by Ted House

The 2017-18 was an amazing year for basketball teams in the Northwest Conference, as three earned state championships. It’s now time to recognize some of the amazing individuals who made up, not only those teams, but several other highly competitive programs, that belong to the best league in the state.

by Ted House

The 2017-18 was an amazing year for basketball teams in the Northwest Conference, as three earned state championships. It’s now time to recognize some of the amazing individuals who made up, not only those teams, but several other highly competitive programs, that belong to the best league in the state.

The Associated Press All-State Teams have been announced. Nine individuals who belong to Northwest Conference teams have been selected to either first team, or honorable mention status. The list also includes one “player of the year.”

The 2A champion, Lynden Lions (22-6), had two players selected to the AP first team. They are juniors, Christian Zamora, and running mate, Clayton Whitman.

Senior Trystan Lowry, of the 20-3 Anacortes Seahawks, received honorable mention honors. Lowry was a four-year varsity star for the Seahawks.

Lynden Christian junior, Cole Bajema, was selected as the “Player of the Year,” for the 1A classification. The Lyncs took the 1A title, and finished with a 27-1 record.

1A honorable mention honors went to Nooksack Valley senior, Casey Bauman.

1A girls champion, Lynden Christian (28-0), had two players honored. Senior Avery Dykstra was named to the first team, while teammate, Isabela Hernandez, a junior, received honorable mention.

Nooksack Valley senior, Katrina Gimmaka, was also selected to the 1A all-state first team. Gimmaka led the Pioneers to a 20-9 record, and one win short of a top six finish at the state tournament.

Lakewood senior, Jelly Perry, was named to the 2A girls all-state first team. Perry is an extremely talented three-sport athlete for the Cougars.

For a complete list of the 1A and 2A Associated Press All-State teams, please see the attachment below.

STATE TOURNAMENT BOX SCORES

1A and 2A State Tournament box scores for Northwest Conference participants, can be found on the team schedule page, or in the WPA state tournament bracket. Just click on the magnifying glass assiciated with that specific game.

All box scores for games involving NWC teams that were played in the SunDome between Wednesday, February 28, and Saturday, March 3, are available.

STATE TOURNAMENT BOX SCORES

1A and 2A State Tournament box scores for Northwest Conference participants, can be found on the team schedule page, or in the WPA state tournament bracket. Just click on the magnifying glass assiciated with that specific game.

All box scores for games involving NWC teams that were played in the SunDome between Wednesday, February 28, and Saturday, March 3, are available.

The 2017-18 All Northwest Conference Boys Basketball teams have been released.

Colson Bajema, junior, from 1A State Champion Lynden Christian, is this year's Most Valuable Player.

Coach of the Year in the NWC is Ferndale's Jason Owens.

For the complete first and second teams, please see the link below.

The 2017-18 All Northwest Conference Boys Basketball teams have been released.

Colson Bajema, junior, from 1A State Champion Lynden Christian, is this year's Most Valuable Player.

Coach of the Year in the NWC is Ferndale's Jason Owens.

For the complete first and second teams, please see the link below.

by Ted House

It was quite a week for the Northwest Conference. It was quite a week for the greater “98264.” It was quite a week for Lynden and Lynden Christian boys and girls basketball programs.

Specifically, they Lynden boys, the Lynden Christian boys, and the Lynden Christian girls basketball programs all won their respective State Tournament titles, in the Yakima SunDome, Saturday, March 4, 2018.

by Ted House

It was quite a week for the Northwest Conference. It was quite a week for the greater “98264.” It was quite a week for Lynden and Lynden Christian boys and girls basketball programs.

Specifically, they Lynden boys, the Lynden Christian boys, and the Lynden Christian girls basketball programs all won their respective State Tournament titles, in the Yakima SunDome, Saturday, March 4, 2018.

The Lynden girls basketball team brought home a sixth place trophy from Yakima. Let’s not forget, that the Lion girls won the 2A state championship in 2017. That’s a lot of big hardware for one town.

The town has seen “double-titles” four times since 1991. The Lynden boys and the LC girls each won back-to-back championships in the 1991 and 1992 seasons. In 1991 season, the Lyncs beat the Lions for the 1A girls championship.

The Lynden Christian boys and girls both won championships in 1999. The Lion and Lyncs boys both won championships in 2012. The 2018 season was the first “trifecta.”

The LC boys’ last three championships have all been three years apart, going back to 2006. The LC girls have won every other title since 2014, and have a total of 12. The LHS boys have three since 2007, and the LHS girls have two since 2009. The four programs have combined for 12 state championships since 2006.

In the last 13 seasons, the Lynden boys have made 11 regional/state appearances, and won ten trophies. In the last 12 years, the Lynden girls have placed nine times in 11 appearances.

The Lynden Christian boys have been to regional/state seven times in the last eight years, winning five trophies. And the Lyncs girls have won 14 trophies in the last 14 years.

With that many horses in the race, it was just a matter of time before three of them got together.

2A Boys Championship: Lynden 57, WF West 53.

The Lynden Lions defeated the WF West Bearcats, 57-53, in the 2018 2A State Championship game, Saturday, March 4, in the Yakima SunDome. It was Lynden’s ninth state championship in program history, after finishing third, each of the last two seasons.

The Lions and the Bearcats got together just seven days earlier in a regional game at Mt. Vernon High School. The Lions used a two minute span in the second quarter, to ignite a 73-46 victory. The win sent the Lions to the state quarterfinals. The Bearcats played in the Wednesday loser out round, where they edged North Kitsap, 60-59.

WF West, who was the #8 RPI seed, then went on to knock off #2-Selah, 57-54, and #3-Foss, 53-50. The Bearcats momentum should have made everyone forget about that 27 point loss to the Lions.

Lynden waited for Columbia River to knock out Fife on Wednesday, then they derailed the Chieftains, 44-33 on Thursday, surrendering only nine second half points in the process. That was followed up by a 13 point defensive effort in the first half against Mark Morris, in the state semifinals. The Lions beat the Monarchs, 67-43.

In the Championship game, there were early signs that this could be another runaway win for the Lions, as they went out to a 14-5 lead at the end of the first quarter. Blake Silves and Christian Zamora nailed early 3-pointers, as the Lions divided their 14 points, five ways.

Clayton Whitman and Zamora hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then Whitman followed that with a jumper to give the Lions their biggest lead of the game, 27-11 with less than three minutes left in the half.

Whitman’s bucket was the last field goal of the half for the Lions, however, and the Bearcats squeezed the lead down to ten by halftime, 28-18. The lead could have been larger were it not for the Lions 1-6 from the free throw line in the second quarter. James Marsh was also limited because of early foul trouble.

Another Zamora 3-ball lifted the Lions to a 37-24 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter, and again, that would be it for offense for the Lions. The Bearcats scored the next eight points to cut the lead to 37-32, headed to the fourth quarter.

Brandon White, the Bearcats 6-8 senior, hit a jumper in the key to cut the lead to three, just seconds into the final frame.

The Lions finally generated a couple momentum plays, as Whitman maneuvered for a 3-point play with 3:11 to go, giving the Lions a six point lead. Then, after two Brandon White free throws, Zamora followed in Whitman’s footsteps, for another “and-one,” and a 49-42 lead.

The Lions led by ten with 37 seconds left, but the Bearcats didn’t give in. They scored seven of the games last eight points, to come within four at the buzzer.

