Recaps, highlights from quarterfinals at 4A and 3A state boys basketball tournaments
Between the Class 4A and 3A boys state tournaments, 30 high school basketball games will be played in the Tacoma Dome this weekend. The News Tribune will be at all of them, providing game recaps, highlights, interviews, stats and more.
Follow along for live updates from Thursday’s quarterfinals.
CLASS 3A
Quarterfinals
No. 11 Edmonds-Woodway vs. No. 5 Bellarmine Prep, 9 a.m.
No. 2 O’Dea vs. No. 1 Rainier Beach, 10:30 a.m.
No. 4 Eastside Catholic vs. No. 3 Mount Spokane, 12:15 p.m.
No. 8 Bellevue vs. No. 7 Lincoln, 2 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Quarterfinals
No. 6 Puyallup vs. No. 5 Gonzaga Prep, 3:45 p.m.
No. 7 Emerald Ridge vs. No. 1 Mount Si, 5:30 p.m.
No. 4 Glacier Peak vs. No. 3 Lake Washington, 7:15 p.m.
No. 8 West Valley vs. No. 2 Richland, 9 p.m.
CLASS 4A
No. 2 Richland 76, No. 8 West Valley 62
Landen Northrop fell to the floor and screamed to the heavens. A tough, hard-earned and-one put Richland ahead by double-digits in the final minutes of Thursday’s 4A quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome, all but slamming the door on West Valley. The star guard knew it.
“I think that was a game-changer,” Northrop told The News Tribune, moments after sharing high-fives with Richland’s student section and celebrating with fans. “It turned the tide because they were starting to go on a little bit of a run.
“Getting that putback and-one, it deflated them and pumped us up.”
When in doubt, put the ball in the hands of Thursday’s best player — better yet, the program’s all-time leading scorer. That’s exactly what Richland did.
Northrop erupted for a game-high 33 points and the No. 2 Bombers handled West Valley, 76-62, to punch their tickets to Friday’s 4A semifinals.
26 down, two to go: Can Richland cap an undefeated season with the championship trophy on Saturday night? They’re certainly in the driver’s seat after Emerald Ridge knocked off top-seed Mount Si earlier Thursday at the Tacoma Dome.
“We saw,” Northrop said, “but we’ve got to worry about the next game. We’ll worry about whoever we’re playing in the championship when we get there. But for now, we’ve got to worry (about) Lake Washington.”
Northrop finished with 33 points, seven rebounds, and two assists on a lightning-quick offense with efficient shooters. Richland guard Lance Horntvedt dropped 20 points, Jackson Woodard had 10, and Josiah Scacco added eight.
“Nobody else in the state does it like us,” Northrop said. “We play so free. Our coaches let us play free.”
No. 3 Lake Washington 49, No. 4 Glacier Peak 46
Hunter Phipps couldn’t believe he was open. Tied at 41 in the closing moments of Thursday night’s 4A quarterfinals, Lake Washington’s senior guard slipped away from defenders and crept into the left wing. It’s easy to guess what happened next.
“I was just kind of hiding in the corner,” Phipps told The News Tribune. “Omer (Ziklik) saw me, we made eye contact.
“Luckily, I hit the shot.”
Splash. Phipps drilled the go-ahead triple with 80 seconds remaining, lifting Lake Washington over Glacier Peak and into Friday’s 4A semifinals in Tacoma.
It’s a monumental win 14 years in the making. Lake Washington hasn’t appeared in the Tacoma Dome since 2012, reaching the state tournament in Yakima as a 2A program in 2014.
Junior guard Jayden Hunt led the Kangaroos with 16 points, adding four rebounds. Ziklik had 13 points with the game-winning assist and forward Mateo Cummings finished with 10 points and six rebounds, a force on both ends.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Phipps said. “We can play even better than this, so that’s why it’s so fun. We can beat anybody.”
No. 7 Emerald Ridge 67, No. 1 Mount Si 62
Mount Si was the No. 1 seed in the 4A state tournament, but it felt like No. 7 Emerald Ridge wasn’t clued in to that fact. Considering how fast the Jaguars came out of the gate on Thursday, the energy felt as carefree and loose as a January game in South Hill.
