Kitsap boys and girls basketball teams enter the homestretch

Buckle up, folks. We could be in for a wild finish to the regular season in both boys and girls basketball.

With only a week remaining, the boys 1A Olympic League and the boys and girls 2A Olympic League has yet to crown a champion, and as many as eight teams in the Kitsap Daily News coverage area could advance to the postseason with three contending for league titles.

All eyes will be on the North Kitsap boys and girls teams Tuesday night, as each team squares off with Port Angeles. The girls play at home in Poulsbo and the boys take the trip up to the Olympic Peninsula.

The Lady Vikings have the easiest path to an Olympic League championship — North Kitsap (10-0, 15-3) currently holds a one-game advantage in the standings over Port Angeles (9-1, 15-3), so all they have to do is win in front of their home crowd. North Kitsap won the first meeting between these two teams, 48-41, without starting guards Lauren Weins and Olivia Selembo. But the Riders will be far from an easy out. Port Angeles comes into this game riding a nine-game winning streak.

It’s a little more complicated for the boys team. Having lost to Olympic on Jan. 12, North Kitsap (9-1, 15-4) and Port Angeles (9-1, 13-5) currently sport identical league records. The Vikings not only have to beat the Roughriders on the road, but have to travel to Sequim two nights later an defeat an aggressive Wolves team that hung around in their first matchup in order to secure the title.

The Olympic girls (6-4, 8-10), by virtue of their huge Jan. 26 victory over Sequim are guaranteed a playoff spot. Its next task to is lock down the No. 3 seed out of the Olympic League for the district tournament. They can take care of that with wins over Bremerton and Port Angeles this week. Likewise, Kingston (5-5, 11-7) needs to win only one of its final two games against North Mason and Bremerton to clinch the final spot, but would like to see Olympic falter in order to move up and secure a better first round matchup.

Down in Port Orchard, the South Kitsap (4-10, 5-13) girls are still alive, but in all likelihood will need to win both of its remaining games. Emerald Ridge (5-9, 7-11) currently has a one-game advantage for the sixth and final playoff spot out of the 4A South Puget Sound League and has a home game against last place Graham-Kapowsin (0-14, 2-16) on Jan. 30, the same night South Kitsap plays third place Rogers (10-4, 12-7). A win against the Rams and another on Thursday against eighth place Puyallup could be enough as Emerald Ridge has to close their schedule at first place Bellarmine Prep (14-0, 15-3). It won’t be easy, though. South Kitsap lost to Rogers 64-38 the first time around on Jan. 3.

The Central Kitsap boys (6-6, 10-8) have clinched a spot in the 3A district tournament, but could still move up one more spot to fourth place. The Cougars face Peninsula (7-5, 11-7) at home on Tuesday and are coming off a big South Sound Conference win over Capital. If Central Kitsap wins, a tie for fourth is a distinct possibility as neither would be favored over their respective opponents in their final games, Timberline and North Thurston.

Assuming the Olympic boys (8-2, 14-4) get by Bremerton on Tuesday night, there could be a winner-take-all scenario on Feb. 1 when it welcomes Port Angeles for the regular season finale. If North Kitsap beats Port Angeles on Tuesday, the Trojans and the Riders would play for second place, unless the Vikings lose to Sequim, in which case, an Olympic win would mean a three-way tie for first place and some kind of playoff would have to take place before the district tournament.

In the 1A Olympic League, the Klahowya boys team (6-1, 10-8) has the chance to win its first-ever league title. The Eagles must first take care of business against Coupeville (3-4, 5-12) on Feb. 1. If they do, a win over Port Townsend on Feb. 3 puts the first boys basketball banner in the rafters at the Silverdale school.

Here is the full schedule of games upcoming this week:

Boys

Jan. 30

Kingston at North Mason, 7 p.m.

Bremerton at Olympic, 7 p.m.

Peninsula at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.

South Kitsap at Rogers, 7 p.m.

North Kitsap at Port Angeles, 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 1

Klahowya at Coupeville, 5:15 p.m.

Port Angeles at Olympic, 7 p.m.

Bremerton at Kingston, 7 p.m.

North Kitsap at Sequim, 7 p.m.

Central Kitsap at Timberline, 7 p.m.

Puyallup at South Kitsap, 7 p.m.

Feb. 3

Port Townsend at Klahowya, 7 p.m.

Girls

Jan. 30

Port Angeles at North Kitsap, 7 p.m.

North Mason at Kingston, 7 p.m.

Olympic at Bremerton, 7 p.m.

Central Kitsap at Peninsula, 7 p.m.

Rogers at South Kitsap, 7 p.m.

Feb. 1

Coupeville at Klahowya, 3:45 p.m.

Sequim at North Kitsap, 7 p.m.

Kingston at Bremerton, 7 p.m.

Timberline at Central Kitsap, 7 p.m.

South Kitsap at Puyallup, 7 p.m.

Olympic at Port Angeles, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 3

Klahowya at Port Townsend, 7:15 p.m.

— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com.