When Mount Rainier and Bothell met in a boys consolation game Friday morning, both wished they were meeting later in the day in the semifinals.
Next year, they might.
Both squads are led by talented underclassmen.
For Bothell, guards Zach LaVine, a 6-foot-3 junior with scholarship offers from a handful of Pac-12 schools, and Perrion Callandret, an athletic sophomore averaging 17 points per game, can return.
Mount Rainier’s two leading scorers can come back, too.
Guard Adrian Davis, an explosive 6-foot sophomore, and guard Caden Rowland, a 6-foot-4 junior sharpshooter, will anchor the Rams
On Friday, Mount Rainier got the best of Bothell, defeating the Cougars 83-74. Rowland was impressed with Bothell and looks forward to a possible meeting in 2013.
“They’re a great team, we’re a great team,” Rowland said of Bothell. “Maybe we’ll play in the state championship next year.”
NO FINALS ON TV
For the first time in decades, the big-school state championship games will not be televised.
Instead, the finals for all classifications will be webcast at wiaanetwork.com.
Root Sports, which has televised the title games in recent years, could not reach an agreement with PlayOn Sports to broadcast the finals. Root offered to air the games for free but refused to pay the rights fee requested by PlayOn Sports, which purchased the broadcast and webcast rights from the WIAA last year.
Neither side would reveal the cost of the rights fee.
While the 4A and 3A boys and girls title games can be seen only in person or on the Web, the 2B and 1B games will be televised by SWX, a sports and weather cable channel in Eastern Washington.
COACHES TO MEET WITH WIAA
A small group of high school basketball coaches from around the state will meet next week with WIAA officials to deliver thoughts on the new state tournament format, said Nalin Sood, president of Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association and Mountlake Terrace head coach.
Doug Pacey: 253-597-8271 doug.pacey@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/preps Twitter: @DougPaceyTNT
Staff writer Don Ruiz contributed to this report.
