Thurston County high school basketball teams participated in WIAA boys and girls district basketball tournaments that began on February 19, 2024, preparing for state. The teams that qualified included boys teams from North Thurston, Olympia, Timberline and Tenino, and girls teams from North Thurston, Timberline and Rainier high schools.
Several of the teams secured automatic bids for the final rounds of the state tournament being held February 28-March 2, 2024. They will play “seeding” games February 23-24 that will qualify for a Wednesday bye with a win. Rainier girls (2B Girls Bracket Spokane Area), North Thurston girls (3A Girls Bracket Tacoma Dome), Tenino boys (1A Boys Bracket Yakima SunDome) and North Thurston boys (3A Boys Bracket Tacoma Dome) all have qualified with top 8 state seeding.
Number 5 Rainier girls (22-3) play #4 Colfax in Spokane at West Valley High School on February 23, at 8 p.m.
Number 8 North Thurston girls team (19-1) also travels to West Valley to play February 24 at 12 p.m. against #1 Mead.
The Tenino boys team (16-6) holding the #8 seed, travels to Davis High School (Yakima) to play #1 undefeated Zillah (24-0) February 23 at 8 p.m.
Number 7 North Thurston boys team (21-5) takes on #2 Eastside Catholic (17-5) in Issaquah High School February 23 at 8 p.m.
For North Thurston, both the girls and boys teams have opportunities to place in the Top Ten when the tournament ends. Girls head coach Jackie Meyer is excited to compete. “We worked hard and are excited to hold the eighth seed going into the state tournament,” Meyer stated. “Traveling will be fun and we are ready to play tougher teams and rise to the challenge.”
North Thurston boys head coach Mike Connor is preparing for a tough game ahead trying to get creative and find ways to get his team prepared with an Eastside Catholic team with a strong front court. “They have probably the biggest front court in the state with their two 6-foot, 10-inch forwards,” Connor noted. “Our defense has been a huge part of our success all year and if we keep that as our focus heading into the state tournament, we believe we can compete with anyone.”
The Timberline girls (20-3) and boys (15-6) teams along with the Olympia boys (18-5) team all have “winner in loser out” State games for the possible chance to get a Wednesday, February 28, 5-12 State Dome seed berth.
Olympia as the #9 team in the 4A boys bracket hosts Redmond at Tumwater High School Saturday, February 24 at 6 p.m. and simply needs to win to play at the Tacoma Dome with a possible Wednesday February 28 evening rematch against Kentwood. The Bears lost an overtime thriller against Kentwood in Federal Way on February 17, (42-51 OT) placing them outside the top eight automatic berths in the 4A Boys Bracket.
Both Timberline teams had defeats on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, ending the season for the boys and girl Blazers. The #13 Timberline girls lost 48-62 against #20 Seattle Prep. The boys team from Timberline, also lost in a close buzzer beater, a 57-58 heartbreaking defeat against Stadium, in Tacoma at Stadium High School.
Here is a listing of other Thurston County high school basketball teams that competed in District basketball games:
1B District 1/2/3 Girls
Pope John Paul lost 27-40 against Grace Academy
2A District 4 Boys/Girls
Tumwater boys lost 51-58 against WF West in a winner-to-state game
Black Hills boys lost 55-47 against RA Long
Tumwater girls lost 31-39 against Mark Morris
Black Hills girls lost 37-47 against Mark Morris in a winner-to-state game
3A District 3 Boys/Girls
Yelm boys lost 69-73 against Evergreen
River Ridge boys lost 50-60 against Lakes
Capital girls lost 38-62 against Mountain View
4A District 3 Girls
Olympia lost 37-65 against Union