The Lion team, which finished 22-6 and lists ten underclassmen, celebrated at mid court, achieving the programs ninth state title. It is their third championship at the 2A level, all under 13-year head coach, Brian Roper.

Clayton Whitman and Christian Zamora, both juniors, each scored 17 points. Whitman was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Zamora was also named first team all-state. Whitman averaged 16.7 points per game in the tournament. Zamora was a point behind, and averaged 16.3.

All 12 Lions logged playing time in the championship game, some only for a few seconds. But the difference between Lynden and several of the other teams in the state tournament was the depth of their bench. Sophomore Brock Heppner, senior, Trey LaBounty, as well as juniors Carson Bode and Dakota Baar, were vital in the Lions championship run, as they gave quality minutes when called upon.

For WF West, it has been a quick climb back into the upper echelon of 2A basketball. The Bearcats finished 0-20 in the 2015 season. In 2018, they finished 24-5, with two losses to Lynden, and second in the state.

Over the three state tournament games, the Lions defense allowed only 43 points per game. Lion opponents scored seven points or less in five of the 12 quarters of play.

Lynden 57, WF West 53

Lynden 14-14-09-20 = 57

WFW 05-13-14-21 = 53

Lyn – Kobe Elsner 6, Blake Silves 9, James Marsh 2, Clayton Whitman 17, Christian Zamora 17, Brock Heppner 4, Trey LaBounty 0, Noah Walker 0, Dakota Baar 2, Carson Bode 0, Carter Parcher 0, Jacob Kettels 0. FG 18-41, 43.9%; 3P 6-16, 37.5%; FT 15-28, 53.6%.

WFW – Nole Wollan 3, Jordan Thomas 12, Brandon White 17, Colby White 3, Bailey Cooper 14, Bryce Dobyns 4, Tyler Speck 0. FG 18-42, 42.9%; 3P 2-12, 16.7%; FT 15-26, 57.7%.

1A Boys Championship: Lynden Christian 82, Freeman 45

The Lynden Christian Lyncs shot their way to their sixth state title, with an 82-45 win over the Freeman Scotties, Saturday, March 4, at the Yakima SunDome.

It was the Scotties third straight appearance in the championship game. The Lyncs last championship appearance was a 2015 loss to Kings.

LC junior, Cole Bajema, entered the finale averaging 26.5 points in the Lyncs two wins over Kings Way Christian and The Northwest School. Freeman’s philosophy was to “face guard” Bajema with 6-5 junior, Dylan Oja.

Recognizing this, the Lyncs ran two set plays for Bajema, and they worked for a quick 5-0 lead. On the first set, with Oja in a nose-to-nose defensive position, Bajema went from the left low post, around a screen near the top of the key, where he took a pitch and planted a 3-pointer. On their next possession, he started to run the same route, but quickly cut back-door, and took a pass from George DeJong for an easy layin.

The Lyncs were up 9-0 before the Scotties hit their first field goal, but then ran off seven straight points to cut the lead to 9-7. But that’s as close as the Scotties would get the rest of the way.

Andrew DeVries hit his first 3-pointer with 2:23 left in the quarter, starting a 12 point run, that culminated with another DeVries 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer.

The Lyncs 24 point second quarter was nothing short of amazing, considering the shooting difficulties that most normal teams face in the SunDome. But the 2018 Lyncs are not your ordinary offensive team.

With 3:16 to play in the half, Freeman’s leading scorer, and all-stater, Michael Coumont, scored on a layup to cut the LC lead to 28-18. What happened next would be more believable if you were telling a story of the Golden State Warriors.

Bajema scored on a layup to extend the lead back to 12, with just under three minutes left in the half. And then came the 3-point show.

Luke Bos hit a 3-pointer at 2:35, followed by another one by Bajema at 2:03. Then, it was Bos again, in transition, with 1:26 left. At 1:11, Bajema strokes another one from the same spot on the right wing. Then DeVries grabbed a loose ball after a DeJong blocked shot, and pulled up at the hot spot, and nailed another one with 54 seconds left in the half.

The score went from 28-18, to 45-18 in a matter of 2:04 of clock time. The Bajema layin was followed by five consecutive 3-pointers, for a 17-0 run.

After a free throw by Oja in the final seconds, the Lyncs led 45-19 at halftime.

The Lyncs shot 56 percent from the field for the second time in three days. They would hit 12 of 20 3-pointers in the championship game, and break at least a couple state offensive records in the process. Freeman shot only 26 percent for the game, and that mark finished on a high note, as they outscored the Lyncs 16-11 in the fourth quarter.

The Lyncs built the lead to 69-29, late in the third quarter, invoking the 40-point, running clock rule.

Bajema finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds. He averaged 24.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in the three games. He also made nine of 15 3-point attempts in the tournament, for a 60 percent pace.

DeVries, who was voted first team all-state, scored 18 points on the night, on six of nine shooting from 3-point range. DeVries averaged 15.7 points per game in the tournament.

Luke Bos was the final Lync in double-figures, with 17. He hit three of four 3-pointers.

With all this good shooting, there must be someone getting them the ball at the right time. That would be senior point-guard Jordan Riddle, who dished out nine assists.

The Lyncs tournament total of 242 points, was 20 points more than the 3-day state tournament record set by Zillah, last year. Their 80.7 average also sets a 3-day record.

It was the Lyncs second state title under nine-year coach, Roger DeBoer. They finished the season with a record of 27-1. This was the Scotties only loss of the season, and they finish with a record of 24-1.

Lynden Chr. 21-24-26-11 = 82

Freeman 09-10-10-16 = 45

LC – Jordan Riddle 6, Cole Bajema 21, Andrew DeVries 18, Luke Bos 17, George DeJong 5, Michael Lancaster 0, Bryce Bouwman 7, Tanner Jansen 2, Cristian Colwell 2, Cole Langstraat 4, Jake Libolt 0, Zach Sipma 0. FG 26-46, 56.5%; 3P 12-20, 60%; FT 18-22, 81.8%.

Freeman – Michael Coumont 14, Rhys Mcvay 0, Dylan Oja 6, Quin Hopkins 8, Jackson Clark 10, Kaleb Ohler 0, Johnny Mcguire 1, Jace Phelan 0, Ryan Crosswhite 0, Jarett Wright 0, Jimmie Pearce II 4, Zach Trumble 2. FG 15-57, 26.3%; 3P 1-17, 5.9%; FT 14-26, 53.8%.

by Ted House

The Lynden Lions are the third team from the same zip code to qualify for a state championship game in 2018. The Lions eased passed the Mark Morris Monarchs 67-43, in a 2A boys state quarterfinal game, Friday, in the Yakima SunDome.

by Ted House

The Lynden Lions are the third team from the same zip code to qualify for a state championship game in 2018. The Lions eased passed the Mark Morris Monarchs 67-43, in a 2A boys state quarterfinal game, Friday, in the Yakima SunDome.

The Lions join the Lynden Christian boys and girls teams, who have also qualified for their respective state finals. The Lions won championships under Coach Brian Roper in 2007 and 2012, and finished second in 2014.

The Lions were much fresher from the opening tip than in yesterday’s win over Columbia River, a Greater St. Helens League rival of the Monarchs. It was a slowly paced game between teams who play similar styles.

