REGIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS: Sequim girls, Port Angeles boys to play back-to-back in Mount Vernon

OLYMPIA — The Sequim girls basketball team and the Port Angeles boys basketball team will play their regionals games back-to-back at Mount Vernon High School Friday night.

Five area teams that have qualified for regionals learned their opponents Sunday. On Monday morning, they discovered when and where those games are going to be played.

The Sequim girls (19-4, No. 8 in Ratings Percentage Index), are a No. 13 seed and will play No. 12-seed Lynden (15-6, No. 13 RPI) at 6 p.m. Friday at Mount Vernon High School. The Port Angeles boys (18-5, No. 6 RPI) a No. 7 seed, will follow at 8 p.m., also against Lynden (19-2, No. 1 RPI), a No. 2 seed.

The Port Angeles boys might not have gotten the best draw having to go up against the No. 1 RPI team in the, state, but the Riders are guaranteed a spot in the state, win or lose. If they win, they go straight to the state quarterfinals. If they lose, the Riders have to play an extra game at the state tournament, which begins March 2 at the Yakima SunDome.

Port Angeles finished third in the District 2/3 2A tournament. The district champion, North Kitsap, is seeded No. 1 in the state. Port Angeles split two games against North Kitsap this season with the loss being by only two points. Port Angeles also lost by only one basket to district runner-up White River, which was ranked No. 1 in RPI for much of the season, so the Riders are very much used to tough competition.

The Sequim girls also finished third at the district tournament, but they are not guaranteed a spot at state. The Wolves must win Friday to move on to the SunDome.

The Port Angeles girls team, champions of the District 2/3 2A tournament, will play Hudson’s Bay at Battleground High School outside of Vancouver at noon Saturday. The Roughriders (17-4, No. 6 RPI) are a No. 6 seed and Hudson’s Bay (17-3, No. 3 RPI) is a No. 3 seed. Like the boys, the Roughrider girls are guaranteed a spot at state and are playing for a chance to go straight to the quarterfinals.

Neah Bay

The Neah Bay boys and girls basketball teams are both in the 1B regionals. The girls (11-3, No. 4 RPI) are a No. 3 seed and they play No. 6-seed Mossyrock (13-5, No. 7 RPI) at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. The boys (10-5, No. 16 RPI), a No. 14 seed, will play No. 11- seed Naselle (13-7, No. 14 RPI) at noon Saturday at Mark Morris High School in Longview.

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