1A/2A Girls State Tournament Previews

 I didn't see many girls games, but I can give you some matchup perspectives, and a little history along the way. Please read on for information on the 1A and 2A Girls State Basketball Tournaments.

1A Girls State Tournament Preview

#16 King’s Way Christian Knights (16-6) vs #9 Nooksack Valley Pioneers (14-10)

Lynden High School, Saturday, February 28, 200pm

The Knights are making just their third state tournament appearance, and second consecutive.  They lost in the regional round to Wapato in 2025.

The Pioneers are making their sixth straight state tournament appearance, and their 26^th overall.  They were eliminated in the Wednesday, round of 12 last year, by Naches.

To say the Knights roster is young is an understatement.  They have two seniors, two juniors, one sophomore, two freshmen, and four eighth graders.  They start a freshman and two eighth graders.

The Knights have losses to #15 Hoquiam, and twice to #7 Seton Catholic.

The Pioneers are a tough and tested team, finishing in the upper half of the Northwest Conference. 

This is a loser out game, with the winner advancing to the Wednesday, March 4, round of 12.  That game will be at 900pm against the loser between #1 Kings and #8 Lakeside.  That will also be a loser out game. 

#6 Bellevue Christian Vikings (16-6), vs Lynden Christian (21-3)

Lynden High School, Saturday, February 28, 600pm

The Vikings are the defending 1A champions, as they breezed through the 2025 state tournament.  As the #2 seed, they got past Cashmere 42-39 in the regional round, then had wins by 20, 18, and 18 points as they, surprisingly, registered their first state championship.  I say surprisingly, because they faced the Lyncs many times with very good teams, dating back to the 1980’s, and have been a tournament regular in the 2000’s. 

In a roundabout way, the Vikings roster has ties to Whatcom County basketball.  Point guard Kiani Skogstad, a 5-7 senior, is the daughter of Bellevue Christian boys’ basketball coach, Shawn Skogstad.  He played basketball his junior year at Bellingham in 1998.  After that school year, BHS closed for a two-year remodel, and Squalicum opened, where he played and graduated in 1999.  His father, Larry Skogstad, coached at Kings in the 1980’s, then to Ferndale, and a few other schools after that, winning 451 games for his coaching career.  (Of course, all that has nothing to do with this game). 

The Vikings start three players ranging from 5-11 to 6-1 in height, but two of those players are freshmen. 

The Vikings schedule has tested them, as they have played three teams from the Northwest Conference.  They beat Burlington-Edison 69-36 and they edged Sehome, 45-43.  But, against Lynden, they lost 82-37.

The Lyncs will play this game on the next best thing to their home floor.  In last year’s regional game in Mount Vernon, the top seeded Lyncs had to come from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Naches 57-54.  Tyra Dykstra, then a freshman, hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to trigger the come from behind win. 

This is the Lyncs 20^th consecutive tournament appearance, which continues their state record.

The winner between the Vikings and the Lyncs will advance to the state quarterfinals, Thursday, March 5, at 715pm.  The opponent could be #4 Royal, or #5 Annie Wright. 

The loser will play a loser out game on Wednesday, March 4, at 345pm.  They will play the winner between #11 Wapato, and #14 The Bear Creek School. 

The top three seeds in the 1A tournament, Kings, Zillah, and Lynden Christian (which is similar to the ten years previous to last year in the boys 1A tournament) have the makings of championship teams.  If the chalk holds, you will see #3 Lynden Christian against #2 Zillah in a semifinal game.

1A Girls Outlook

I think this is the “chalkiest” of the four SunDome tournaments.  #1 Kings (20-4) pushed Lynden in a five-point loss, and may have the best player in the tournament, 6-1 senior Kaleo Anderson.  #2 Zillah (22-2) has losses only to 2A #2 Prosser and 4A #1 seed A.C. Davis.  And, #3 Lynden Christian, is Lynden Christian.  A Zillah-Lynden Christian semifinal seems inevitable. 

2A Girls State Tournament Preview

#8 Selah Vikings (19-7) vs #1 Lynden Lions (23-0)

Lynden High School, Friday, February 27, 600pm

The Vikings were the third-place team in the CWAC behind Prosser and Ellensburg.  They finished third in their district tournament behind the same two teams.  That sent them to Squalicum for the District 1/5 Crossover game, where they eliminated the Storm, 61-39. 

This is only the Vikings third state tournament appearance, and their first since 1981.  The program has been building recently.  They went from a record of 4-18 in the 2022-23 season, to 16 and 17 wins the following two years.  Last year, they came up one game short of qualifying for state.  Their season ended in the District 5/6 Crossover game to Deer Park.

While the depth of the field has grown this year, the Lynden Lions are still a heavy favorite.  They are in search of their third straight Gold Ball, and enter the tournament with 71 consecutive wins. 

#2 Deer Park and #3 Prosser are definite players, and so is perennial power, Ellensburg, despite their #7 seeding.  Ellensburg is matched up against Deer Park in the regional round. 

#4 Clarkston gave Deer Park one of their two losses on the season, and also has a win over Ellensburg.  The Bantams play #5 Archbishop Murphy in the regional round.  As you can see, this a tournament deep in talented teams.

Lynden will be on their home floor against Selah, who will be making their second straight trip to Whatcom County.  This is not a loser out game.  A win sends the Lions to a quarterfinals on Thursday, March 5, at 1030am.  There’s a good chance that could be against Ellensburg.  The Lions broke the Bulldogs 75 game winning streak in the 2024 championship game.

2A Girls Outlook

While Lynden is the front runner, and favorite for their third straight title, this tournament reminds me of last year’s boys tournament.  There are several quality teams.  They all may be playing for second place, but the field is very deep.  If Lynden is to win out, it will be a grind. 

#2 Deer Park (21-2) won two of three games against league rival, #4 Clarkston (20-3), with their only other loss to Zillah.  #3 Prosser (21-3) took two of three games with #8 Selah (19-7), swept three games from #7 Ellensburg (19-5), but don’t count out the Bulldogs form competing for a trophy.  Lynden broke their long winning streak in the 2024 championship game, and they could get a rematch in the quarterfinals.  #5 Archbishop Murphy (18-5) also has the amazing shooting prowess of 2000+ scoring machine, Brooke Blachly.

~ Ted House