Shorecrest Boys play Edmonds-Woodway in Regionals Saturday

Shorecrest team after winning Regionals
Photo by Frank Workman

By Frank Workman

The Shorecrest Scots boys basketball team faces a familiar foe, Edmonds-Woodway, in a familiar setting Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock, at Bothell HS, in the 3A Regionals.

The winner advances to the Tacoma Dome. The loser goes home.

SC comes into the game with a season record of 21-2.

The Warriors tied the Scots for second place in Wesco play this season with identical 10-2 league records. This will be a rematch of a January 19 game the host Scots won, 68-67.

Give a slight edge to the Scots for feeling comfortable on the court at Bothell High, as the Scots won the Bothell Holiday Tournament there, winning all three games handily.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA), stung by mounting criticism over the years of how teams seem to be unfairly seeded for post-season play, has devised a new plan this year, designed to prevent the most attractive matchups from happening in the early rounds of the state tournament. (What could possibly go wrong?)

The plan is called the Rating Percentage Index (RPI), and as is usually the case with brand-new plans, chances are some changes / improvements will be in store for next year.

One of the features of this year's RPI is that District Tournament play is not taken into account.

Had district games been part of the RPI equation, chances are the Scots would have garnered more respect. They won the Northwest District One championship last Friday, defeating Stanwood 55-52.

Stanwood finished the regular season ranked #8. In the District semi-finals, Shorecrest squashed the Squalicum Storm, 70-65. Squalicum (Bellingham) was ranked #11 in the RPI.

Shorecrest finished the regular season ranked #12, in spite of wins over four 4A teams, including #12 Bothell, #17 Skyline, #21 Auburn-Riverside, and #25 Issaquah, teams that went a combined 51-27. The Scots also defeated perennial 3A power O'Dea.

Ed-Way comes into Saturday's regional ranked #15.

The Scots game will be sandwiched around two terrific girls' contests, as Woodinville faces Chiawana from Pasco at 2, while District Champion Lynnwood plays Mt. Spokane at 6.

For full bracket information, click here