Emerald Ridge wasn’t afraid or intimated by the number next to Mount Si’s name. The Jaguars started fast, leading 36-31 at half and controlling the action for most of the game. When Mount Si finally rallied in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late.
Emerald Ridge hung to win, 67-62, stunning the top-seeded Wildcats.
“It’s a huge win,” said guard Jordan Bennett, who scored 15 points. “Nobody believed in us coming into this and we just knocked off the No. 1 seed. That shows how much we’ve built as a program and built as a team.”
The fast start was key, according to Jaguars coach Pat Mullen.
“We wanted to make sure that we were the first ones — we didn’t want to react to them, we wanted to make sure we were the ones making them react to us,” Mullen said. “We didn’t want to play on our heels, we wanted to make sure we were playing downhill. Our guys did a good job of that.”
Emerald Ridge 6-foot-7 forward Jamaize McGriff, the team’s heartbeat, went to the bench early in the second quarter after picking up his second foul, but Emerald Ridge never skipped a beat.
“Next man up, basically,” Bennett said. “We know we can’t play the whole season. Maybe an injury happens. So we know we can’t play that game, just next man up.”
Bouncy Mount Si forward Latt Ford had his moments and scored 23 points, but Emerald Ridge’s guards kept pace. Bennett scored 15, Ellis Mosley scored a team-high 19, Mychal Turner scored 13 and Darius Alexander scored seven. McGriff added nine.
Even before Thursday’s game tipped off, Emerald Ridge had already made history. Wednesday’s win over Redmond was the first state tournament win for the program. Now, new heights, again.
An entirely different challenge awaits: Defensive-minded No. 5 Gonzaga Prep, the defending state champion, which defeated Puyallup in double overtime in the game before Emerald Ridge’s game.
“Probably one of the top three programs in the state in the last 10 years,” Mullen said. “They’re solid, they do things the right way, they make you work for every possession. So it’s another great challenge for us. We’ve just gotta get ourselves down to earth and come out the way we play.”
Emerald Ridge faces Gonzaga Prep at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday in the semifinals at the Tacoma Dome.
No. 5 Gonzaga Prep 48, No. 6 Puyallup 47 (2OT)
Dylynn Groves weighed his options as the clock ticked down in the final seconds of double overtime. No shot clock. No timeouts. Gonzaga Prep trailed by one, and needed a hero.
The senior forward rolled right, zipped past Puyallup wing Mason Sonntag, and rose to challenge 6-foot-7 wing Will Nasinec at the rim. With his season at stake, Groves powered through contact and delivered the shot of a lifetime — the go-ahead bucket off the glass with 1.8 seconds remaining that sent Gonzaga Prep’s half of the Tacoma Dome into a frenzy.
Puyallup’s halfcourt heave missed wide at the buzzer and Gonzaga Prep prevailed, 48-47, in double overtime of Thursday’s 4A quarterfinal thriller. If the state tournament’s grand stage wasn’t enough, Groves knew this one meant a little more.
It was a rematch of last year’s state championship game, when Brogan Howell’s fadeaway jumper lifted the Bullpups to the 4A title. Groves tore his ACL and missed out on the Tacoma Dome in 2025, but it’s safe to say he’s making the most of it now.
“They wanted to take what we took from them,” Groves told The News Tribune. “We knew that from the beginning. We knew they were going to come out and try to punch us in the mouth. We had to weather the storm.”
Make it two years in a row that Gonzaga Prep shattered Puyallup’s title hopes with their final shot. Can Groves imagine that feeling from the other side?
“It would be heartbreaking,” he said.
Gonzaga Prep controlled most of Thursday’s quarterfinal before Puyallup guard Quamari Costello willed the Vikings back to life in the fourth quarter, knocking down two three-pointers and a pair of clutch free throws that tied the game with 40 seconds remaining in regulation. The sophomore finished with 18 points, four assists, and three triples.
Nasinec had 18 points with six rebounds, and Sonntag added six points and 11 rebounds.
Groves dropped a game-high 19 points, none more important than his game-winner with the clock counting down.
