PORT ANGELES — A winter storm that has dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the North Olympic Peninsula has forced numerous prep postseason postponements and cancellations.
West Central District 3 athletic director Joe Keller confirmed Friday morning that all boys and girls games for the Class 2A West Central District and 1A West Central District tournaments have been postponed.
This includes district basketball games for the Port Angeles and Port Townsend boys and girls and Sequim girls teams that were set Friday and Saturday.
Keller said the earliest games involving WCD schools could resume would be Tuesday. Most postponements were announced Thursday.
No announcement has been made as to any changes in format for the West Central District tournaments.
“What we’d like to do, obviously, is play the bracket and just play every day,” Keller told the Tacoma News Tribune. “We built a day in between [games]. Now, what we’re looking at, if we can depending on the weather, is we’d like to play the bracket out as it is and squish things down.”
Keller said how the tournaments are completed is dependent on the weather, and any plan could change early next week, depending on conditions.
He said other, less desirable plans could include trying to play the necessary games — primarily from the consolation brackets — to decide which teams will advance to the state regionals, and seed from there.
The least favorable option, Keller said, would be relying on WIAA’s RPI rankings to decide which teams advance to the regionals.
“That’s what we do not want to have happen,” he said.
WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese confirmed the regional basketball seeding date is still planned for Sunday, Feb. 17, but the WIAA will be flexible with the date.
WIAA has no involvement in how district tournaments are scheduled, but Colbrese noted the association needs to know qualified teams before it can seed the regional brackets.
“At this time it’s a wait and see,” Colbrese said. “It’s the date at this point. Stay tuned.”
Port Angeles athletic director Dwayne Johnson offered more information on the path forward, with the caveat that no changes have been confirmed.
“We are looking at a modified bracket,” Johnson said.
“Port Angeles girls and boys would play [Franklin Pierce and Fife] on the same night at 5:15 and 7 p.m. Thursday (to be confirmed).
“Winner of these games would advance to [the] State [Regional round] and be seeding using RPI. Losers will have to play the brackets out on the next two nights and get on the bus.”
This also would impact the Sequim girls who are set to face White River.
The Sequim boys lost their district opener and would have to win two out of three to advance. A loss would eliminate the Wolves.
Forks basketball
The Forks boys basketball team’s Southwest District IV matchup against King’s Way Christian was moved from Saturday to Monday and will now be held at Hoquiam High School at 7:30 p.m. A win sends the Spartans to the district title game and earns Forks a state regional berth.
The Spartans’ girls will face the loser of Monday’s La Center/Montesano matchup on Tuesday in a loser-out contest at 6 p.m. at Hoquiam.
Tri-District hoops
Tri-District Tournament games featuring the Clallam Bay and Quilcene girls and Crescent boys have been pushed to Monday.
The Crescent boys will host Lopez at 2:30 p.m. Monday in the first game of a doubleheader at Crescent School with the Clallam Bay girls. The Bruins are set to face Rainier Christian in a loser-out contest at 4:15 p.m.
Quilcene will travel to Grace Academy (Marysville) at 4 p.m. Monday. The winner of that contest will face Neah Bay at Port Angeles High School at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Tri-District Tournament director Jeff Droog of Mount Vernon Christian had some information on potential moves.
“If they are postponed Monday, those games will be moved to Tuesday,” Droog said.
Droog said that if weather has severe impacts on the Tri-District tournaments, semifinal and championship games may not be held.
“Games 7-10 (semifinals, final and third and fourth-place games) are for seeding purposes, so we wouldn’t have to play those games if the tournament is condensed,” Droog said.
State swim meet
The Class 1A/2A West Central District 3 Swim and Dive Championships were canceled Thursday. The event will not be made up and athletes will be seeded to state based on psych sheet rankings. Wildcard spots are still to be determined.
Colbrese said state swimming and diving, which is set to begin Friday at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, could also be impacted depending on how long the snowstorm lasts.
Gymnastics
Port Angeles and Sequim gymnasts saw their Subregional competition in DuPont canceled Thursday. That event will not be made up.
Gymnasts are set to compete in the WCD3 Class 2A/3A Championships at Kent-Meridian High School in Kent on Saturday.
