Wolf boys clinch playoff berth, girls close

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Wolf boys clinch playoff berth, girls close

February 3, 2023 by David Svien

Whatcha gonna do when the Wolves come for you? (Bailey Thule photo)

The round robin decides everything.

While Coupeville High School basketball teams, and their closest rivals, can play up to 20 regular season games, only four of those rumbles dictate playoff participation.

The Northwest 2B/1B League currently houses four 1B schools — Darrington, Orcas Island, Concrete, and Mount Vernon Christian — and three 2B institutions — Coupeville, La Conner, and Friday Harbor.

When the postseason arrives, 2B and 1B split off and go their own ways.

For basketball, all four 1B schools make the playoffs, which began Thursday.

When it comes to 2B hoops, however, you have to be top two to get the call, since there are a lot less 2B schools in the region, making for a smaller postseason tourney.

Those two NWL teams, repping District 1, pair off with District 2’s Auburn Adventist Academy and Northwest Christian (Lacey), at bi-districts Feb. 13-18.

That event, held at Coupeville High School, offers two tickets to state for the boys this year and one for the girls.

D1/2 will get two state berths for the girls next year. Allegedly.

With that in mind, La Conner swept a pair of home games from Friday Harbor on Friday night, which officially clinches three of the four playoff berths.

On the boys’ side, Coupeville and La Conner are in, while Friday Harbor is eliminated after the Wolverines blew a 20-point lead and fell 59-57 to the Braves.

On the girls’ side, La Conner is in after a 65-18 romp, with Coupeville and Friday Harbor still fighting for the other spot.

Seeding is still up for grabs on both sides, however.

Coupeville closes the regular season next week, hosting La Conner Tuesday, Feb. 7, before island-hopping to Friday Harbor Feb. 10.

The Wolf boys clinch the #1 seed with a win in that first game.

Meanwhile, Coupeville’s girls need to sweep both games next week to have a shot at being #1 but need just a victory over Friday Harbor — who they beat 47-27 first time around — to claim the #2 seed.

If there any ties, teams will play a tiebreaker game, at a neutral site, Saturday, Feb. 11.

Where the round-robin sits heading into the final week:

Boys basketball: