RB Earns No. 1 Seed at State
The Vikings slip into a Round 2 matchup with Bellevue of KingCo
As expected, the District 2 champion Rainier Beach Vikings drew the No. 1 seed in the WIAA state 3A tournament and will begin play in Round 2 on Friday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m., at Bellevue College.
The Vikings’ opponent will be Bellevue, the 8th seed, which also advanced out of District 2.
If Rainier Beach beats the Wolverines, it will advance to a quarterfinals game on Thursday, March 5, at 10:30 a.m.
The Wolverines (21-7) are led by 6-foot-4 senior Jackson Skaggs, 6-3 senior Tauren Jones, and 6-3 senior Nicolas Norrah. Bellevue lost during the district playoffs to O’Dea 64-57 and Eastside Catholic 71-46 — the two teams Rainier Beach beat in the semifinal and final.
O’Dea is the No. 2 seed and will face Lincoln of Tacoma. No. 4 Eastside Catholic will play No. 5 Bellarmine Prep.
The almost-week that Beach earned with its seeding will be welcomed as they were roughed up by Metro League rivals in the district playoffs.
It also will provide more time for freshman JJ Crawford to gain more game-level conditioning.
The top eight seeds are guaranteed at least one game in the Tacoma Dome. The top 12 (below) start play in the second round at times and venues to come.
1. Rainier Beach
2. O’Dea
3. Mt. Spokane
4. Eastside Catholic
5. Bellarmine Prep
6. Prairie
7. Lincoln (Tacoma)
8. Bellevue
9. Auburn Mountainview
10. Shorewood
11. Edmonds-Woodway
12. Liberty