Whatever happens to top-seeded Davis in its Class 4A girls round-of-16 matchup with No. 8 Sumner, the Pirates and coach Akil White probably won’t be stunned by anything the Spartans do.

Not when the two teams have met darn near as often as conference rivals.

Davis and Sumner will cap Saturday’s six-game regional schedule at the Pirate Ship at 8. It’ll be the fifth time the teams have met in three years.

On the other end of the familiarity scale, are West Valley’s boys, who – like the Pirates – were unbeaten in CBBN play and won the district championship.

The eighth-seeded Rams head to Issaquah for a 4 o’clock tilt Saturday against No. 1 Mount SI, the 2024 champion.

Matchups between the two teams, two in 20 years, are so sporadic, the last occurred on the rarest day of the calendar – Feb. 29 – in 2020.

Last year’s regional game between Davis and Sumner helped launch the Pirates’ first championship by knocking the Big Nine power down a peg.

The Spartans rallied for a 67-62 rod victory, sending No. 1 Davis into Wednesday’s loser-out round. The Pirates rebounded, ripping through three opponents by more than 23 points a contes to advance to the title game, where they’d meet the Spartans again.

This time, led by tournament MVP and 4A Player of the Year Cheyenne Hull, Davis handled Sumner 61-45.

“What we learned from last year – and me, too – is that we have to manage our emotions a little better,” White said. “That got our attention, and we flipped the switch, we turned it on and won the state championship.”

With rosters heavy on underclassmen, both figured to be contenders again this season. The Pirates returned, among others, Hull, fellow juniors Isa Garcia and Kobe Johnson, and Eastern Washington-bound Deets Parrish, while SPSL North co-MVPs Kawehi Borden and Olivia Collins were due back for the Spartans.

A lost to NPSL third-place Kennedy Catholic and 3A top-seed Bellevue in the month before district dragged down the Spartans’ resume come seeding time – even if their talent says otherwise.

“We’re always going to get someone’s best shot, we’re always going to get someone’s attention,” White said. “But this team is uber-talented. So, getting their attention means, ‘Hey, we have to be at our best.’”

West Valley might not have the first-hand knowledge of the top-seeded Wildcats (21-4), but they sure know plenty about KingCo champs, who have won 21 straight against in-state opponents after a season-opening loss to Woodinville.

Already a contender led by Boise State-bound guard Brady Hennig, Mount’s Si’s lineup up was bolstered by the return of forward Lattimore Ford. Once a top recruit in the class of 2026, Ford rejoined the team after a knee injury ended his junior season.

“We have a tall order dealing with him and Hennig and all the talent around them,” West Valley coach Tyson Whitfield said. “You have to beat everybody this time of the year, so the matchups are what they are.”

A year ago, sixth-seeded West Valley hit the road for the regional round, and upended No. 3 Glacier Peak at Jackson High School, a few miles from the Grizzlies’ Snohomish campus.

“The road does not scare us,” Whitfield said. “It gives us time to bond, go over the night before, get focused in and eliminate a lot of the distractions of being at home.”

The Rams have won 14 straight, and are unbeaten on the road with victories over CWAC district champ Grandview, 3A No. 8 seed.

With a protected seed guaranteeing the Rams a spot in Tacoma, the pressure is on Mount Si, West Valley senior and CBBN Player of the Year Parker Mills said.

“They’re the No. 1 team is the state,” Mills said. “We can go in and play loosely, we can play free.”