tournament game at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome.
No. 14 Sequim vs. No. 11 Foster
• Location: Auburn Mountainview High School, 8 p.m. tonight.
AUBURN — The Wolves, a team with ample skill and size down low, face a small, “scrappy” bunch of Bulldogs in a winner-to-state, loser-out contest.
“They are really scrappy,” Sequim coach Linsay Rapelje said. “They are kind of little, basically all guards. and they can all shoot the 3 and all drive to the hoop.
“I think Port Angeles is kind of similar to that, although Foster doesn’t have anybody like Madi Cooke on their team. White River is kind of similar, too.”
That may not be a benefit as the Wolves went 0-3 against those teams this season.
“We have Jayla [Julmist] and Hope [Glasser], they don’t have anybody similar in size,” Rapelje said.
“It will be interesting to see if they play us in man [defense] or play us in zone.
“Maybe they start in man, but I don’t see how unless they double [team] Jayla. I don’t see how they would be able to defend her one-on-one.”
A switch to a zone defense could help out Sequim sharpshooter Kalli Wiker who is hitting 42 percent on 3-point shots this season while shooting about seven 3s a game.
• With a win: Sequim would advance to a loser-out state tournament game at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Yakima SunDome against the loser of Saturday’s Port Angeles-Clarkston game.
Class 1B No. 4 Neah Bay vs. No. 5 Mount Vernon Christian
• Location: at Mount Vernon High School, 6 p.m. tonight.
MOUNT VERNON — The Red Devils will face a Hurricanes team they are familiar with from two contests, both Neah Bay victories, last season.
The Red Devils (20-2) beat MVC (21-2) 63-46 on its home court in the 2018 Tri-District semifinals and then shot past the Hurricanes with an 11 of 24 shooting performance from beyond the arch in a 55-34 win in the Class 1B State Tournament Quarterfinals in Spokane.
Neah Bay worked on its post game this week with Competitive Hoops program coaches Mike Knowles and Joe Marvelle at the invite of Red Devils’ coach Tina Grimes-Brown.
• With a win: Neah Bay advances to a state tournament quarterfinal at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Spokane Arena.
• With a loss: The Red Devils will play the winner of tonight’s Clallam Bay-Naselle game in a loser-out state tournament contest at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in Spokane.
No. 13 Clallam Bay vs. No. 12 Naselle
• Location: at Mark Morris High School, 6 p.m. tonight.
LONGVIEW — The Bruins (13-9) also will face a team they have played in the recent past, with Clallam Bay beating the Comets 51-43 in a Martin Luther King Day Tournament in Longview in 2018.
A senior-heavy squad, Naselle (14-8) is lead by the 11 points per game from senior post Lilli Zimmerman.
• With a win: Clallam Bay would advance to play the loser of Saturday’s Neah Bay-Mount Vernon Christian contest at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in Spokane. The Bruins’ season would end with a loss to the Comets.
Class 1B Boys No. 10 Neah Bay vs. No. 15 Pateros
• Location: at Mount Tahoma High School, noon Saturday.
TACOMA — The Red Devils (15-7) enter the state regional round having won eight of their last nine games, but smarting from a 69-58 loss to Muckleshoot last Saturday.
The Billygoats (15-8) faced two straight loser-out games at district, so they’ve got experience playing with their backs to the wall.
• With a win: Neah Bay advances to the 1B state tournament against the loser of Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Odessa at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Spokane. A loss ends the Red Devils’ season.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
