Here are the brackets and first-round pairings for the Class 4A boys and girls state baseketball tournaments.

Boys Bracket
First Round
9 a.m.: Auburn vs. No. 2 Gonzaga Prep
10:30 a.m.: Stanwood vs. No. 1 Federal Way
12:30 p.m.: Davis vs. Decatur
2 p.m.: No. 10 Jackson vs. No. 5 Skyline
4 p.m.: No. 4 Walla Walla vs. No. 6 Lincoln
5:30 p.m.: Wilson vs. Lake Washington
7:30 p.m. Eastlake vs. Lake Stevens
9 …

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Strange occurrences have been happening for years at the WIAA state-tournament draw for basketball.

This one Sunday will be remembered for a while.

It was the path Vashon High opened itself up for when it finished a surprising fifth in the District 1/2/3 tournament, and it was the fate Pirates coach Andy Sears wanted in his own hands.

And it came down to drawing “Kings” or “Vashon” out of a hat for the remaining school to be placed in the top-heavy lower bracket, Sears pulled out his own school’s name.

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The 1A boys basketball state tournament draw just completed. The bottom half of the bracket is stacked with No. 1 Chelan meeting fourth-ranked and defending state champion Vashon at 9 p.m. in the first round. Both teams have Division-I talent in Goats guard Joe Harris, who will play at the University if Virginia, and Pirates center John Gage, who has signed with Stanford.

Here are the first-round pairings for the Class 1A boys basketball state tournament:

9 a.m.: Lakeside vs. No. 2 Granger
10:30 a.m.: No. 7 King’s vs. No. 10 Toledo
12:30 p.m.: Nooksack Valley vs. No. …

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You won’t hear Mark Lovelady complaining this week.

His Life Christian Academy Eagles needed to emerge from a loser-out, winner-to-state game just to get into the Class 2B state basketball championships in Spokane.

And as the last seed out of District 1/2/3, the Eagles will face Davenport High on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in a first-round game.

The Gorillas are led by 6-foot-9 center Morgan Scharff.

“We’ve done actually a pretty good job on defending (big men),” Lovelday said. “We tend to struggle more with guard-oriented teams. Athletically, I think we match up well with them.”

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Here are the 16 boys and girls teams that qualified for the 4A state tournaments.

A reminder, I’ll post the state tournament brackets tomorrow afternoon and will be doing a live chat to talk about the draw and tournaments at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

CLASS 4A

Boys
Auburn, Davis, Decatur, Eastlake, Federal Way, Gonzaga Prep, Jackson, Kentwood, Lake Stevens, Lake Washington, Lincoln, Mead, Skyline, Stanwood, Walla Walla, Wilson

Girls
Auburn Riverside, Bellarmine Prep, Chiawana, Edmonds-Woodway, Federal Way, Garfield, Issaquah, Kentwood, Lake Stevens, Lewis & Clark, Marysville-Pilchuck, Mead, Moses Lake, Newport, Puyallup, Rogers

Updated with all of Friday’s games

After the tournament draws are complete on Sunday — the 2B draw is at 11 a.m., 1A is at 1 .m. and 4A is at 3 p.m. — I’ll be doing a live chat to take your questions on the upcoming state tournaments and the district tournaments for 3A and 2A teams.

Until then, here’s the Road to the Tacoma Dome.

BOYS BASKETBALL

West Central District
Berths: Six
Clinched: Auburn, Decatur, No. 1 Federal Way, No. 5 Kentwood, No. 10 Lincoln, Wilson
Still alive: None (tournament complete)
What’s next: Teams are seeded in this order: Lincoln, Federal Way, Decatur, Kentwood, Auburn and Wilson
Lincoln stunned Federal Way 59-56 in the district final. The Abes trailed 51-30 at the start of the fourth quarter. It was a monumental comeback. Read about it here.

KingCo/Greater St. Helens
Berths: Three
Clinched: Skyline, Eastlake,
Still alive: Skyline, Eastlake and Skyview
What’s next: Skyline beat Lake Washington for the KingCo title on Friday night. Lake Washington will host Skyview on Saturday in a winner-to-state, loser-out game. Eastlake beat GSHL No. 1 Mountain View in a winner-to-state game on Saturday.
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Co-MVPs: Marcel Pounds, Bonney Lake, 12; Brooke Paulson, White River, 11

First Team
Megan McKune, White River, 12
Stephanie Smolinski, Auburn Mountainview, 12
Caitlin Carr, Auburn Mountainview, 10
Erika Olsen, Sumner, 11
Kayla Erickson, Peninsula, 12
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New Puyallup football coach Gary Jeffers knows he is not stepping into just any head coaching position.

“There are high standards at Puyallup,” he said, “from Mike Huard to Tom Ingles and all the other great former coaches.”

Jeffers, who has served as the Vikings defensive coordinator for the last two seasons, said it was that tradition, plus the support from the community that led him to apply for the opening.

“It’s a great community, great school, great young athletes,” the 42-year-old said. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
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