Regular seasons have come and gone, district tournaments were contested and completed and, now, there’s just one Plateau team left standing.
The White River High volleyball team is headed to the Class 3A state championships, which will be played out over the course of two days at the Yakima Valley SunDome. The Nov. 21-22 tournament begins with a field of 20 teams.
White River is seeded No. 13 into the tourney and begins play in one of the earliest matches, taking the court at 8 a.m. Friday against No. 20 University High (Spokane Valley). The opener is a loser-out contest with the winner scheduled to play that afternoon against No. 4 Prairie High from the Vancouver area.
Both teams in the afternoon match are guaranteed a second contest on Friday.
Here’s a look at how both White River and Enumclaw fared at last week’s district tournament.
White River: The White River High girls punched their ticket to the state tournament after splitting a pair of matches during the Nov. 14-15 District 3 tourney.
Playing on Day 1 against the host Silas High Rams, White River won in three straight games (25-16, 25-23, 25-20). Beginning tourney play as the overall No. 2 seed, the victory over Silas guaranteed the Hornets a spot at state.
Taking the court at noon on Day 2, White River faced the Lakes Lancers in a semifinal match. The Hornets dropped a 3-0 decision to share third-place honors in the district tournament while Lakes advanced to play No. 1 North Thurston for the district championship.
Also advancing to state were Central Kitsap, Timberline and Gig Harbor.
Enumclaw: The Enumclaw High girls saw their volleyball season come to an end after dropping a pair of matches during the District 3 tournament.
Nov. 14 had the EHS squad squaring off against Silas High in the Rams’ home gymnasium. The Hornets made life difficult for the host team, but Silas pulled ahead with 25-19 and 25-18 victories. Enumclaw bounced back to win the third game 25-20 but dropped the finale 25-15.
That pushed the No. 7-seeded Hornets into a Saturday morning, loser-out match against the No. 5 Timberline Blazers. Returning to Silas High, Enumclaw fell 3-0 and was eliminated.
FOOTBALL
A stellar season came to a close for both White River and Enumclaw High who dropped identical 28-7 decisions during the first round of the 16-team Class 3A state tournament.
Both teams played their season finale the afternoon of Nov. 15.
The first-round exit followed a season which saw White River post an undefeated 8-0 mark in North Puget Sound League 3A play, win a league championship and eventually push its record to 10-0, something that hadn’t happened on the Buckley campus since 2004.
For Enumclaw, this year produced another season of success under the guidance of coach Mark Gunderson and his staff. The team finished second in the NPSL 3A standings with a 7-1 record, went 9-2 overall and made a state tournament appearance for the fifth season in a row.
White River: Making their first state tournament appearance since 2013, the Hornets were treated to a long drive north to face Sedro-Woolley. The Cubs hosted the game by virtue of their No. 8 seeding into the tourney; White River landed at No. 9.
The Hornets cracked the scoreboard on their first offensive possession when Blake Bargelt maneuvered through the middle of the line for at 8-yard TD run.
From that point the scoring was all done by the Cubs, who now have the unenviable task of taking the field against No. 1 O’Dea.
White River wasn’t without opportunities but couldn’t turn those into points. His squad suffered from some “self-inflicted wounds,” coach Wyatt Evenson reported, “and they (the Cubs) did a great job of capitalizing on every single one of our mistakes.”
Enumclaw: In a repeat of last year’s state bracket, the Hornets opened tournament play with a trip to play Kennewick High at Lampson Stadium, the Lions’ home turf. And, just like a season ago, Enumclaw fell short in the state opener.
After trailing 14-0 at halftime, the Hornets posted their only touchdown midway through the third quarter. Starting near midfield, Hunter Brown broke loose for a long run that ended when he was chased down at the 3-yard line. From there, Paxton Patterson crashed in for the score.
Brodix John tacked on the extra-point kick to close out Enumclaw’s scoring for the season. The host team put a touchdown on the board later in the period and added another in the game’s final minutes.
GIRLS SOCCER
Both swarms of Plateau Hornets – those from White River and Enumclaw high schools – had their successful seasons come to an end during Round 2 of the Class 3A state tournament.
