Naselle vs. Adna
7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 11
Pentilla Field, Naselle
Things are about to get a whole lot harder for the Naselle Comets (10-0, ranked second in the state, top seed on western side of the bracket). While Morton/White Pass get LaConner (6-4) and Napavine get Orcas (6-5), Naselle gets perhaps the toughest first round match up ever, facing Adna (9-1). Heck, even Tacoma Baptist gets Valley....
Adna, two seasons removed from winning the state title, is probably the third best team on the west side of the state. They can score points, and just as importantly, they can keep you from scoring points.
In terms of points allowed, the Pirates have the second best D in all of 2B this year, giving up only 63 points this season, an average of just 6.3 ppg. Naselle is third best on D, averaging just 9.1 ppg. The top D in the state belongs to Morton/White Pass, the likely opponent of the winner of this game, who have only given up 14 points all year. Yeah, 14, all year. But we can talk more about them later.
But the Pirates are not all defense. They are averaging 36.7 ppg on offense, and save for a 10-0 loss to the afore mentioned Morton/White Pass, they haven't played a close game all year. Their smallest margin of victory was a 39-14 win over Wahkiakum. The Pirates tied with MWP and Napavine for the Central League title, and are playing the Comets simply because they lost a coin flip. Naselle could have just as easily been facing either of the other two teams. And if the Comets are able to make it the state finals they will likely have to beat all three teams from the Central to get there.
But here's perhaps the key point going into this week's match up — the Pirates are also the team that ended Naselle's season last year, with a shutout in the district crossover game.
So what's different this year?
Well, for starters, the Comets seem to have fully realized their potential, especially on offense. Last year the Comets scored only 224 points. This year they led the state 2B's with 489 points in 10 games. Last years D was essentially equal, giving up just 110 points, this year they've allowed only 91, though as we've mentioned before about half of those can't be assigned to the varsity D.
For the Comets, having only a 9 point lead going into half time last week was a foreign thing. The Comets had a 40 point lead or better by half time the previous five games. But in the end it was just another blowout win for the Comets. Wahkiakum was probably the best team they've faced so far, but the Comets still pulled away to win by 31 points, which is their second closest game all year — they beat Raymond by only 28. And for a group of players who hadn't played a minute in the fourth quarter all year prior to last week, the Comets outplayed the Mules to the tune of 22-6 in the second half.
That being said, the locker room was fairly quiet at the break, and the celebration after winning the K-M Trophy was pretty subdued. Reflective, but not demonstrative.
And maybe that's a good thing. This team may lack the verbose enthusiasm of say the 2008 team that played in the semis, but what they have instead is a much more defined sense of purpose. Very business-like in a way. They don't get too high, but they never get low, seemingly at all. They expect to win, but not in a cocky way. They seem to believe in what they can do and expect that it will get them the results they are after, and so far, so good.
• Valley vs. Tacoma Baptist, Friday, 7pm, @ Curtis High School, Tacoma
The fourth seed from District IV, the Valley Vikings, travel to a house of horrors for Comets fans — Curtis High School, where Tacoma Baptist destroyed the Comets in the first round of the 2009 playoffs. We all know about Valley, they are essentially the Neumeyer show. The Crusaders won their league with a 8-2 record and average 28.6 ppg while giving up 15.7 ppg.
• Napavine vs. Orcas, Saturday, 5 pm, @ Napavine
Orcas (6-5) placed third in their league, and gave up just about as many points as they scored this year. They win big, or they lose big, averaging 26.5 ppg, while giving up 23.4. They may have a hard time keeping up with the Tigers, who were the third highest scoring team in the state, at 34 ppg.
• Morton/White Pass vs LaConner, Saturday, 2 p.m., Everett Memorial Stadium
You can be sure that if the Comets win Friday night there will be a caravan of Naselle folks driving up to this game the next day. The winner of this game will play the winner of the NHS-Adna game. Not that this is going to be much of a game — as mentioned previously, MWP has given up only 14 points all year, in a 14-7 loss to Napavine. LaConner? They went 6-4 in a pretty soft league, giving up 200 more points than MWP.
Here's a little state tournament factoid for ya. A District IV team has played for the championship each of the last four years, with three teams winning — South Bend, Adna and Napavine — and one team — Toutle Lake — losing in the final. Prior to that run it was six years since the last District IV team appeared in the championship game, that being Valley, who won it all in 2001.
PREGAME FESTIVITIES
Come join the good folks at Naselle for an old-fashioned tailgate and pep rally prior to the game Friday. Tailgate party should start around 3:30, with the pep rally getting underway around 4:45.
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