The "we're busy with other sports' state tournaments" edition. :)

It’s time again for the area scoring leaders, area top 10 and statewide rankings…

I love playoff time – nearly every game is guaranteed to be competitive, especially the closer to state we get. For those keeping track, 1B starts Wednesday. 4A, 1A and 2B are the following week and 3A and 2A kick off March 5 (20 days!).

No AP state rankings this week, FYI. Apparently not enough people voted to publish one. I did vote, though, and my poll below is basically the same. Including jumping Prairie over Lewis & Clark in 4A. Why? Because I think Ashley Corral and the Falcons are going to win the state title. Call it a woman’s intuition, if you will. But they’re my new 4A No. 1. Also, not a single 3A team moved. Hmm.

For scoring leaders, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time with it in the past week but I have to actually check it to tell you anything (which, really, is that the top three stayed the same: Katie Grad, Sara Halasz, Lindsey Moore). Puyallup’s Tabitha Tomlinson is still fifth while River Ridge’s Courtney Blume dropped down and Tumwater’s Morgan Schwegler jumped up.

Playoffs are into districts (4A and 1A), sub-district (3A) and final weeks (2A) for our locals. Of our top 15 scorers, only Emerald Ridge’s Shannon Byrne’s season is already over. The rest are still chasing playoffs.

This weekend, I’ll only get to one game (Saturday’s Kennedy-Auburn Riverside showdown) because the rest of my weekend will be at state gymnastics. But I anticipate four games/nights next week – time to gear up for the basketball’s final swing. And, with that, I’ll stop yapping. :)

As always, check out scoring leaders and standings behind the jump.

[More:]

Area leading scorers
(Player, school Games played PPG)
1. K. Grad, Auburn Riverside 20 20.6
2. S. Halasz, Lakes 19 20.1
3. L. Moore, Kentwood 21 17.2
4. M. Schwegler, Tumwater 18 17.0
5. T. Tomlinson, Puyallup 21 16.4
6. C. Blume, River Ridge 18 16.3
7. S. Samms, Mount Tahoma 22 16.2
8. S. Byrne, Emerald Ridge 20 16.1
9. C. Cooper, Lakes 19 15.3
10. S. Russell, River Ridge 18 15.1
11. K. McDonald, River Ridge 17 14.9
12. N. Payne, Auburn 20 14.7
13. J. Russell, Capital 20 13.8
14. B. Barrington, Federal Way 21 13.5
15. T. Walton, Federal Way 18 13.4

(In relation to my comment about "lots of time with the scorers chart": I’m a stats/computer nerd in my “spare” time, so I’ve been perfecting my scoring leaders Excel sheet the past couple days – I can tell you how many games a girl has played in (vs. her team’s total), her highest single game, her scoring in regular season or playoffs and combined and, if she missed any games, probably the reason. If you’re curious for a look, find me at a game between now and March 8 and ask. As long as it’s not post-game (i.e. deadline), I’m usually happy to chat. ...)

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Records through Wednesday, Feb. 13

Area Top 10
1. Auburn Riverside (1) 17-3
2. Lakes (2) 19-0
3. Bellarmine Prep (4) 20-3
4. Mount Tahoma (3) 18-4
5. Kentwood (5) 17-4
6. Tumwater (9) 16-3
7. Capital (7) 17-3
8. River Ridge (6) 16-3
9. Black Hills (8) 14-5
10. Federal Way (10) 17-4

4A
1. Prairie (2) 17-3
2. Lewis and Clark (1) 20-0
3. Lake Stevens (5) 19-1
4. Jackson (3) 19-1
5. Skyview (4) 18-2
6. Bellarmine Prep (8) 20-3
7. Ballard (7) 18-2
8. Mount Tahoma (10) 18-4
9. Shadle Park (nr) 17-3
10. Kentwood (nr) 17-4

3A
1. Auburn Riverside (1) 17-3
2. Lakes (2) 19-0
3. Issaquah (3) 19-1
4. Kennedy (4) 19-0
5. Meadowdale (5) 17-3
6. Capital (6) 17-3
7. Lakeside (7) 16-4
8. Bellevue (8) 16-4
9. Seattle Prep (9) 17-4
10. Hanford (10) 16-3

2A
1. Anacortes (1) 18-1
2. Pullman (2) 17-1
3. East Valley (Yakima) (3) 15-4
4. Othello (4) 18-2
5. Tumwater (9) 16-3
6. River Ridge (5) 16-3
7. West Valley (Spokane) (6) 14-4
8. Ellensburg (7) 16-4
9. Black Hills (8) 14-5
10. Archbishop Murphy (nr) 16-3

1A
1. Lynden Christian (1) 21-0
2. Freeman (2) 19-1
3. Granger (3) 18-2
4. Connell (4) 15-5
5. Brewster (5) 17-3