Class 2A district by district – best of the best – Part 3

<!-- wp:heading --> <h2>District 4</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This district should end up being the toughest district to survive and advance. There are several teams that have a chance to make some noise but not all of them will make it all the way to Yakima. Three teams stand out as my favorites to stake claim to a district title and make the run for a state title. Starting with my former coach and his team in what will be his final season. It's hard to believe that his hall of fame career doesn't include a state championship yet. This team will be looking to change that and send him out on top. Something that he deserves in my biased opinion. He will get the best out of his team and put them in a position to be successful. In the end, they will have have to earn it in what is a wide open 2A this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Mark Morris - 14-8 (10-5)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Monarchs return three guards that are among the best in the 2A classification. I think they have the best trio in 2A. That trio is good enough to get a district title, whether or not they emerge as one of the teams in Yakima with a chance to win the big one remains to be seen. There is a team across town that will have a say that. R.A. Long beat Mark Morris three times last year, the closest margin of victory was 12 points. Tumwater also beat the Monarchs in a district semi-final ( 64-52). R.A.Long then took down Tumwater in the district championship game (61-54). Mark Morris was the only one of the three that didn't make it out of the regional bracket, falling to 16 seed Prosser in a heart breaker. Of those three teams, none return three players as talented as the Mark Morris trio when you put them all together in my opinion. They will no doubt be hungry to get another shot this season.They have enough to beat anyone on any given night, so do several other teams throughout class 2A. There is no team that is a clear favorite to run away with it. There are a lot who have a chance. It will come down to who shows up when it counts. This should be a fun year to watch and see who walks away as the champion. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_6347709435885","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1270714"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Seems like he's been getting buckets for MM for years. That's because he has. Last season he led the team in scoring at 18PPG. He is one of the smoothest lefty guards you'll find in the entire state. He excels at both getting himself to the bucket, and knocking down shots from deep. His mid-range game is on point. None of the three guards at MM are lacking in the mid-range game. He can pull up with a quick jumper, but it is his craftiness that stands out to me. He can get a bucket when his team needs one. He's really improved his speed and quickness, turning him into a scoring machine.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["1450497"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"He has the best pull-up jumper in the state of Washington. Prove me wrong. He keeps getting better, and his ball skills are elite. He and Parlin will take turns leading the box score in scoring, along with the next player I will list. He can really handle it too. Add the fact that he already owns the school record for threes in a game with 9 last season and you have a big time threat to score it on all levels. All three of these guys can guard, something that is a staple of coach Bakamus' teams.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["1270616"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"A tough, athletic guard, he is a fierce competitor. He can score on all levels, including rise and fire, elevating over the defense, throwing down dunks on the break, or knocking down threes. He's probably the best overall athlete of the three and will provide toughness and leadership for the Monarchs. This is a tough trio, it might come down to the next who step up and fill the remaining roles. These three can get you a district title, do they have enough for a state title?","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview","anchor":"acf-block-65c58b2765ee7"} /--> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Tumwater 22 - 6 (11-1) 2nd District - 4th state </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third of my top three in no particular order. Tumwater is coming off their best finish in school history, and have their top three scorers back. Led by another 2A player of the year candidate, they are also a solid five deep. Two of them are all state caliber players. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_634777e135888","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1270732"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Arguably the best shooter from the west, but I will do as I did with [player_tooltip player_id='1155898' first='Jaedyn' last='Brown'] on the east and make it known that he is a scorer. He does more than shoot, and he has some of the best intangibles of any player in 2A. He's a competitor, who has gotten noticeably bigger, faster, stronger, and better. He will improve the 18PPG from last year, and seeing 30 plus in the box score is not going to surprise me at all. Great leader, he will look to lead Tumwater to higher than the 4th place of a season ago.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["1416732"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"One of the better athletes you'll find in district 4. He was the second highest scorer for the T-Birds last year at around 12PPG. He is more of a slasher and finisher type player but has a nice touch and can knock down shots. He'll be a very important piece of the puzzle, providing stats across the board with his decent size and athletic ability. I think he's a much better player than he was last year as well.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":2,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview","anchor":"acf-block-65c58b2765f2c"} /--> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>R.A. Long 22 - 5 (15 - 0) 1st District - 5th State</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jacks had the upper hend in head to games between these three teams. As mentioned, beating Mark Morris three times, and Tumwater once in the district championship game (61-54). They return one of the most dynamic scoring guards in the state. They also have some capable shooters who will fill important roles when they get those open looks that I will talk about in the evaluations. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"id":"block_63478a42352de","name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1270613"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"He's Capable of going off and getting 30 any night, and got over 40 in a game last year. He  dropped 56 in a battle of the border summer league game. I don't care what type of game it was, if you have a kid dropping 56, you know he's a special player. That's exactly what he is and he does many things at an elite level. He is an elite shooter, with a great mid range-game, although the best pull up jumper resides across town. This kid, is however the best play-maker in town He's the best scorer in class 2A. He is also on my short list, that is becoming more of a medium list for player of the year. He impacts games more than any other player, being a threat to score every time he touches it. He is unselfish and gets the ball to the right people at the right times. He can pick you apart, and that is what makes him the most dangerous player in this district and maybe the entirety of 2A.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["1587945"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"He saw some meaningful minutes off the bench last year as a sophomore. He is one who will have to step up and provide some help on the perimeter when Holden draws the attention he does. It often won't matter how much attention he draws, although it will in how well he gets his teammates the ball for open looks. That is where Brown and the other shooters can be a huge weapon for this team. When left open, they will be found. This is where he can step up and embrace that role. He can knock down those looks, and is capable of doing more this season with or without the ball in his hands. He plays hard, runs the floor to get easy buckets, and is a good enough athlete to make a difference for this team.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"Jaxon Cook ","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"2023","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"6'8u0022","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"77243","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"R.A. Long ","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_2_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_2_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"He brings the only true size in the town, and that alone should factor into games, in or out of town. He won't need to do much scoring. His presence in the paint with defense, blocked shots, altered shots, and rebounds will be huge. If he can go get offensive rebounds, that would help this team a ton. They have some other shooters who will get looks as well, and if they are knocking them down, Holden is good enough to do the rest. Dangerous team and their player of the year candidate has more to do with that than any  player on their team that I have listed here or on the east side.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"align":"","mode":"preview","anchor":"acf-block-65c58b2765f8e"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OTHER NOTABLE TEAMS IN ORDER </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Woodland</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>W.F. West</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Washougal </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Black Hills</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TOP 4 PLAYERS THAT ALSO DESERVE TO BE MENTIONED </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1439249' first='Beau' last='Swett'] - Woodland , <strong>Holden Bea</strong>,- Washougal, [player_tooltip player_id='1270675' first='Soren' last='Dalan'] - W.F West, <strong>Sam Evers</strong> - Washougal </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->