City Rankings Faceoff: Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula VS Southwest WA

In our first faceoff, we're exploring the matchup between the Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula regional team, and the squad from Southwest Washington. We'll go through each matchup and decide where each team has an advantage, then I'll take in other factors and make an ultimate decision on which team is most likely to win.   There are a hundred different ways these hypothetical games could go but I'm trying to determine the most likely outcome from what I know of these individual players. Now on to the starting lineups.   Starting Lineup   G | [player_tooltip player_id='1560533' first='Christian' last='Parrish'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1270613' first='Cavin' last='Holden']   Advantage SW WA   This would be a great matchup to see. Both Holden and Parrish are tough players who rise to any challenge no matter the score. While I give the edge to Parrish defensively, Holden is the type of player who can raise his game to match opposing players and that skill, along with his elite shooting, is what ultimately gives SW WA the edge at the first guard spot.   G | [player_tooltip player_id='1450488' first='Cade' last='Orness'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1270714' first='Kobe' last='Parlin']   Advantage Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula   Parlin is a phenomenal defender who brings pace and pressure to the court but Orness has the patience and strength to grind through a tough defensive effort from Parlin, and eventually get into his rhythm scoring the basketball. I've seen it too many times, where Orness starts slow but wears down opponents and outlasts them to the finish.   G | [player_tooltip player_id='1416700' first='KeVaughn' last='Harvey'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1450940' first='Zach' last='Swanson']   Advantage Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula   This was a close decision for me but Harvey's tough shot-making ability pushed him over Swanson. Even if his impact isn't felt throughout the whole game, Harvey will make enough big plays bailing out the offense to make his mark on the game.   F | [player_tooltip player_id='923106' first='Luke' last='Browne']/[player_tooltip player_id='1416283' first='Will' last='Landram'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1416730' first='Josh' last='Salguero']/[player_tooltip player_id='1270675' first='Soren' last='Dalan']   Advantage Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula   I had to put the forwards together because in all likelihood they wouldn't match up straight across. It's going to take a lot of rotating, double-teams, and help side defense on both sides. In the end, I give the advantage to Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula because Browne is a good enough rebounder and inside scorer to play through the extra height inside. And I believe Browne's skill, along with Landram's length, will be sufficient to at least make things difficult enough inside for Dalan. Therefore, the slight edge goes to Browne and Landram.   Bench   G [player_tooltip player_id='1450502' first='Harry' last='Davies'] vs G [player_tooltip player_id='1450497' first='Braydon' last='Olson']   Advantage SW WA   I love the versatility Davies brings off the bench but you rarely get to bring the scoring punch off the pine that Olson offers. He brings energy and immediately influences the pace of the game. Olson has the advantage here because of his ability to energize the rest of the team and bring that needed boost off the bench.   G [player_tooltip player_id='1450958' first='Beckett' last='Turner'] vs [player_tooltip player_id='1450561' first='Payton' last='Stewart']   Advantage SW WA   Stewart is one of the most important players on either roster. He allows this SW WA team to hit the "reset" button if their two-big approach isn't working. Stewart allows them to play faster and still have a solid, physical presence inside. And if their game plan of owning the paint is working, then Stewart can still rotate in and give them another big against a team short on forwards.   Wildcards   F Cole Muilenburg vs G [player_tooltip player_id='1560531' first='Trevontay' last='Smith']   Advantage Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula   I love what both these guys bring to the table, that's why they're my wildcards. But strictly for what they bring to these two teams, I have to give the slight edge to Muilenburg. His size is vital to his squad and the ability to slot in alongside Browne and Landram, allowing one or both to more easily play off the perimeter cannot be understated. Muilenburg can be trusted to be a taxing defender on either Salugero or Dalan, not stopping them by any means, but doing enough to contribute to a team defense approach to stopping the two big men.   Outcome   After going through each matchup Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula holds the advantage over Southwest Washington 4-3. While that isn't everything, I think Landram, Browne, and Muilenburg will provide enough resistence on the defensive end to keep Dalan in check, essentially taking SW WA's biggest advantage off the board. Aside from that, of all the players listed, Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula have two of the top scoring threats. [player_tooltip player_id='923106' first='Luke' last='Browne'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1450488' first='Cade' last='Orness'] should prove effective enough to control the pace and style of the game, forcing SW WA to adjust.   It would be a game I'd love to watch sometime, but in this exercise Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula come out victorious in a grueling game, pulling away late in the third quarter creating a gap SW WA couldn't close.   Final Score: KOP 68 SW WA 55   Kistap-Olympic Peninsula moves to 1-0 and Southwest Washington to 0-1.   Next up is Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula vs Vancouver.

In our first faceoff, we're exploring the matchup between the Kitsap-Olympic Peninsula regional team, and the squad from Southwest Washington. We'll go through each matchup and decide where each team has an advantage, then I'll take in other factors and make an ultimate decision on which team is most likely to win.