Coupeville Sports

Want to see Cole “Cash Money” White and Co. play at state? Put away that … cash. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Let the fleecing begin.

With the state basketball tourney upon us, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and its chums are here to strip your wallet dry.

But only your digital wallet.

Plan on heading to Arlington High School this Saturday to watch the Coupeville boys clash with Tonasket in a loser-out game, with the victor heading off to Spokane for the remainder of the 2B tourney?

You’re going to pay more for the pleasure of sitting on old-school gym bleachers, and you’re not going to use cash.

Why? The better to charge you handling fees, my dear.

The only way to snag a ticket is to use GoFan’s digital service, where you’ll pay $13.00 (plus fees), or a sorta-modest $10.00 if you’re military, a student, or a senior citizen.

To do so, pop over here:

https://gofan.co/event/1414313?schoolId=WIAA

Now, to be fair, your ticket applies to all games played at the site Saturday.

So, along with Coupeville and Tonasket at 4:00 PM, you can catch two other boys’ hoops clashes.

3A Arlington plays at 6:00 on its own court, against the winner of a play-in game between Kelso and Marysville-Getchell.

Then, an 8:00(ish) tip features 1B boys Tulalip Heritage and either Mount Vernon Christian or Columbia Adventist.

And yes, you read that correctly.

Arlington, like Lynden and Grandview and a few others, gets to open the state tourney on its OWN court, as the WIAA scrambles to have enough sites to handle all the games.

What is that you say? Coupeville should apply to host a slate of state regional games?

Thus raising the possibility Brad Sherman and Megan Smith, if they get their teams ranked high enough, could play state games a mile from my house?

Or, at the very least, giving CHS a chance to rake in some sweet, sweet postseason cash — with Andreas Wurzrainer and associates also running a food truck in the parking lot??

You know who would LOVE a trip to Whidbey Island to see Cow Town and get a special off-season visit to Kapaw’s Iskreme?

Portland Trailblazer legend and man of the people Brandon Roy and his Garfield boys’ basketball dynasty, that’s who.

Just sayin’.