Mark Morris had a size advantage at several positions, but the speed of the Lions, especially that of Christian Zamora and Clayton Whitman, posed problems for the Monarchs. The depth of the Lions bench was also a factor, as the Lions were able to substitute much more freely. The Lion had nine points off the bench, to zero for the Monarchs.

Only three players scored for the Lions, as they built a 21-13 halftime lead. Zamora was hot early, and scored 11 in the first half. Whitman, who was the game’s high scorer with 21, had nine at halftime. Brock Heppner added a free throw to the Lions first half total. Zamora finished with 18. He also hit three of four 3-pointers on the night.

The Lions had one of their best shooting nights of the year, hitting 58.8 percent from the field, on 20 of 34. They also benefitted from 34 free throw attempts, making 22.

Yesterday, Columbia River scored nine points in the second half. Tonight, the Monarchs scored 13 in the first half. That’s a total of 22 points over four consecutive quarters.

The 2A boys championship game tips off at 3:00pm on Saturday. The Lions will play either, defending 2A champion, Foss, or WF West. The Lions defeated the Bearcats in the regional round. The Lions lost to Foss in last year’s semifinals by three points.

Lynden 67, Mark Morris 43

MM 07-06-18-12 = 43

Lyn 10-11-22-24 = 67

MM – Dawson Fritz 3, Tanner Vaillencourt 5, Garrett Berger 18, Tyler Berger 12, Zach Rismoen 5, Brayden Harris, 0, Mason Ringborn 0, Gage Hendrickson 0, Reese Gibb 0, Evan Surface-McNally 0, Thomas Sprague 0, Jaden Blain 0. FG 15-40, 37.5%; 3P – 5-16, 31.3%; FT – 8-12, 66.7%.

Lyn – Kobe Elsner 8, Blake Silves 4, James Marsh 7, Clayton Whitman 21, Christian Zamora 18, Brock Heppner 3, Trey LaBounty 0, Noah Walker 1, Dakota Baar 1, Carson Bode 2, Jacob Kettels 2. FG – 20-34, 58.8%; 3P – 5-12, 41.7%; FT 22-34, 64.7%.

by Ted House

In the game of the tournament so far, the Lynden Christian Lyncs, eked out a 73-69 win over The Northwest School, in double-overtime. The win sends the Lyncs to the state championship game, for the third time since 2012.

by Ted House

In the game of the tournament so far, the Lynden Christian Lyncs, eked out a 73-69 win over The Northwest School, in double-overtime. The win sends the Lyncs to the state championship game, for the third time since 2012.

The game was similar to a best two-out-of three. The Lyncs were in control late in regulation. In the first overtime, Northwest had their best chance to pull out a win. But, in the end, the Lyncs did just enough in the final minutes to come out with the victory.

For three quarters, the story was The Northwest School’s ability to shoot 3-pointers, as they made ten of their first 18 treys. An adjustment by the Lyncs to a man-to-man defense at the beginning of the fourth quarter, may not have been the reason that they won, but it certainly helped to avoid a loss.

The Lyncs normal zone defensive looks were not good enough to keep hands in the faces of the Northwest Shooters, on this night. The defensive change, at least took care of that. Northwest made two of eight 3-pointers, the rest of the way.

The Lyncs struggled early, making only one of nine shots from the field in the first quarter. Senior George DeJong, however, hit seven of eight free throws during the same stretch. DeJong fouled out with just under three minutes to play in regulation, and was limited to 24 minutes due to foul trouble. He finished with seven points and six rebounds.

Cristian Colwell and Cole Langstraat filled in, and each made big contributions for the Lyncs, late in the game. Colwell scored on a post move to give the Lyncs a 54-50 lead with 1:35 left in regulation. Langstraat had four points, and a huge blocked shot of a sure lay in by Northwest.

With the Lyncs leading by four with 32 seconds left in regulation, Azure Holloway-Figueroa drove the lane for a three-point-play, to pull Northwest to within one. After two Jordan Riddle free throws put the Lyncs up by three, Northwest began to work for the tying shot.

Northwest tried to free up a shooter by running a dribble-weave outside the 3-point arc, but they couldn’t find an opening. After a timeout, Northwest got the ball to Isaiah Jeannot at the high post. He tried to find cutters, but those were blanketed as well. As the last resort, Jeannot dribbled outside the 3-point line, in an attempt to get away from the pressure of Riddle. Jeannot rose over Riddle, and buried the game-tying shot as time expired.

With Northwest leading by two in overtime, Cole Bajema drove the lane, but Jeannot went up with him, blocked the shot, and recovered the ball for The House. Just seconds later, Jeannot stroked a 3-pointer to put Northwest up by five points with 2:15 left.

Andrew DeVries made a clever steal of a Northwest pass, and took off on the dribble. Instead of going at the defender and risking an offensive foul, DeVries pulled up and lofted in a ten footer to bring the Lyncs to within two, with 1:27 left.

After two Northwest free throws, DeVries wanted the ball on the right wing. He caught the pass and nailed a long 3-pointer to draw the Lyncs to within a single point with just 49 seconds left.

Northwest could not run out the clock, but after running some time off Jeannot missed a jump shot in the key, and was called for a foul on the rebound. Bajema made one of two, and the game was tied with 19 seconds left.

The final shot by Northwest came up short, and this game would need four more minutes.

The Lyncs got a break when Jeannot fouled out with 1:46 left in the second overtime, and the Lyncs up by two. Langstraat made that a four point lead with two free throws.

Free throws and defensive stops by the Lyncs kept their lead at more than three points, over the final minute.

Northwest had five players reach double-figures. Jeannot fouled out with 21 points and nine rebounds.

Bajema had 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Lyncs. DeVries finished with 17, and Riddle added 10.

The Lyncs will play in the 1A state championship game, Saturday, at 7:00pm, against the Freeman Scotties. The Scotties knocked off the Zillah Leopards in the other semifinal game.

Lynden Christian 73, The Northwest School 69 (2 OT)

NW 11-14-21-10-07-06 = 69

LC 09-17-18-12-07-10 = 73

NW – Azure Holloway-Figueroa 14, Jamie Cockburn 11, Gabriel roldan-Barrios 10, Isaiah Jeannot 21, Xavier DeVore 2, Gray Davidson 11, Isaia Lotawa 0, Owen DeVore 0. FG 23-60, 38.3%; 3P 12-27, 44.4%; FT 11-14, 78.6%.

LC – Jordan Riddle 10, Cole Bajema 27, Andrew DeVries 17, Luke Bos 6, George DeJong 7, Michael Lancaster 0, Bryce Bouwman 0, Cristian Colwell 2, Cole Langstraat 4. FG 22-48, 45.8%; 3P 6-19, 31.6%; FT 23-29, 79.3%.

by Ted House

If it is true that defense wins championships, then the Lynden Lions are on the right track. The Lions surrendered only nine second half points, and defeated the Columbia River Chieftains, 44-33, in a 2A boys quarterfinal game, Thursday night, in the Yakima SunDome.

by Ted House

If it is true that defense wins championships, then the Lynden Lions are on the right track. The Lions surrendered only nine second half points, and defeated the Columbia River Chieftains, 44-33, in a 2A boys quarterfinal game, Thursday night, in the Yakima SunDome.

In a very slow paced game, where each possession was important, the Lions hurt themselves in the first half by committing seven turnovers, and the Chieftains seemed a step quicker to the ball.

