Road to Tacoma: Washington high school (WIAA) Class 3A state girls basketball preview

The 2022-23 WIAA basketball season is down to its final week - with 12 remaining Class 3A girls basketball programs expected soon in Tacoma starting Wednesday and running through Saturday.

Here is SBLive’s tournament preview — with players to watch, team favorites, schedules and championship game predictions:

COVERAGE REWIND

Get acquainted with the field through SBLive's coverage from throughout the 2022-23 season.

• Lake Washington's perimeter shooting topples Stanwood at regionals
• Mead holds off Lincoln; Arlington tops Lakeside of Seattle at regionals
• Year after heartbreak, this time Everett is victorious at regionals
• Despite Gia Powell's big regionals game, Garfield beats Meadowdale
• WIAA Class 3A girls regional bracket breakdown
• Final all-classification Top 25 girls rankings
• Final Class 3A girls rankings
• Jenna Villa's big game leads Arlington to District 1 title
• In top-two matchup, Garfield wins Sea-King crown
• GSL champ Mead speeds by Kennewick for District 8 championship
• Lakeside snaps Garfield's 31-game winning streak in Metro play

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE

G1: Lynnwood (17-6) vs. Stanwood (19-5), 9 a.m.
Winner plays Mead (19-3) in Thursday quarterfinals, 9 a.m.

G2: Auburn Mountainview (17-6) vs. Lakeside of Seattle (19-7)
Winner plays Garfield (20-1) in Thursday quarterfinals, 10:30 a.m.

G3: Everett (18-8) vs. Lincoln of Tacoma (19-4), 12:15 p.m.
Winner plays Lake Washington (24-2) in Thursday quarterfinals, 12:15 p.m.

G4: Bonney Lake (19-4) vs. Meadowdale (18-7), 2 p.m.
Winner plays Arlington (21-2) in Thursday quarterfinals, 2 p.m.

State semifinals Friday: 3:45 and 5:30 p.m.

State championship Saturday: 3 p.m.

THE FAVORITE

After defending its Class 3A title last March, Garfield went through a turbulent offseason. Its coach wasn't welcomed back. All-state guard Malia Samuels (USC signee) suffered a season-ending knee injury in the summer. And new coach/Bulldogs alumnus Tre Simmons didn't take until days before the start of the season. And yet, despite the ups and downs - the Bulldogs are playing their best ball heading into the Tacoma Dome. Much of that has to do with the play of junior PG Katie Fiso, the floor leader and Metro League MVP who has held this group together. And while Garfield isn't the smoothest-scoring team in the field, it has three 6-footers in Imbie Jones, Sarah Lessig and Rakiyah Jackson who aggressively pursue second-chance opportunities off rebounds.  

FIELD

Sooner or later, Lake Washington - the state runner-up in 2020 and last March - is going to break through. Balanced and deep Kangaroos do serious damage from the perimeter (eight games with 10 or more made 3-pointers), and F Sydney Hani is a premier inside-outside playmaker. They might see Garfield again. ... Same can be said about Arlington, which impressively ran through deep 3A Wesco undefeated. WSU signee Jenna Villa is a quick-strike scorer who can pile up points in bunches - and the Eagles never back off their pressure. ... Has Metro rival Lakeside of Seattle become Garfield's blind spot? Lions' patient style and prolific duo of Claire O'Connor and Mia Broom netted a blowout win over the Bulldogs - and they played the champions tough against in the league tournament. Potential state quarterfinal matchup looms. ... GSL champion Mead and 3A PCL winner Lincoln of Tacoma can match any team's athletes with talented underclassmen, but can either of them win in the halfcourt? Both still capable of deep runs. ... 3A Wesco runner-up Stanwood does have C Vivienne Berrett to assist in winning the slowdown, methodically-played games, and can certainly has good enough bracket to at least reach the state semifinals. 

12 PLAYERS TO WATCH

C Vivienne Berrett, Stanwood, sr. (19.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg)

G Mia Broom, Lakeside of Seattle, jr. (16.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg)

F Oliviyah Edwards, Lincoln of Tacoma, fr. (15.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.5 blocks)

G Katie Fiso, Garfield, jr.

G Teryn Gardner, Mead, jr. (21.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 4.0 steals)

F Sydney Hani, Lake Washington, sr. (9.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.8 steals)

F Imbie Jones, Garfield, sr.

G Kayla Lorenz, Lynnwood, jr. (18.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 block

G/F Claire O'Connor, Lakeside of Seattle, sr. (21.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg)

G Gia Powell, Meadowdale, jr. (19.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 steals)

F/C Jazmyn Shipp, Bonney Lake, jr. (16.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 4.0 apg)

G/F Jenna Villa, Arlington, sr. (22.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg)

FINAL FOUR PREDICTION

Mead, Garfield, Lake Washington, Arlington

CHAMPIONSHIP PICK

Garfield 62, Lake Washington 60