“Coach [Matty McIntyre] put me in a position to win the game,” Groves said. “Obviously, I didn’t get it done in the first overtime. Coach decided to go for the win and trusted me enough to put the ball in my hands. All credit goes out to him.”
CLASS 3A
No. 7 Lincoln 77, No. 8 Bellevue 57
Davion Shareef-Dulaney remembers last year’s 3A quarterfinal at the Hardwood Classic all too well. The star guard’s breakout, freshman season ended with a 73-36 loss to Edmonds-Woodway, souring his first taste of Tacoma Dome action.
That sting fueled him. The Abes brought a chip on their shoulder to this year’s dance and quickly cemented themselves as one of Class 3A’s best, leaving Bellevue College with a statement regional win over No. 2 O’Dea last weekend. The good times have followed them back down Interstate 5, too.
Before Bellevue could blink in Thursday’s state quarterfinals, the Abes raced to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. Shareef-Dulaney scored from all levels, O’Shea Lamar proved lethal from the perimeter, and Lincoln crushed Bellevue, 77-57, to reach Friday’s ‘Final Four’ at the Tacoma Dome.
“It feels good to finally get my get back from last year,” Shareef-Dulaney told The News Tribune. “That was really messed up.
“That last year really amped us. We were talking about that all day, all week.”
Lincoln featured four scorers in double-digits, headlined by Lamar’s game-high 17 points and five triples. That depth is their superpower, possessing the shooters and rim-protecting bigs required for a deep tournament run.
“(Head coach Ryan Rogers) makes us trust each other,” Shareef-Dulaney said. “It just translates to games. Now, everybody’s trusting each other. We’ve got multiple players in double-digits.
“Last year, we weren’t really like this. It was all iso, or me doing my own thing. This year, it’s (O’Shea), not just me.”
Shareef-Dulaney finished with 13 points, four assists, and two rebounds. Guard Jalan Lillie had 16 points and forward Justus Holt added 13.
Bellevue’s Jackson Skaggs led the Wolverines with 15 points.
For some teams, the Tacoma Dome sits hundreds of miles from home — but the Abes are playing basketball in their own backyard.
“This is our home court, basically,” Shareef-Dulaney said with a smile.
Lincoln meets No. 4 Eastside Catholic in Friday’s 3A semifinals at 5:30 p.m.
No. 4 Eastside Catholic 53, No. 3 Mount Spokane 37
When Mount Spokane’s shots wouldn’t fall, Anthony Williams took advantage. Eastside Catholic’s freshman guard caught fire in the first half of Thursday’s 3A quarterfinals, converting 5-of-6 field goal attempts and knocking down three more free throws at the line.
From there? Cruise control. Eastside Catholic’s defense clamped down and suffocated Mount Spokane, 53-37, in a runaway win inside the Tacoma Dome. They’re dancing all the way to 3A’s ‘Final Four.’
“Just staying down, making tough shots, and staying out of foul trouble,” Williams said. “I’ve just got to go out there and stop everybody.”
Nothing came easy for Mount Spokane, which shot a combined 29 percent from the field. Wildcats forwards Jaden Ghoreishi and Tysen Lewis had 10 points apiece — but it was Eastside Catholic’s London Walsh who dropped a game-high 14 points. Williams added 13.
Crusaders big Yabi Aklog’s putback dunk put the finishing touches on Thursday’s win, finishing with seven points and nine rebounds.
Eastside Catholic meets the winner of No. 7 Lincoln and No. 8 Bellevue in Friday’s semifinals at 5:30 p.m.
No. 1 Rainier Beach 85, No. 2 O’Dea 68
The Tacoma Dome’s lower-bowl seating was picked through, the baseline crowded with photographers well before Thursday’s 3A state quarterfinal tipped off between No. 1 Rainier Beach and No. 2 O’Dea. It was all to catch a glimpse of the human highlight reel that is Tyran Stokes, the five-star wing considered the No. 1 high school player in the country.
The undefeated Vikings (22-0) are heavy favorites to claim the 3A state title this weekend, and Stokes is why. The 6-foot-8 senior scores from anywhere, overwhelms defenders with imposing size and makes circus dunks look like a typical day at the office.