Brock Heppner, a 6-1 sophomore, came off the bench to contribute five points and four rebounds in the first half, and the Lions needed every one. Lynden trailed 24-19 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Chieftains got the first hoop to take a seven point lead, but the Lions responded with seven straight to tie it at 26-26 on two Blake Silves free throws.

Evan Dirksen put the Chieftains back up with a 3-pointer with 2:02 left in the quarter, but that would be the last field goal of the night for the any Chieftain not named Jacob Hjort.

Lion junior Clayton Whitman tied the score at 29-29 on a 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the third, and that’s where the quarter ended.

Junior Christian Zamora nailed a 3-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter to give the Lions the lead. After Hjort hit a long pull-up 3-pointer with 4:50 to play that pulled the Chieftains to within two points, the Lions got two timely tip-ins from James Marsh, and free throws in the final minutes to put the game away.

Columbia River made only three of 17 field goal attempts in the second half, and committed seven turnovers. Hjort, the Greater St. Helens League MVP, scored 16 points. No other Chieftain scored more than six.

Zamora scored 14 to lead the Lions, while Whitman added 12. The Lions dominated the glass, outrebounding Columbia River, 36-17. Zamora and Heppner snagged eight each.

The Lions, 20-6, have now won 20 or more games in nine of Coach Brian Roper’s 13 seasons. They have also reached the state semifinals for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. They will take on Mark Morris, Friday, at 7:15pm. The Lions beat the Monarchs on December 28, in the SunDome Shootout.

Columbia River will play Renton in a loser out game, Friday, at 12:15pm.

Lynden 44, Columbia River 33

CR 12-12-05-05 = 33

Lyn 10-09-10-15 = 44

CR – Jacob Hjort 16, Evan Dirksen 3, Caden Dezort 6, Jack Armstrong 0, Nasseen Guitierrez 6, Nate Snook 2, David Anderson 0, Mason Waite 0, Kiran Brar 0, Skyler Grote 0, Brenden Geist 0, Kyle Gomez 0. FG 12-37, 32.4%; 3P 6-23, 26.1%; FT 3-4, 75%.

Lyn – Kobe Elsner 0, Blake Silves 7, James Marsh 6, Clayton Whitman 12, Christian Zamora 14, Brock Heppner 5, Trey LaBounty 0, Noah Walker 0, Dakota Baar 0, Carson Bode 0, Jacob Kettels 0. FG 16-45, 35.6%; 3P 4-27, 23.5%; FT 8-14, 57.1%.

by Ted House

The Lynden Christian Lyncs, behind 26 points by junior sharp-shooter, Cole Bajema, rolled passed the King’s Way Christian Knights, 87-63, in a 1A State quarterfinal game, Thursday, in the Yakima SunDome.

Defending 1A champion, Zillah, had no trouble with Mt. Baker, defeating the Mountaineers 82-39 in another quarterfinal game.

by Ted House

The Lynden Christian Lyncs, behind 26 points by junior sharp-shooter, Cole Bajema, rolled passed the King’s Way Christian Knights, 87-63, in a 1A State quarterfinal game, Thursday, in the Yakima SunDome.

Defending 1A champion, Zillah, had no trouble with Mt. Baker, defeating the Mountaineers 82-39 in another quarterfinal game.

Bajema, who hit four of six 3-pointers in the second half, helped the Lyncs score 31 points in the third quarter, and 50 in the second half. The Lyncs outscored the Knights 25-4 over the first 5:50 of the second half.

Sophomore Andrew DeVries hit his first shot of the game to give the Lyncs a 3-0 lead, but the Lyncs went cold from the outside after that, finishing the half just 3-12 from beyond the arc.

In the meantime, the Lyncs went to senior post George DeJong, who hit 6-7 from the field for 18 points. Early in the fourth quarter, DeJong scored inside, while drawing a foul. He missed the free throw, but ended up scoring again, and drawing another foul.

Early on, the Lyncs seemed to have trouble keeping up with the quickness of the Knights. Some good early shooting helped the Knights to a 22-17 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, the Lyncs exterior defenders were able to create loose balls off of defletions, which led to three straight transition baskets. The Lyncs held a 37-31 lead, until the Knights finished the half on a 5-0 run.

In the first minute of the third quarter, Bajema got things started for the Lyncs with a 3-pointer. Then LC defense then forced a shot-clock violation on the Knights. Seconds later, Bajema hit another deep three, forcing the Knights to an early timeout.

Until Knights junior guard, Khalfani Cason hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the third, the Lyncs outscored the Knights 24-5. The Lyncs shot 65 percent from the field in the second half.

King’s Way has only one senior, while the Lyncs have three, so both teams are well stocked to be around for a while.

DeVries finished with 12 points, and junior Luke Bos, added 10. The 50 points by the Lyncs was one better than their 49 point second half output against Newport in their regional game.

Khalfani Cason scored 14 of his 25 points in the first half for the Knights.

The Lyncs will go against The Northwest School in a 3:45pm semifinal contest, Friday, at 3:45pm. The Lyncs beat The House 70-64 in the Bi-District championship.

The Mountaineers did not back down from the Leopards, attacking at every opportunity. Unfortunately, after the first quarter, there were few opportunities.

Junior Antonio Salinas was an offensive machine for the Leopards, scoring 23 of his 29 points in the first half, which included a 6-7 performance from outside the 3-point line.

The speed of the Leopards on defense was overwhelming. Their 30 second quarter points essentially put the game out of reach.

No Mountaineers were able to reach double-figures. Ethan Gates led the team with eight points.

Zillah, another team with only three seniors, and the team that gave 2A Selah their only loss of the season, is now 24-1. They will play Freeman in the other semifinal game.

The Mountaineers will play a Friday, at 10:30am, against the Kings Knights, in a loser out game. It will be the fourth meeting between the two teams, in the post-season. Mt. Baker is now 16-13 on the season.

Lynden Christian 87, King’s Way Christian 63

KW 22-14-13-14 = 63

LC 17-20-31-19 = 87

KW – Khalfani Cason 25, Kobi Cason 9, Gage Koenders 9, Bryce Dodge 4, Brady Metz 14, Kaden Lucas 0, Ty Mairs 0, Kefentse Cason 2, Mason Packer 2, Seth Woody 0, Justin Frahm 0, Nate Snider 0. FG 21-52, 40.4%; 3P 13-29, 44.8%; FT 8-9, 88.9%.

LC – Jordan Riddle 6, Cole Bajema 26, Andrew DeVries 12, Luke Bos 10, George DeJong 18, Michael Lancaster 0, Bryce Bouwman 7, Tanner Jansen 0, Cristian Colwell 8, Cole Langstraat 0, Jake Libolt 0, Zach Sipma 0. FG 29-51, 56.9%; 3P 8-24, 33.3%; FT 21-37, 56.8%.

Zillah 82, Mt. Baker 39

MB 10-17-06-06 = 39

Zill 16-30-18-18 = 82

MB – Ethan Gates 8, Kaleb Bass 4, Waylon Kentner 4, Carter Backstrom 0, Thomas Barbo 6, David Vetkov 3, Caleb Forbes 2, Hayden Linderman 4, Carson Engholm 2, Jason Lee 4, Garret Smith 0, Michael Whitson 2. FG 14-43, 32.6%; 3P 2-13, 15.4%; FT 9-18, 50%.

