In November, high school athletic teams are either advancing forward or have seen their season come to an end.
Thurston County was the sight for district playoff matchups, tournaments and meets alike on Saturday, an occurrence that will continue next weekend.
Black Hills High School was the sight for the 2A District III volleyball tournament, an eight team bracket that began play on Thursday prior to the weekend elimination rounds. Of the three teams that qualified from the tournament, two are Thurston County Schools, as Tumwater and Capital High School advanced to next weekend’s 2A State Tournament with third and first place finishes respectively Saturday evening. Tumwater fell 3-2 to Ridgefield High School in the district semi-finals before sweeping both R.A. Long and Centralia 3-0 to earn third place. Capital tripped up Centralia in their semi-final match 3-1 and would defeat Ridgefield by the same score to claim a victory in the district championship match. The 2A State Tournament will be held at Pierce College in Tacoma from Friday, Nov. 15 through Saturday, Nov. 16.
On the gridiron, the 3A Narrows League Champion Timberline Blazers hosted Meadowdale High School of Lynwood in a District IV playoff affair to determine who would advance to the first round of the 3A state playoffs next weekend. Despite a valiant come-back effort after falling behind 14-0 in the first half, the Blazers were unable to overcome the Mavericks, falling 28-21 to end their season. Timberline finishes the season 6-4, an impressive feat given the Blazers 1-3 start to the year.
After two hotly contested games during the regular season, 1A Evergreen League rivals Rochester and Elma High School met at Tumwater District Stadium Saturday afternoon in the District IV championship game. Unlike the two previous match-ups, both 2-1 Rochester victories, the Eagles were the one goal victors Saturday, defeating the Warriors 3-2 to claim the District title. Both teams advance to the 1A state tournament, where Elma will face-off against Meridian High School and Rochester against Eatonville. The date, time and location of those two match-ups has yet to be determined.
The state’s best 3A and 4A volleyball teams will converge in Lacey next weekend for the WIAA State Championships at Saint Martin’s University. The tournament will begin on Friday, Nov. 15 and will run through Saturday, Nov. 16.
