The Study of Sports Podcast: WIAA State Hoops and Mariners Talk

A “Perfect Paul” outcome for the state basketball tournaments?That is how Tony Liberatore described it after the WIAA tournaments crowned winners without any losers.That might sound confusing. But so, too, is the WIAA state basketball playoff format. And Paul Valencia is always whining about that format. This year, at least nobody won the state title after losing in the state tournament.Plus, we salute Columbia River boys and Evergreen girls for their incredible state tournaments. This latest episode of the Study of Sports was recorded on Thursday, March 12.Our podcast format is simple: A longtime sports reporter (Paul Valencia) discusses high school sports, and more, with longtime sports administrators and former coaches. Cale Piland is the former head football coach at Evergreen and Union and is now the athletic director for Evergreen Public Schools. Tony Liberatore is a former assistant coach and athletic director at Columbia River and is now an associate principal at Fort Vancouver. We’re always interested in subject ideas for a future podcast. Email us a subject idea.Send us your thoughts at: [email protected]://www.clarkcountytoday.com/sports/the-study-of-sports-podcast-march-13-2026-we-discuss-the-state-basketball-tournaments-the-incredible-run-from-columbia-river-boys-the-state-placing-for-evergreen-girls-and-more/ #TheStudyOfSportsPodcast #basketball #VancouverWA #WIAA #Mariners #highschoolsports #ColumbiaRiver #Evergreen #NFL