Zillah – Cesar Diaz 6, Antonio Salinas 29, Brock Ellis 16, Weston Ide 2, Sebastian Godina 17, Payton Whitaker 0, Cody Vance 0, Kaden Magana 1, Adrian Torres 3, Justin Irion 6, Dakota Hibbs 2, Benjamin Kibbe 0. FG 32-61, 52.5%; 3P 8-18, 44.4%; FT 10-19, 52.6%.

by Ted House

The Mt. Baker Mountaineers used two big second half runs, to overtake the Bellevue Christian Vikings, 62-57, in the Wednesday, loser out round, of the 1A Boys State Basketball Tournament.

The win sends the Mounties to the state quarterfinals, where they will meet defending 1A champion, Zillah, at 12:15pm, in the Yakima SunDome.

by Ted House

The Mt. Baker Mountaineers used two big second half runs, to overtake the Bellevue Christian Vikings, 62-57, in the Wednesday, loser out round, of the 1A Boys State Basketball Tournament.

The win sends the Mounties to the state quarterfinals, where they will meet defending 1A champion, Zillah, at 12:15pm, in the Yakima SunDome.

The Vikings dialed up the best first quarter of the day, taking a 23-13 lead. The Mountaineers stayed within striking distance, but still trailed 33-27 at halftime, but the six point deficit doubled early in the third quarter.

Trailing 43-31, the Mountaineers went on a 13-0 run, to take a 44-43 lead. The streak was snapped on a 3-pointer by the Vikings Andy Moyer with a minute left in the quarter. Mt. Baker trailed by two at the end of the quarter, but the foundation had been laid.

The Mountaineers quickly tied the score, then, junior Kaleb Bass set up senior, Thomas Barbo for the finish on a two-on-one fast break for the lead.

Sophomore Waylon Kentner then completed a 3-point-play for a 51-46 lead. Soon after, Bass stole the ball at midcourt, and scored to finish a 9-0 run, and a 53-46 lead with 3:21 left.

The Vikings were able to get to within 55-54 with 1:34 to go, but Carter Backstrom, who was all over the floor in the fourth quarter, rebounded his own missed 3-pointer, which led to a pair of Ethan Gates free throws for a three point lead. Backstrom came up with a steal on the next Viking possession, and the Mountaineers finished the game off at the free throw line.

For the Mountaineers, only the five starters broke into the scoring column. Bass and Backstrom finished with 14 points each. Bass scored all 14 in the second half. Ethan Gates and Thomas Barbo finished with 13 points each.

The #12 seed Mountaineers are now 16-12 on the season, including a 6-3 record in the post-season. The top four seeds for the 1A boys all advanced from regionals to the quarterfinals. But their four opponents are bracket-busters. Along with #12-Mt. Baker, #6-Northwest, #15-Kings Way Christian, and #16-Kings, are still in the field.

Bellevue Christian finished their season with an 18-7 record.

Mt. Baker 62, Bellevue Christian 57

BC – Eric Kats 17, Andy Moyer 16, Tyler Jump 10, Ken West 8, Brandon Parsons 4, Walker Rulon 0, Mick Larson 2, Josh Polley 0. FG 21-47, 44.7%; 3P 7-18, 38.9%; FT 8-12, 66.7%.

MB – Ethan Gates 13, Kaleb Bass 14, Waylon Kentner 13, Carter Backstrom 14, Thomas Barbo 8, David Vetkov 0, Carson Engholm 0, Jason Lee 0, Michael Whitson 0. FG 25-52, 48.1%; 3P 3-13, 23.1%; FT 9-16, 56.3%.

by Ted House

Often times, in team sports, coaches recognize “points off turnovers” as a telling statistic. That was definitely the case, as the Lynden Lions rolled over the WF West Bearcats, 73-46, in a 2A boys Regional Tournament game, Saturday, at Mt. Vernon High School.

Both teams can point to a few key minutes in the second quarter, where those points off turnovers told the complete story.

by Ted House

Often times, in team sports, coaches recognize “points off turnovers” as a telling statistic. That was definitely the case, as the Lynden Lions rolled over the WF West Bearcats, 73-46, in a 2A boys Regional Tournament game, Saturday, at Mt. Vernon High School.

Both teams can point to a few key minutes in the second quarter, where those points off turnovers told the complete story.

The Bearcats and the Lions took turns pressing and trapping each other in the first quarter. The Bearcats took advantage of a few transition opportunitie against the Lions press, and went out to an early 15-9 lead.

The Lions got a kick-start from a 3-pointer by Carson Bode, and a steal and layup from Christian Zamora, to cut the Bearcats lead to 17-15 at the end of the first quarter.

After Colby White scored a bucket for the Bearcats to start the second quarter, the Lions press turned the game around.

A steal and a lay in by Blake Silves, was followed by a James Marsh steal, who then set up Zamora for another lay in, and the game was tied at 19-19, prompting a quick WF West timeout, with 7:10 left in the half.

On the next possession, Marsh took a charge for another Bearcat turnover. And, at the other end, Zamora hit two free throws to give the Lions a lead, that they would not let get away.

Marsh foiled the next Bearcat possession with another steal, which led to another Silves lay in. Zamora then stole the ball and hit a 3-pointer. And, for the finale, was a Clayton Whitman steal and subsequent slam dunk, for a 28-19 lead, and another WF West timeout.

In just 1:02 of game time, the Bearcats turned the ball over six times, five of which were Lion steals. Those six turnovers were converted in to 13 Lion points.

Later in the quarter, the Lions held a comfortable 33-21 lead, but the Bearcats tightened things up by scoring the last six points of the half.

Both teams started slow in the third quarter, until Whitman and Zamora hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lions a 44-30 lead with three minutes left. Whitman’s was s step-back three to beat the shot-clock buzzer. The Lions led 53-36 at the end of the third quarter, and reached a 23 point lead with just over three minutes left in the game.

Zamora was hot early, middle, and late, even though his minutes were somewhat limited due to early foul trouble. He hit three 3-pointers, and tallied 12 of the Lions 15 first quarter points. Zamora had 19 by halftime, and finished with a game high, 31.

Whitman scored 13 points in the third quarter, and finished with 22. Bearcat senior, Jordan Thomas, had 13, and senior Bailey Cooper added 10.

WF West (20-4) will play a loser out game in the Yakima SunDome on Wednesday, at 9:00pm. They will take on North Kitsap, who was a winner over Cheney on Saturday.

The Lions (19-6) advanced to the state quarterfinals, where they will play at 5:30pm on Thursday. They will play the winner of the game between Fife and Columbia River, which will be played at 5:30 on Wednesday.

Lynden 73, WF West 46

WF West 17-10-09-10 = 46

Lynden 15-18-20-20 = 73

WF West – Troy Yarter 0, Kayden Kelly 0, Bryce Dobins 6, Nole Wollan 2, Colton Baker 0, Brock Jones 0, Jordan Thomas 13, Tyler Speck 0, Jordan Waring, Brandon White 9, Colby White 6, Bailey Cooper 10. 2P – 13; 3P – 2; FT 14-22.

