By John Leggett | The Courier-Herald

The second season is here.

That was basically the information first-year Sumner High girls basketball coach Robert Thayer imparted to his troops during a Saturday strategy session to prepare them for the upcoming postseason battle.

While four other South Puget Sound League 3A squads will be pursuing other interests Sumner survived a tough schedule by keeping its head above water while playing in the grueling and competitive South Puget Sound Leauge 3A, which features two of the top 10 girls 3A contingents in the state in White River and Bonney Lake.

The Sumner purple and gold flag bearers finished the regular season at 10-6, losing to the Hornets and the Panthers twice each, and were named the fifth seed out of the SPSL 3A into Friday’s subdistrict tournament at Foster High near Tukwila.

The Lady Sparts face the Seamount’s No. 5 seed Foster Friday at 3:30 p.m. See inset box for playoff schedule.

“We play in a very tough SPSL 3A, but the second season has arrived and once you reach it, you have to believe that anything can happen,” Thayer said. “We are all on a level parquet at 0-0 as this new start gets under way.”

Friday’s play is with the distinct understanding the weaker group in the rendezvous between the fifth seeds is done for the year.