黑料福利社

Winning a state championship鈥檚 always special, whether it鈥檚 a program鈥檚 first one or part of a dynasty.

Davis girls basketball made history when it lifted the gold ball in 2025, and another even more dominant title run earned them a second straight team of the year award at Wednesday鈥檚 黑料福利社 Sports Awards. Two weeks before the Pirates celebrated at the Tacoma Dome, veteran Granger coach Richard Sanchez solidified his case for coach of the year as the Spartans won the boys team title in 2B and the girls finished as the runner-up despite facing much bigger 1A programs.

A perfect record against Washington competition gave the Pirates a wire-to-wire run atop the 4A rankings, and no opponent got closer than 11 points in five postseason games. That included a 73-48 win over Sumner in the opening round to reverse a home loss the year before, and Davis once again won the rematch, 62-51, in its final game.

State tournament MVP and two-time CBBN MVP Cheyenne Hull led the way, but even without her the other Pirates scored 14 straight points to pull away in the opening round. Adding Kobe Johnson to an already dynamic lineup after she missed the final month of the season due to injury in 2025 made Davis nearly untouchable and it never lost in 17 games with Eastern Washington signee Deets Parrish, who missed the first month of the season following shoulder surgery.

While most of the production for Davis came from a strong junior core featuring Hull, Johnson, Isa Garcia, Averie Brandt and Paige Gasseling, Sanchez relied on a strong group of accomplished seniors. Gabrielle Berger won her second straight state title and Sonia Mendoza captured her first on the girls side, and Flores won his second state title after earning three medals in three years at 3A Lincoln (Tacoma).

Sanchez guided the Spartans to the first girls state title for any sport in school history a year ago

and the future looks bright thanks to freshman Vanessa Torres, who stormed through the 100-pound bracket to end her season with 23 straight wins. Sophomore Dominic Deleon Castaneda also won a state title at 106 pounds to help Granger鈥檚 boys dethrone three-time champion Tonasket by 7.5 points.

Just like Davis won nonleague games against Bellevue and Lake Washington and took on elite competition at Portland鈥檚 Holiday Classic Tournament, Sanchez didn鈥檛 shy away from sending his wrestlers to top westside tournaments. Both teams competed at the HammerHead and Gut Check invitationals, highlighted by a pair of top five finishes for the girls.

Granger鈥檚 boys missed the team podium in 2023 and 2024, then fell out of the top 10 last year and lost to Tonasket by nearly 100 points at the District 5 tournament. Sanchez and the Spartans regrouped a week later to beat the Tigers and everyone else for the program鈥檚 fifth state title, four of them under Sanchez.