Lynden – Kobe Elsner 0, Blake Silves 4, James Marsh 4, Clayton Whitman 22, Brock Heppner 0, Trey LaBounty 0, Noah Walker 2, Dakota Baar 0, Carson Bode 8, Carter Parcher 0, Christian Zamora 31, Jacob Kettels 2. 2P - 17; 3P – 10; FT 9-17.

by Ted House

Cole Bajema and Andrew DeVries combined for 56 points, leading the Lynden Christian Lyncs to a 91-71 win over the Newport Grizzlies, in 1A Regional action at Mt. Vernon High School, on Saturday.

Bajema edged DeVries in points, 29-27, but DeVries beat Bajema in 3-pointers, 8-6.

by Ted House

Cole Bajema and Andrew DeVries combined for 56 points, leading the Lynden Christian Lyncs to a 91-71 win over the Newport Grizzlies, in 1A Regional action at Mt. Vernon High School, on Saturday.

Bajema edged DeVries in points, 29-27, but DeVries beat Bajema in 3-pointers, 8-6.

The Lyncs (23-1) led 20-17 after one quarter. They went on to build an 18 point halftime lead, as Bajema and DeVries combined to score 32 of the Lyncs 42 first half points. The Lyncs scored 30 more in the third quarter, and led 72-46 after three.

The Grizzlies (17-7), who are obviously not strangers to the weight room, began to see their offense come together in the second half. In fact, the Lyncs won the second half, 49-47.

Newport junior, Adam Moorhead, came off the bench to lead the Grizzlies in scoring with 18. He scored 14 in the second half. Junior Danny Bradbury, the Grizzlies leading scorer at 17 a game, was held to 13. Senior Owen Leslie added 12.

The key to getting open shots for Bajema and DeVries was the ability of the LC guards to penetrate the Neport zone defense and force rotational help. Often times, they seemed to hide, as if they were invisible. Just waiting in the weeds to catch and shoot. DeVries is so deep in the left corner at times, that he could shoot with one hand, and beat the bass drum with the other.

Senior George DeJong and junior Luke Bos, scored 10 points each for the Lyncs, who will next play in the state quarterfinals. That game will be Thursday at 10:30am, in the Yakima SunDome. They will play the winner of Wednesday’s loser out game, between Kings Way Christian and Cascade Christian.

Newport will play a loser out game on Wednesday, at 2:00pm, against the Kings Knights.

Lynden Christian 91, Newport 71

Newport 17-07-22-25 = 71

Lyn.Chr. 20-22-30-19 = 91

Newport – Kade Zorica 5, Tug Smith 10, Koa Poncho 4, Rylan Hastings 3, Adam Moorhead 18, Robbie Owen 6, Owen Leslie 12, Danny Bradbury 13. 2P – 13; 3P – 12; FT 9-14.

LC – Jordan Riddle 4, Cole Bajema 29, Andrew DeVries 27, Michael Lancaster 0, Bryce Bouwman 3, Luke Bos 10, Tanner Jansen 0, Cristian Colwell 4, Cole Langstraat 2, George DeJong 10, Jake Libolt 0, Zach Sipma 2. 2P – 14; 3P – 16; FT 15-18.

by Ted House

The Mt. Baker Mountaineers defeated the Naches Valley Rangers, 70-59, in Friday’s Regional round of the 2018 1A State Boys Basketball Tournament, at Mt. Vernon High School.

The win sends the Mountaineers to Yakima’s SunDome, where they will play at 12:15pm on Wednesday, February 28. They will play the loser of the Bellevue Christian-Royal game, which is slated for Saturday, February 24, 2:00pm, at Ellensburg High School. All Wednesday games are loser out.

by Ted House

The Mt. Baker Mountaineers defeated the Naches Valley Rangers, 70-59, in Friday’s Regional round of the 2018 1A State Boys Basketball Tournament, at Mt. Vernon High School.

The win sends the Mountaineers to Yakima’s SunDome, where they will play at 12:15pm on Wednesday, February 28. They will play the loser of the Bellevue Christian-Royal game, which is slated for Saturday, February 24, 2:00pm, at Ellensburg High School. All Wednesday games are loser out.

In a game of “size versus speed,” size won out.

The Mountaineers jumped out quickly on the Rangers, taking a 12-6 lead, thanks to senior Thomas Barbo’s six early points. Barbo scored three times in transition opportunities, as the Mountaineers beat the Naches full court press.

One of his layins started with a blocked shot by 6-10 senior, Ethan Gates. Gates grabbed the ball and made a quick outlet, and two passes later, Barbo had the finish. The whole sequence took about four seconds, and the ball never hit the floor until it exited the net.

The Mounties extended a 19-17 first quarter lead, to 28-19 over the first three minutes of the second quarter. A run later in the quarter was centered around back-to-back 3-pointers by junior, Carter Backstrom. Mt. Baker led 42-27 at halftime.

From there, the Mountaineers outscored Naches 8-0 over the first five minutes of the third quarter, until Ranger sophomore, Caleb Deaton hit a 3-pointer. Their biggest lead was 65-43 with 4:30 to play. The Rangers managed to carve into the lead in the final minute to make the score seem relatively close.

Naches senior Kobe Kohls, who averaged 22 points a game on the season, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and finished with a game high 25. The Rangers also got double-figures from senior Jarrett Simmons (11), and senior Jacob Stohr (10). Even with that, the Rangers had difficulty at the offensive end.

With two minutes left in the third quarter, the Mountaineers were whistled for their seventh team foul, but the Rangers’ shooting woes at the free throw line kept them from closing the gap. The Rangers made only 15-31 from the charity stripe, while the Mountaineers were a stellar 18-22.

Backstrom, scored in every quarter, and led the Mounties with 19 points. Barbo scored 12 in the first half, and finished with 16. Junior Kaleb Bass added 13, including 9-10 from the free throw line.

Mt. Baker is now 15-12 on the season. Naches finishes the year with a record of 13-10.

In the second game of the night, the Nooksack Valley girls broke open a close game in the second quarter, and routed Port Townsend 57-26.

The Pioneers also go from one loser out situation, to another. They will play at 9:00pm, Wednesday, in the SunDome. Their opponent will be the loser of Saturday’s game between Meridian and Lynden Christian.

Nooksack now owns a record of 19-7, and have won eight of their last nine games.

In 2A games, the Burlington-Edison Tigers boys had their season come to an end, as they lost to the Fife Trojans, 70-49, Friday at Puyallup High School. Fife advances to a loser out game on Wednesday, against the Columbia River – Selah, loser. The Tigers finished with a record of 13-13.

The Lynden Lion girls lost to WF West, 56-43, at Tumwater High School on Friday. This was not a loser out game, so the Lions will play in the SunDome on Wednesday, in a loser out contest. The Lions will play the Washougal – Fife winner, at 10:30am.

Mt. Baker 70, Naches 59

Naches 17-10-11-21 = 59

Mt. Baker 19-23-11-17 = 70

Naches – Kobe Kohls 25, Sean Coyne 0, Jarrett Simmons 11, Caleb Deaton 9, Alex Sloan 3, Jacob Stohr 10, Camden Andrews 1. 2P – 13; 3P – 6; FT 15-31.

