PHOTO: The Neah Bay girls basketball team won its third straight state championship, finishing the season with a 24-1 record.
BY OLY ARCHIBALD
SPOKANE — The 2025 high school basketball season ended Saturday, but some teams are still celebrating—especially the small village down the coast known as Neah Bay, Title Town, USA.
The Neah Bay girls’ basketball team won its third straight state championship, defeating Garfield-Palouse 46-36 on Saturday night. The Red Devils have just one senior and will return all five starters from a team that went 24-1.
Peninsula College Athletic Director Rick Ross raised an interesting question on social media: Is this the greatest achievement for any school’s athletic teams in the history of Olympic Peninsula schools?
Let the debate begin. You might not even have to leave Neah Bay to start it. The Neah Bay Red Devils football team played in five state championships over six years, winning four titles.
The Red Devils boys’ basketball team also brought home some hardware, earning a shiny new fifth-place state trophy.
In the 2A tournament, as expected, the Lynden Lions won the girls’ state championship, while the Bremerton Knights won the boys’ title and will lose only two seniors. The Mark Morris Monarchs, who took Sequim to the wire, finished with a sixth-place trophy.
Spring sports are in the air, and the games begin tomorrow. However, starting Wednesday and continuing through the weekend, the weatherman is predicting rain—so we shall see.
In golf action tomorrow, Port Angeles travels to Kingston, and Sequim heads to Bremerton, with tee times set for 3:00 p.m.
In soccer, Port Angeles will kick off against Bremerton at 7:00 p.m.
It’s Final Four week for NWAC basketball, and the third-ranked 24-2 Peninsula Pirates will take on top-ranked, undefeated (31-0) Lane College on Saturday at noon at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
It was a big weekend for former Neah Bay Red Devil and current Peninsula Pirate Ryana Moss. Moss and the Pirates won two NWAC tournament games to advance to the Final Four. Meanwhile, Moss’ former team, coached by her sister Cherish and featuring her younger sisters Cerise and Caylee, secured its third consecutive state title
Back on November 22 at Lane College, the Peninsula Pirates appeared to have pulled off a major upset, but a costly turnover and missed free throws allowed Lane to force overtime, where they held on for an 81-76 victory.
The winner will play on Sunday for the NWAC Championship against the winner of the Walla Walla (25-5) vs. Umpqua (28-2) semifinal game.
Both Pirates games will be broadcast live on KONP Newsradio.
KONP Newsradio also plans to begin broadcasting baseball sometime in mid-April, once the weather becomes more consistent.