Olympic College’s men’s basketball team has clinched a trip to next week’s NWAACC Championships in Kennewick, but the Rangers would like to go in as the No. 2 seed out of the North Division. Bellevue has already clinched the North Division title. Olympic (18-5 overall, 10-4 North)) can finish No. 2 if it wins on the road Wednesday at Seattle CC and at home on Saturday against Skagit Valley, which currently leads the Rangers by a half-game. Fourth-place Whatcom is just a game back of Olympic. The top four advance to the 16-team NWAACC Championships, but a higher seed theoretically is beneficial because you’d play a lower-seeded team from another division in the opening round.
Here’s something to consider, however. If OC is the No. 2 seed, it opens at 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 5. If it’s the No. 3 seed, it opens at 8 a.m. Pick your poison, huh?
Click here for complete NWAACC men’s basketball standings.
OC, which got off to a 15-1 start and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the NWAACC earlier, has lost four of its last seven games. The Rangers will be without guard L.T. Neloms (shoulder) tonight and forward Glenn Perkins (shoulder) is questionable.
The last time OC played in the NWAACC tournament was the 1999-2000 season when a team coached by Barry Janusch, now the Rangers’ athletic director, placed fourth. Casey Reynolds, former North Mason star, was on that club along with James Clark, B.J. Letcher and Sam Moore. That team placed fourth.
Here’s a look at OC’s seasons statistics.
Here’s the current North Division standings:
NWAACC POLL
1. Clackamas 23-2 (80 points, 8 first place ballots)
2. Tacoma 23-2 (64)
3. Bellevue 21-4 (45)
4. Highline 16-7 (37)
5. Yakima Valley 20-5 (34)
6. Spokane 17-5 (23)
7. Mt. Hood 18-5 (14)
8. Olympic 18-4 (13)