Mt. Baker – Ethan Gates 2, David Vetkov 8, Caleb Forbes 0, Kaleb Bass 13, Waylon Kentner 2, Hayden Linderman 0, Carter Backstrom 19, Carson Engholm 1, Jason Lee 5, Thomas Barbo 16, Garrett Smith, Michael Whitson 4. 2P – 17; 3P – 6; FT 18-22.

by Ted House

Before the Mt. Vernon High School gym rests itself for the next eight months, it must take care of some unfinished business. As usual, MVHS will be the premiere venue for District 1 Regional basketball action.

by Ted House

Before the Mt. Vernon High School gym rests itself for the next eight months, it must take care of some unfinished business. As usual, MVHS will be the premiere venue for District 1 Regional basketball action.

Friday, 6:00pm, at Mt. Vernon High School

(1A Boys) #13 Naches Valley Rangers vs. #12 Mt. Baker Mountaineers

Winner advances to Yakima, and will play a loser out game on Wednesday against the loser of Bellevue Christian vs. Royal.

The Rangers were 9-3 in the SCAC West, good for second place behind defending State Champion, Zillah. They are currently 13-9, after a second place finish in their district tournament, again to Zillah. In three games with the Leopards this season, the Rangers lost by totals of 8, 44, and 6 points.

Naches’ first trip to state in the 2000’s was in 2009, finishing eighth. This will be the fifth regional or state appearance for the Rangers in the past seven years.

The Rangers leading scorer is Kobe Kohls, a 6-1 senior, at 22 points per game. Sean Coyne, a 5-10 senior, averages 12 a game. Caleb Deaton, a 6-2 sophomore, averages 10 points a game.

Naches will have to with this game with speed and shooting, because Deaton is their tallest player, with most of the roster listed between 6-0 and 6-1.

Mt. Baker had a solid 5-8 NWC campaign, and now sits at 14-12. They also welcomed the rest, as the Mountaineers played six post-season games in ten days, through the District and Bi-District tournaments. The sixth was the regional qualifier against Nooksack Valley. Three days later, they played Kings for third and fourth places.

The Mountaineers are physically strong, inside and out. Ethan Gates, a 6-10 senior, is the center of attention. And, for good measure, he is backed up by Michael Whitson (6-8 senior). Occasionally, the two are on the floor at the same time.

Strong guards are also a characteristic of the Mountaineers. Junior, Kaleb Bass, is a single-handed press breaker. Bass gets help on the outside from juniors, David Vetkov and Carter Backstrom, and sophomores Waylon Kentner and Jason Lee. Then, there is versatile senior wing, Thomas Barbo (6-2). The group of guards can also play a physical, trapping defense.

The Mountaineers last regional appearance was a loss in 2013. They took home a fifth place trophy in 2010, and fourth in 2007.

For 1A history buffs, Naches won the 1987 A state championship in the Tacoma Dome, defeating SCAC rival, Kiona-Benton, 71-34. The star on the Rangers roster was Ron Deaton, father of sophomore Caleb. Ron came a few points short of the state career scoring record that season. He is also a Rangers assistant coach.

This game stayed local for the Mountaineers by virtue of their .00199 RPI advantage over the Rangers.

Saturday, 2:00pm, at Mt. Vernon High School

(1A Boys) #8 Newport Grizzlies vs. #1 Lynden Christian Lyncs

Both advance to Yakima. The winner will play Thursday at 10:30am. The loser will play Wednesday at 2:00pm against the Kings – Lakeside winner.

The Grizzlies finished in second place in the Northeast 1A League with a 9-3 record. They are 17-6 on the season. They have been overshadowed by league champion, undefeated Freeman. Newport’s two losses to Freeman were by 12 and 5 points. The Grizzlies defeated Pullman, who is a 2A regional qualifier.

Newport lost to Lakeside in the district semifinals, then won loser out games over Medical Lake and Omak to qualify for regionals. They give up only 46 points a game, and have four players who have scored 20 or more points in a game this season.

The Grizzlies leading scorer is Danny Bradbury, a 6-2 junior, who averaged 17 points a game. He had a high of 35, and during a three game stretch, averaged 25.7. Owen Leslie, a 6-1 senior, averaged 12 points, and had a high game of 21. Koa Poncho, a 5-11 senior, also averages 12 points a game, and had a high of 23. Robbie Owen, a 6-4 senior, averages seven points a game, but also hit for a high of 23.

If this matchup seems familiar, it’s because the Grizzlies and the Lyncs squared off in the state quarterfinals last year in Yakima. The Lyncs won, 57-38. Last year’s state appearance for Newport was their first since 1980.

The Lyncs have played only three post-season games, and were the highest scoring NWC team this year, at 72.6. The Lyncs won their first 20 games of the season, and are now 23-1.

Lyncs 6-7 senior, Cole Bajema is practically un-guardable at times, but the rest of the squad will make you pay dearly, if you pay too much attention to him. Sophomore Andrew DeVries has emerged into much more of an offensive threat than “just” a 3-point shooter. He has developed into a well rounded offensive player as well, and can score while standing still, or on the move.

George DeJong, a 6-7 senior, is the hammer in the middle. Senior Jordan Riddle, runs the show, and can plant the occasional shot from the volleyball line. The rest of the Lyncs fill in well, wherever they are needed, giving the Lyncs a deep bench, that is build for a championship run.

Coach Roger DeBoer is in his ninth season with the Lyncs. In the past eight seasons, counting this one, the Lyncs have reached regionals or state, seven times. They won their fifth state title in 2012, and finished in fifth place last year.

Saturday, 6:00pm, at Mt. Vernon High School

#8 W F West Bearcats vs. #1 Lynden Lions

Both advance to Yakima. The winner will play Thursday at 5:30pm. The loser will play Wednesday at 9:00pm against the Mountlake Terrace – Mark Morris winner.

The Bearcats were a perfect 10-0 in the Evergreen 2A League, and boast an overall record of 22-3. They beat Washougal in the first round of the district tournament, but lost to Columbia River in the semifinals. They responded with loser out wins over Tumwater and Black Hills.

In the Black Hills game, the Bearcats ran out to a 19-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, only to find themselves trailing 56-55 with very little time remaining. In a very uncoordinated final possession, 6-8 senior, Brandon White, was able to hit the game winning shot with one second left.

While the Bearcats have been a long time 2A power in the Southwest, this season has been the culmination of a few years of building. In 2015, the Bearcats finished 0-20. The next year, they won five games, and last year finished 10-12. They have one state title from 1960, and their last state tournament appearance was in 2008.

W F West has a very balanced scoring attack, with three players averaging between 10 and 12 points a game. Bailey Cooper, a 6-3 senior, leads at 12 points a game. Then it’s Jordan Thomas, a 6-4 senior at 11, and Brandon White, a 6-8 senior, scores 10 a game.

They play a lot of 2-3 zone, and can put a lot of size out front to create difficult passing angles around the perimeter.

After a late season loss at Lakewood, the Lynden Lions welcomed back a healthy Clayton Whitman, and reeled off six straight wins. They were derailed by Liberty in the district championship game, but managed to hang on to the state’s #1 seed.

In Whitman’s 17 game absence, the Lions were able to further develop, an already strong group of reserves. His return has added a spark to their defense and transition game, as well as opened up teammates at the offensive end.

Whitman can make the highlight reel any time he touches the ball. Christian Zamora continues to ripple the nets from the 3-point arc. James Marsh and Blake Silves are excellent complimentary scorers. Kobe Elsner runs the show and has developed a knack for getting to the rim. And, that’s the short list of the nucleus of juniors on the roster.

