Portland Christian and Weston-McEwen will meet again for the 2A championship after each team powered past two tough semifinal opponents Friday night. The Royals outlasted Blanchet Catholic, 25-12, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, while the TigerScots got past Bonanza in almost identical fashion, 25-10, 25-19, 21-25, 25-18. Portland Christian and Weston-McEwen will play for the 2A title at 8:30 pm Saturday night. The Cavaliers and Antlers will battle for the 3rd place trophy starting 12:00 noon Saturday.

Saturday’s championship match marks the 3rd straight year the Royals and TigerScots will meet with a trophy on the line. In 2005, Weston-McEwen beat PC, 25-15, 20-25, 15-8 in the last year of the old best-of-three format to take 4th place. The Royals earned the 6th place trophy, their first in 30 years. 2005 also marked the end of the old 2A classification, which saw three former West Valley teams – OES, Willamina and Santiam Christian – finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in that tournament. Those schools are now in 3A.

In 2006, following reclassification, the Royals and TigerScots met again; but this time, the Royals turned the tables, taking the championship match, 25-19, 25-18, 14-25, 25-22. It’s only fitting that these two 2A powerhouses, who have a lot of mutual respect for each others’ players, fans and coaches, meet one more time for the title. The Best of the West vs. the Beast from the East should give the Pacific University fans something to wait for.