Basin hoopsters participate in state tourney

COLUMBIA BASIN - Over the weekend, five Columbia Basin teams participated in the state basketball tournament. Here’s how they matched up: Warden High School Lady Cougars played all four days of the state tournament after losing their first game of the season in the regional matchup to Liberty (Spangle) 60-62. Warden first played Wahkiakum and won 55-40. The next day, March 3, they then also beat La Conner 61-48. Their third game of the week was against Okanogan where they took victory, 68-48. And finally the Lady Cougars beat Colfax 70-55 in the championship game. Warden brings home the championship trophy with an overall season record of 26-1. They also hold their league and district titles this year. Almira/Coulee-Hartline boys were also automatically seeded to day two and took on Lummi Nation. ACH won 52-44. Next, the Warriors took on Northwest Yeshiva on March 4, also taking victory 52-43. Finally, they played Cusick in the championship round where they Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School boys were automatically seeded to day two of the state tournament, March 3. That day they took on Sunnyside Christian where they lost 36-39. March 4, they beat DeSales 55-41. The victory over DeSales ensured a spot to a game on Saturday, March 5 for the MLCA/CCS team to play for 4th or 6th place against Lummi Nation. They lost, taking 6th. Their overall record was 23-4 this season and they held the league and district titles. Quincy High School boys played their first state game against Blaine on March 2. They won 69-51. They went on to play Lynden Christian on March 3 and lost 44-67. On March 4, Quincy fell to Freeman 82-72, ending their state run without a placing. They were 21-6 this season and snatched the league and district title from Chelan. They also saw two athletes break the 1,000 career points achievement; seniors TreyVaughn Bierlink and Aidan Heikes. Moses Lake High School girls played Emerald Ridge at the Tacoma Dome on March 2. They lost 34-44, ending their run. This season, they had an overall record of 14-10, took second in their league and were district champions.