Battle for state seeding begins

"We've played pretty well lately, but with a young team that's relatively inexperienced to postseason play, anything can happen," Sherman coach Ron Townsend said. "I think we're pretty evenly matched with Heppner in size and athleticism, and it should be a pretty good game."

Heppner (17-5) won its first CBC meeting over Sherman 46-33 and lost the second 71-42. The Huskies have won six consecutive games and have not lost since Jan. 22, when they suffered a 42-39 loss to Umatilla.

"We have to shoot the ball well and hit the boards," Heppner coach Mark Dowdy said of his team's keys to a victory over Sherman. "Our kids have no quit in them, and they're not going to back down.

"We're going to leave it all on the court and see what happens."

Unfortunately for Heppner, it will be without point guard Madison Bailey, who's out with an ACL injury. Freshman Megan Orr leads the Mustangs in scoring at 10.7 per game, and Heppner is coming off a 35-33 win Tuesday over Umatilla to earn the CBC No. 3 seed.

"We feel pretty fortunate to be in the No. 3 spot because we get two chances at state," Dowdy said.

The winner of the tournament opener between Sherman and Heppner will face the TigerScots at 7 p.m. Saturday for the district title.

"It all depends on who we play," Weston-McEwen coach Jeff Griggs said of the keys to a district championship. "If we play Sherman, we will have to handle their press, and with Heppner, we need to limit second-chance opportunities."

Due to the fact Weston-McEwen (19-1) won the regular-season title with its only loss to Sherman, the TigerScots can finish no worse than second and have an automatic bid to the state tournament.

"Obviously, winning the district tournament gets you a home game for an opportunity at the final eight," Griggs said. "We've played pretty well at home, so getting that No. 1 would be preferable."

Kayla Johnson and Kayla Paredes have played key roles in the TigerScots' success this season.

"We have played pretty well of late, but we just have to dictate the tempo of the game and play at a level we're capable of playing at," Griggs said.

The winner of the Sherman-Heppner game also gets a state bid, while the loser will meet the winner of Friday's 7 p.m. loser-out game between Umatilla (17-7) and Stanfield (7-14) for the third-place game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. That game will determan the third and final seed for the state tournament.

Umatilla swept the CBC regular season series over Stanfield by margins of seven and three points.