TACOMA聽鈥 Inevitable.
Incapable of being avoided or evaded.
The Class 4A No. 1 Davis girls basketball team and No. 8 Sumner seem to meet the Meriam-Webster definition.聽
The pair will clash for the sixth time in three tournaments Saturday in the Tacoma Dome when the Pirates and Spartans battle in the state championship game for the second straight season.
"Why not?" Davis coach Akil White exclaimed while watching Sumner close out a semifinal win over No. 6 Lake Washington having secured his own place in the title game earlier Friday with a 57-38 win over No. 11 Kennedy Catholic.
Sumner coach Katie Hyppa, who guided the Spartans to opening-round wins over Davis in 2024 and '25 before Tacoma Dome losses in the third-place and championship games, shared that sentiment.
"The gold ball is our goal, so we knew we were going to see them; we are on a crash course with them," Hyppa said moments after beating Lake Washington.
If anything, Davis broke the pattern this season by beating Sumner in the opening round with what is perhaps the most impressive win in their run to three straight final fours.
With reigning 4A player of the year Cheyenne Hull on the bench in foul trouble reminiscent of 2025's first matchup when Sumner stormed back to beat Davis, the Pirates turned a tight contest into a laugher -- breaking open a tie game with a 14-0 run thanks to a pair of Averie Brandt 3-pointers and five of Isa Garcia's game-high 32 points.聽
"I think there's a couple of adjustments on our end that we can make," Hyppa said. "It starts with playing four quarters. We've played pieces of really good pieces of games against them, and we can't do that, they're too good of a basketball team."
With a lineup featuring three future Division I players, Portland state signee Olivia Collins and juniors Raymiah Jackson and Kawehi Borden聽鈥 who poured in a game-high 28 points their semifinal win, the Spartans certainly has the talent to make Davis sweat.
But speaking after his own semifinal victory but before Sumner's, White felt just reaching the title game released a burden of expectations on his team, and that the Pirates would be able to play free Saturday.
"You'll see it tomorrow. We call it 'The Full Davis Experience.'"
Sumner-Davis state history
2026
Opening round: Davis 73, Sumner 48.
2025
Opening round: Sumner 67, Davis 62
Title game: Davis 61, Sumner 45
2024
Opening round: Sumner 63, Davis 60.
Third-place game: Davis 70, Sumner 67.
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