The early exit couldn’t erase the fact that both schools showed themselves to be the cream of the North Puget Sound League 3A crop. In their second season at the 3A level both teams stood head and shoulders above the rest of the nine-team league. White River finished the league season with a 15-1-0 record and Enumclaw was a step behind at 12-2-2. Third-place Decatur trailed at 9-5-2.
Both teams advanced from District 3 play as one of the top six squads but stumbled in the state tourney where the level of competition is ramped up. Here’s how the state action went for Hornets from both sides of the river.
Enumclaw: The Hornets’ first dip into the state tournament pool came Nov. 12 on the familiar turf of the Enumclaw Expo Center.
The EHS girls made the most of the home-field advantage, defeating their visitors from Prairie High 3-1. The Hornets advanced while the Vancouver team’s season came to an end.
Enumclaw immediately put the Falcons on their heels, scoring in the game’s first minute when Rylee DeVol found the net courtesy of a Bristal Markus assist. That slim lead held up until midway through the second half when the Vancouver team tied the contest. The Hornets’ game-winner came on a penalty kick at 75 minutes by Sutton Kelsey and the contest was put on ice in the final moments when Teagin Clark scored off an assist by Evelyn Walker.
The Hornets had opened tournament play sitting at No. 13 in the state’s 3A ranks according to the RPI formula used by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and carrying a No. 13 seed into the state tourney. Prairie High of the Greater St. Helens League had a No. 40 RPI ranking and was seeded No. 20 into the 20-team tournament.
With a victory under their belts, the EHS squad was next paired against the No. 4 seed from Eastside Catholic. Making things tougher, the Hornets had to travel Nov. 14 to play on the Crusaders’ home turf in Sammamish.
Enumclaw was blanked 3-0, bringing the season to a close.
White River: The White River squad was seeded No. 8 into the state Class 3A tournament and was rewarded with a first-round bye.
On the evening of Nov. 14 the Hornets made their state debut, taking on No. 9 Liberty High of Renton in a loser-out contest. Things didn’t go as White River had hoped as the Patriots, who placed sixth during the KingCo League’s regular season, emerged on the successful end of a 3-2 score.
The state contest saw both teams traveling to a neutral site, Roy Anderson Field in Purdy.
The defeat brought White River’s season to an end.
GIRLS SWIM & DIVE
Eight Plateau prep swimmers – four from Enumclaw High and an equal number from White River – were on hand Nov. 14-15 for the all-classification state meet.
The state festivities took place, as usual, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. The local entries were part of the Class 3A field.
White River: Haley Weisheyer swam in four events at state. She advanced to the finals in the 50-yard freestyle, placing 15th, and, in the 100-yard freestyle, wound up 21st in Fridays preliminaries.
She joined teammates Emma Hines, Grace Bergin and Peyton Wall for two relay events. The foursome placed 19th in Friday’s preliminary rounds of the 200-yard medley relay and 20th in the 200-yard freestyle relay prelims.
Enumclaw: Alexandra Levesh qualified individually for both the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke. In the 100 fly she placed 11th in Friday’s preliminaries, advanced to Saturday’s finals and took 12th-place honors. In the backstroke she was 16th in prelims and earned a spot in the finals where she again placed 16th.
She joined EHS teammates Addisyn Sawyer, Molly Michael and Audrie Roddy for the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet placed 16th in prelims and advanced to the finals where they finished 15th.
PHOTOs BY KEVIN HANSON White River junior Jordyn Kaelin goes high for a kill during the Hornets’ district tourney victory over the Silas Rams.
PHOTO BY KEVIN HANSON EHS forward Sutton Kelsey races past a Prairie High defender during the Hornets’ November 12, home-field victory.
PHOTO BY KEVIN HANSON EHS forward Sutton Kelsey races past a Prairie High defender during the Hornets’ November 12, home-field victory. Enumclaw senior Clare Largent, one of the Hornet team captains, controls a loose ball during the team’s state tournament opener at the Expo Center.
