YAKIMA – The demise of the Northwest Conference has been greatly exaggerated.

Normally a force in the Class 2A state tournament in the Yakima Valley SunDome, the thought was the NWC could be on the decline.

Not so fast.

Following Lynden’s Friday night pasting of Franklin Pierce in a play-in contest, sixth-seeded Anacortes showed with its 52-50 victory against No. 3 Selah at Davis High School that the conference is alive and well.

The Seahawks (21-5) advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals against a to-be-determined opponent.

“There are no nights off in the Northwest Conference,” second-year Anacortes coach AJ Yost said. “We’ve grown up this season and every year being battle-tested. Nothing gets us more prepared for a game like this than playing in our league.”

Selah junior Oliver Pepper, the CWAC MVP, scored a game-high 19 points, but the Seahawks made him, and the rest of the Vikings, work for everything.

“Length and physicality were a big disruptor,” Selah coach Jordan Starr said. “Usually, we can get freed up and move it around the 3-point line, and get people off-balance.

“We couldn’t do that with their physical play.”

With four players 6-foot-4 or taller – including impactful twins Spencer and Lucas Roberts – Anacortes had hands in the passing lanes all game, forcing the Vikings into 27 turnovers, 18 of those in the first half.

“We hang our hat on playing hard and playing together,” Yost said. “We don’t do a lot of things that break the wheel Xs-and-Os wise, we buy in and love playing defense.”

Despite the miscues, Selah trailed by just two at halftime. The Vikings tied the score on JR DePell’s steal and layup on the inbound pass to open the third quarter.

Anacortes, though, followed with an 11-0 run and kept a safe distance into the fourth when Selah mounted one last comeback, fueled by forwards Finn Tait and Jaxon Benge’s defense.

The Vikings got within a point – 47-46 -- before Spencer Robert trained a 3-pointer.

Selah again had a chance on the game’s final possession, but Pepper’s trey was online but short. Luca Moore plucked the rebound for the Seahawks.

“The reason it was short was probably the game plan of wearing us out,” Starr said. “When every possession is difficult, then it’s going to be hard to get a run.”

The 50 points was a season-low for the Vikings (21-4). It was 11th time this season in which the Seahawks have held an opponent to 50 points or less.

Spencer Robert finished with 13 points for Anacortes. Lucas Roberts and Central Washington-bound tight end Micah Dickison each had nine.

Tait totaled eight points and eight rebounds, and Benge grabbed 10 rebounds for Selah.

The Vikings will meet the winner of Saturday night’s loser-out contest between No. 14 Clover Park and 1tth-seeded Columbia River in Wednesday’s play-in round in the SunDome.