Almira/Coulee-Hartline motivated to return to state championship game | Class 1B boys

Last year, the Almira Coulee Hartline boys basketball team let an 11-point lead slip away in the State 1B championship game.

Throughout this season, that experience has fueled the Warriors, who return to the bracket this year as the No. 2 seed and will open the tournament at 2 p.m. Thursday against either No. 17 Columbia Adventist or No. 8 Wahkiakum.

“All season long, you could tell there was a sense of purpose as to where they want to be and how they want to get it done,” ACH coach Graham Grindy said of his team.

This year’s Warriors (23-1) have been dominant, winning 19 games by 20 points or more. Their only loss came on Jan. 2 to Liberty Bell, the No. 8 seed in the 2B State Tournament.

Like last year, they are led by Max Grindy (a junior) and Nolan Grindy (a freshman). But this team’s contributions run deeper than his sons, Graham Grindy said.

Grindy pointed to senior Josh Booker, who “just does what he does: works hard, gets points and plays great defense.”

There’s also senior Caden Correia, who has stepped into a starting role this year. And there’s junior Tucker Bayless, whose improvement throughout the season was apparent, Grindy said.

The State bracket is populated by some familiar teams. Lummi Nation (24-1-1), last year’s champion, is the No. 1 seed and is on a 22-game winning streak. No. 4 seed DeSales (22-5) returns after reaching the semifinals last year.

Tulalip Heritage (21-6) is the No. 3 seed after being the No. 6 last season. And Neah Bay, which was a semifinalist last year, is in the No. 7 seed facing a Wednesday matchup against No. 10 Sunnyside Christian, a program that has won 10 state championships.

“The fact that most of these teams are back means that they all brought back quite a bit,” Grindy said. “As far as competition goes, it’ll be as good if not better than last year, and last year was pretty good.”