The road to the Washington high school basketball state tournament: How are teams selected?
With Washington's regional and state high school basketball tournaments right around the corner, we thought it would be helpful to break down how many teams from each district are selected to go to regionals, and how the teams qualify for the state tournament. Here are the key points:
- Each classification for girls and boys gives out 16 regional berths, which are decided by the district tournament performances of the teams. If teams qualify for the regional tournament, then the seeding they receive is based on how they finished in the WIAA RPI.
- Teams that receive a 1-8 seed at the regional tournaments automatically qualify for state. Teams that receive a 9-16 seed at the regional tournament have to play for a spot in the state tournament.
- The 1-8 seeds play each other at regionals, and the winner receives a first-round bye in the state tournament.
- The 9-16 teams play a loser-out game at regionals, and the winner plays the loser of the 1-8 regionals games in the first round of the state tournament.
Here is the breakdown of how many berths each district receives and what leagues are within those districts.
4A Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- Districts 1 and 2 receive 5 berths Leagues: KingCo and WesCo
- Districts 3 and 4 receive 7 berths Leagues: NPSL, SPSL, and GSHL
- District 5 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
- District 6 receives 1 berth Leagues: Big 9
- District 7 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
- District 8 receives 3 berths Leagues: GSL and MCC
- District 9 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
3A Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- District 1 receives 4 berths Leagues: Wesco and Northwest
- District 2 receives 5 berths Leagues: KingCo and Metro
- Districts 3 and 4 receive 5 berths Leagues: PCL, SSC, and GSHL
- Districts 5, 6, and 7 receive 0 berths Leagues: N/A
- District 8 receives 2 berths Leagues: GSL and MCC
- District 9 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
2A Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- Districts 1 and 2 receive 4 berths Leagues: Northwest and KingCo
- District 3 receives 6 berths Leagues: Olympic and SPSL
- District 4 receives 4 berths Leagues: GSHL and Evergreen
- Districts 5, 6, and 7 receive 3 berths Leagues: CWAC and GNL
- Districts 8 and 9 receive 0 berths Leagues: N/A
1A Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- Districts 1 and 2 receive 4 berths Leagues: Northwest, Emerald, and North Sound
- District 3 receives 2 berths Leagues: Olympic and Nisqually
- District 4 receives 3 berths Leagues: Evergreen and Trico
- District 5 receives 4 berths League: SCAC
- District 6 and 7 receive 3 berths Leagues: Caribou Trail and Northeast
- District 8 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
- District 9 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
2B Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- Districts 1, 2, and 3 receive 2 berths Leagues: Northwest and SeaTac
- District 4 receives 6 berths Leagues: Central and Pacific
- Districts 5 and 6 receive 5 berths Leagues: EWAC and Central Washington
- District 7 receives 3 berths Leagues: Northeast
- Districts 8 and 9 receive 0 berths Leagues: N/A
1B Girls and Boys each receive 16 regional berths
- Districts 1, 2 and 3 receive 6 berths Leagues: Northwest, SeaTac, North Olympic, and Independent
- District 4 receives 3 berths Leagues: Coastal and Columbia Valley
- District 5 receives 1 berth League: Greater Columbia Gorge
- District 6 receives 2 berths League: Central Washington 1B
- District 7 receives 3 berths League: Northeast 1B
- District 8 receives 0 berths Leagues: N/A
- District 9 receives 1 berth Leagues: Southeast 1B
