This year the West Central District semifinals are going to be played at the ShoWare Center in Kent, a treat for the players and even more so for the fans. (Note to the old guys who bring those portable seatbacks: you won’t need them.)

But in looking at the upcoming schedule in the tight-fitting Narrows League, where any one of six teams could win the league title, and beyond - to a shot at playing for an automatic state seed by reaching the district semifinals in Kent - there will have been no fewer than 16 basketball games of consequence for teams from Tacoma alone.

Will there be a lot of scoreboard watching?

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of schedule watching over the next week or so,” Foss coach Mike Cocke says.

The math works like this: there are a minimum of eight critical games left in regulation league play among Wilson, Lincoln, Foss, Gig Harbor, Bellarmine Prep and Olympia - which will, most importantly, determine the order of seeding in the league tournament, which constitutes another seven games.

The outcome of those games determines who gets a home game in the first round of districts - and home games go to the top three finishers.

Once a team gets to district, it must win its first two games to become one of the elite semifinalists to make it to the floor of the ShoWare Center on Feb. 23.

And that is pretty much the goal of any of these teams because if you get that far, you will have punched your ticket to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome, beginning March 3.

Last year, Foss was the only Tacoma team to make it that far, as the Falcons joined Federal Way, Kentridge, Curtis, Todd Beamer and Decatur in representing the West Central District at state.

Coming into this week, five teams in the Narrows League (Bellarmine Prep, Foss, Lincoln, Olympia and Wilson) had 7-3 records and were tied for their respective division leads. Gig Harbor, at 6-4, was certainly in the hunt as well.

Here are some key dates on the upcoming schedule: Jan. 28: Gig Harbor at Lincoln; Mt. Tahoma at Bellarmine Prep.

Jan. 30: Foss at Gig Harbor; Bellarmine Prep at Olympia. Feb. 3: Wilson at Lincoln; Foss at Wilson.

The West Central District tournament begins on Feb. 17 with 16 teams. The top eight seeded teams host games at their home gyms. Second-round games will be played at Auburn High School and Foss on Feb. 19.

The semifinals will be played at ShoWare on Feb. 23, while the consolation bracket semifinals will be played at Auburn and Foss.

The district finals - and the game between the losers of the semifinals who will play for the third and sixth seed at state - will be on Feb. 26 at ShoWare. And the consolation finals for the fourth and fifth seeds will be at Foss.

For a detailed look at the West Central bracket visit www.wcd3.org