Dominic Coffman (left) and Jonathan Valenzuela could be celebrating again, if our computer overlords are correct. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Make it so.
Our computer overlords have spoken, and they have an early fondness for Coupeville High School boys’ basketball.
Evan Rankings went down to the basement, fired up its seer of seers, Newman, asked the computer to spit out which teams it projects to make the 2023 state tournament fields, and the Wolves made the list.
Now, not a single game has been played, with practice having only just started, something website guru Matt Evans acknowledges.
Plus, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has yet to officially release state allocations for each district, so there could be some movement on how many spots are available in each area.
But worry not about that.
Evans and Newman are “experimenting with an algorithm to see how well the computer can use some data from the previous season along with returning player data to see if it can project success.”
Or, as the human in the room sagely says, “If this works, cool. If not, whatever.”
At any case, we can all come back in late February to see how the projections held up.
Newman’s projected state tourney fields:
2B boys:
District 1 (one projected berth):
Coupeville
District 4 (six projected berths):
Adna
Chief Leschi
Ilwaco
Kalama
Morton/White Pass
Wahkiakum
District 5 (four projected berths):
Cle Elum/Roslyn
Columbia (Burbank)
Tri-Cities Prep
White Swan
District 6 (two projected berths):
Brewster
Lake Roosevelt
District 7 (three projected berths):
Colfax
Davenport
Liberty (Spangle)
2B girls:
District 1 (one projected berth):
La Conner
District 4 (six projected berths):
Adna
Chief Leschi
Onalaska
Rainier
Raymond
Wahkiakum
District 5 (four projected berths):
Granger
Mabton
Tri-Cities Prep
Warden
District 6 (two projected berths):
Lake Roosevelt
Okanogan
District 7 (three projected berths):
Colfax
Liberty (Spangle)
St. George’s
P.S. — On the 1B side of things, Districts 1, 2, and 3 combine in the postseason and are projected to net six state slots for the boys and five for the girls.
Newman likes three of Coupeville’s Northwest 2B/1B League rivals to make the big dance — both Mount Vernon Christian teams and the Orcas Island boys.
To see Newman’s complete projections, pop over to:
ER’s Way-Too-Early 2023 WIAA Prep Basketball Tournament Fields