It took him a quarter to get going, but Stokes and the Vikings soon provided the spectacle thousands wanted. The nation’s best player casually posted a triple-double (24 PTS, 12 REB, 11 AST) and Rainier Beach surged back from an 11-point deficit to beat Metro-rival O’Dea, 85-68, in Round 5 of their Metro rivalry. No surprises here: The bracket’s juggernaut moves on.
“Some of the guys had jitters,” Rainier Beach head coach Mike Bethea said. “But once we worked through that and started playing with a sense of urgency, I liked our chances.”
Stokes exited briefly in the second quarter with a bloody lip, only to guide Rainier Beach’s second-half rally. He declined to speak with the media after Thursday’s win.
“He has braces, and he kept getting hit in the mouth,” Bethea said. “It cuts his gums and it starts bleeding. That’s what he kept on telling the ref.
“‘I keep getting hit in the mouth. That’s why I’m bleeding. I’m not bleeding for no reason.’”
Rainier Beach’s freshman guard JJ Crawford, the son of three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford, caught fire from the perimeter with 18 points (4-6 3PM) and three assists. Vikings guard Micah Ili-Meneese had 17 points and wing Kam Babbs added 13.
When the Vikings trotted to the locker rooms at halftime with a five-point deficit, what was the message?
“Waking up, lighting that fire in us to go out and beat them,” JJ Crawford said.
Why’d we see a 1-2 seed matchup at the Tacoma Dome this early? O’Dea’s regional loss to No. 7 Lincoln dropped the Fighting Irish directly into Rainier Beach’s path in the 3A bracket. The Vikings won all five rivalry meetings this winter.
Rainier Beach meets No. 5 Bellarmine Prep in Friday’s 3A semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m.
No. 5 Bellarmine Prep 60, No. 11 Edmonds-Woodway 48
Ronnie Wiggins knew that lockdown defense was the key to unlock a trip to the Final Four. Bellarmine Prep swarmed and smothered No. 11 Edmonds-Woodway from start to finish in Thursday’s 3A quarterfinals — and it was Wiggins at the forefront of an all-around clinic.
Bellarmine Prep and Edmonds-Woodway traded eight first-half lead changes, but Wiggins and Co. eventually pulled away. The junior guard delivered a game-high 18 points that lifted Bellarmine Prep, 60-48, over the Warriors and into Friday’s state semis at the Tacoma Dome.
Punch those tickets for the ‘Final Four.’
“It feels amazing,” Wiggins said. “We were here last year. We fell short, but we’re coming back. Coach got us prepared all year. We’ve got some seniority on the team now.”
Bellarmine Prep’s student section brought the energy, too. Hundreds of Wiggins’ classmates made the four-mile trek from campus, nearly filling an entire section at the Tacoma Dome. The Lions noticed.
“It gives us crazy energy, knowing that the whole school’s got your back,” Wiggins said. “That makes us want to win it all. I appreciate them for showing up.”
If their regional win over Eastside Catholic wasn’t enough, let Thursday’s win serve as another reminder: Bobby Moorehead and the Lions are building something special at Bellarmine Prep. The second-year head coach took them to last year’s 3A quarterfinals at the Tacoma Dome, notching a sixth-place finish in the bracket. He’s already one-upped himself in Year 2.
Every practice starts with defense, Wiggins said. It showed Thursday.
“That was the message,” Moorehead said. “That’s the message we’ve been pushing the entire year. We’re a defensive team. We’re going to make silly mistakes. We’re going to shoot some bad shots on offense, but when it comes down to it, we need to get stops.”
Wiggins finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, and two assists, assuming a larger role in the absence of injured guard Kade Price (knee). Frontcourt brothers Ben and Luke Heisel combined for 16 points and 10 rebounds; Birk Johnston added 14 points.
Edmonds-Woodway guard Dennis ‘DJ’ Karl led the Warriors with 17 points and six rebounds.
Bellarmine Prep meets No. 1 Rainier Beach in Friday’s 3A semifinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. in Tacoma.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 12:03 PM.
