The Columbian's AP state basketball ballot

Sometimes when voting for the Associated Press high school basketball polls, I’m not sure what to do.

The ballots are due Wednesday afternoon each week. On Monday, the AP will move a list on how the previous week’s top 10 teams fared.

But I never know if I should vote based on what teams did through the end of the previous week, or how they fare right up to the voting is due.

Ultimately, that’s how I vote. So if you don’t play well on Monday or Tuesday, that can hurt. And that happened to several local teams this week.

The Washougal boys, who I put at No. 10 on my Class 2A ballot last week, upset league favorite Mark Morris last Thursday. I was all ready to move the Panthers up on my ballot this week. Then they lost to Hockinson in overtime on Monday.

I still had Washougal on my ballot, but only moved the Panthers up to No. 9. Other teams were not so lucky.

I had the Union boys at No. 6 on my 4A ballot last week. But since then, the Titans lost twice. After a solid win Friday over Camas, the Titans lost to Central Catholic on Saturday at the Rose Garden. OK, fine. Union is a team that depends on perimeter shooting, and trying to shoot against the backdrop of an empty Rose Garden is a tough adjustment. I wasn’t going to count that against the Titans.

Then they lost to a Skyview team had lost its previous four games and six of its previous seven. I’m still trying to figure that one out. In the meantime, I left the Titans off my ballot this week.

And the Union girls, who had at the back end of my 4A ballot last week, lost to Skyview on Monday. That bumped the Titans off my ballot.

Oh, one other note on my ballot. I’m not so sure that the Columbia River boys are the No. 5 3A team in the state. But the Chieftains need to be considered, so I moved them up on my ballot to get them some points and hopefully land them in the top 10.

Here’s how I voted this week.

BOYS

CLASS 4A: 1, Bothell; 2, Central Valley; 3, Garfield; 4, Jackson; 5, Curtis; 6, Richland; 7, Eastmont; 8, Federal Way; 9, Newport; 10, Emerald Ridge.

CLASS 3A: 1, Lincoln; 2, Rainier Beach; 3, Seattle Prep; 4, Mercer Island; 5, Columbia River; 6, Foss; 7, Glacier Peak; 8, Kamiakin; 9, Franklin; 10, Lakeside.

CLASS 2A: 1, Renton; 2, Lynden; 3, White River; 4, Pullman; 5, West Valley-Yakima; 6, Wapato; 7, Clover Park; 8, Mark Morris; 9, Washougal; 10, Sequim.

CLASS 1A: 1, Zillah; 2, Seattle Academy; 3, Cedar Park Christian; 4, Okanogan; 5, Kalama; 6, Toledo; 7, University Prep; 8, Chelan; 9, King’s; 10, Lynden Christian.

GIRLS

CLASS 4A: 1,Mount Rainier; 2, Mead; 3, Lynnwood; 4, Gonzaga Prep; 5, Puyallup; 6, Woodinville; 7, Arlington; 8, Skyline; 9, Walla Walla; 10, Inglemoor.

CLASS 3A: 1, Prairie; 2, Wilson; 3, Cleveland; 4, Seattle Prep; 5, Holy Names; 6, Bellevue; 7, Stanwood; 8, Ferndale; 9, Kamiakin; 10, Shadle Park.

CLASS 2A: 1, Mark Morris; 2, WF West; 3, Archbishop Murphy; 4, Wapato; 5, Ellensburg; 6, Burlington-Edison; 7, White River; 8, Cedarcrest; 9, Renton; 10, East Valley-Spokane.

CLASS 1A: 1, Freeman; 2, Cascade Christian; 3, Brewster; 4, Castle Rock; 5, Lynden Christian; 6, Okanogan; 7, Woodland; 8, Chelan; 9, Nooksack Valley; 10, Granger.