In Coach Brian Roper’s 14 seasons, the Lions have won two of the programs eight state titles. They have made nine state and one regional appearance in those years. In their last five state tournament appearances, the Lions have reached the semifinals each time, never placing below third, which they have taken, two years in a row.

Friday, 6:00pm, at Puyallup High School

#15 Burlington-Edison Tigers vs. #10 Fife Trojans

Winner advances to Yakima, and will play a loser out game on Wednesday against the loser of Columbia River – Selah.

Fife finished in second place in the SPSL 2A League with a 12-2 record. They are now 20-5 on the season. Both SPSL losses were to defending 2A champion, Foss. One of those was in double-overtime. However, the Trojans knocked off the Falcons in the semifinals of the district tournament. Fife went on to lose to North Kitsap in the district championship game.

Since dropping down from 3A, two seasons ago, Foss had won 39 consecutive games over 2A opponents, until their district loss to Fife.

It seems as though the Trojans are always hanging around at this point of the season. This will be their seventh appearance in regionals or state since 2007.

Brian Mitchell, a 6-3 senior; Malachi Afework, a 6-0 junior; and Cooper Schelbert, a 6-2 senior, all average around 10 points a game.

Burlington-Edison has had an up and down season, but have figured things out at the right time. The Tigers went 5-8 in the NWC, and are now 13-12. Sometimes, that works in your favor.

The Tigers qualified for regionals by beating Sedro-Woolley, then they lost to Mountlake Terrace in the game for 3^rd and 4^th.

First year head coach, Chas Kok has orchestrated the Tigers to the brink of a state tournament appearance, which would be their first since 2013. The Tigers frequented the state tournament six of seven years, between 2007 and 2013. They finished second, three straight years in that stretch.

Caleb Sheldon, the Tigers 6-5 senior, scored inside at will in the district tournament. He can also step outside and hit the occasional 3-pointer.

The Tigers also have two sophomores to build their future around. Jackson Reisner, and Wyatt Walker. Both are solid outside scorers, who carry a very high basketball IQ. Walker scored 20 points in the win over Sedro-Woolley, and 16 in the loss to Mountlake Terrace.

NWC will have no shortage of girls teams in regional action this weekend. Friday at 8:00pm in Mt. Vernon, Nooksack Valley will host Port Townsend. Also Friday, Lynden will play W F West, at Tumwater High School, at 6:00pm.

At noon, Saturday at Mt. Vernon High School, Lynden Christian hosts NWC rival, Meridian. At 4:00pm, also at MVHS, Wapato goes up against Burlington-Edison.

Check NWCAthletics.com for broadcast information.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – The Liberty Patriots defeated the Lynden Lions, 68-64, in the championship game of the 2A Boys District 1/2 Tournament, Saturday night at Mt. Vernon High School. It was the first 2A district title for the Patriots, who improved their season record to 19-4.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – The Liberty Patriots defeated the Lynden Lions, 68-64, in the championship game of the 2A Boys District 1/2 Tournament, Saturday night at Mt. Vernon High School. It was the first 2A district title for the Patriots, who improved their season record to 19-4.

The Lions, who ended the Patriot’s season the last two years, are now 18-6. Both teams will play in next weekend’s regional games, along with Mountlake Terrace and Burlington-Edison. The Hawks downed the Tigers, 58-48, in the game for third and fourth.

Good shooting was the theme in the championship game, as the Patriots rode the hot start of senior, and leading scorer, Jake Elfstrom, who scored nine of his 15 points in the first quarter. The Lions were able to put the clamps on him, as Elfstrom hit only one more 2-point shot the rest of the night. But senior wing, Stephan Hei, came to the rescue for the Patriots. Hei scored 17 first half points, with 12 in the second quarter, and the Patriots led 35-32 at halftime.

The defenses stepped up in the third quarter, as the teams combined for 22 points, but the Patriots held a 48-41 lead.

In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, the Lions found themselves in a ten point hole, as senior Chris Hanson stroked a 3-pointer for Liberty.

After a timeout, the Lions closed the gap quickly, but still trailed 58-54 with three minutes left.

The Lions cut the lead to just two points with 1:45 left, then got a steal off a double-team near mid court. Junior Kobe Elsner went to the floor to secure the possession, and called timeout.

From there, Lion junior Clayton Whitman, drove the lane for two of his 12 fourth quarter points, and the Lions tied it at 62, with 1:16 to go.

After two free throws by junior, Jarod Roberson, put the Patriots back up by two, the Lions turned the ball over on their next possession, and had to foul again. Elfstrom then nailed four straight free throws to help seal the victory.

Hei finished with a game-high 27 points. Elfstrom added 15, and Hanson 12.

Whitman scored 24 for the Lions. Juniors Christian Zamora and James Marsh added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

In the first game of the night, the Mountlake Terrace Hawks outlasted the Burlington-Edison Tigers, 58-48.

The Tigers controlled the tempo against the athletic Hawks for three quarters, where they trailed only 39-37. They used a solid offensive structure, using back-door passes for easy lay-ins, early on. And, in the process, were able to draw two first quarter fouls on MLT leading scorer, Khyree Armstead, forcing him to the bench for most of the first half.

Tiger sophomore, Wyatt Walker, came off the bench to score ten of his 16 points in the second quarter. The Tigers led 28-27 at halftime. In the third quarter, the 6-6 wing added a highlight reel play, as he elevated above a Hawk defender on a rebound, controlled the ball in his right hand, and banked it in off the glass from six feet away.

Early in the third, Armstead went to work for MLT, scoring eight points in the quarter, and eight more in the fourth, for a team-high 18 points.

The score was tied at 41-41 with five minutes left in the game, when the Hawks went on a 12-3 run over the next 3:10, to put the game away.

Senior Brendan Hayes scored 13 for the Hawks, and sophomore Mason Christianson scored seven of his 11 in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Jackson Reisner was the only other Tiger in double-figures, with ten points.

All four teams await the final results of the State RPI system to be completed. The regional pairings should be available Sunday morning.

LIBERTY 68, LYNDEN 64

Lynden 15-17-09-23 = 64

Liberty 17-18-13-20 = 68

Lynden – Kobe Elsner 6, Blake Silves 3, James Marsh 13, Clayton Whitman 24, Brock Heppner 0, Trey LaBounty 2, Dakota Baar 0, Carson Bode 2, Christian Zamora 14. 2P – 21; 3P – 5; FT 7-10.

Liberty – Josh Chung 0, Jake Elfstrom 15, Nick Chung 8, Chris Hanson 12, Stephen Hei 27, Jarod Roberson 4, Rory Brown 2. 2P – 18; 3P – 7; FT 11-11.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE 58, BURLINGTON-EDISON 48

Burlington 12-16-09-11 = 48

Terrace 10-17-12-19 = 58

Burlington – Josh Altenhofen 1, Brock Brewer 1, Jackson Reisner 10, Caleb Sheldon 9, Wyatt Walker 16, Michael Larson 0, Brian McGovern 6, Mitchell Wesen 5.

Terrace – Mason Christianson 11, Keegan Grayson-Zehrung 1, Khyree Armstead 18, Mason Petersen 9, Brendan Hayes 13, Max Hull 2, Akol Yei 4.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – In 2A boys District Tournament action on Thursday night, the Burlington-Edison Tigers and the Mountlake Terrace Hawks both won their consolation games, and will meet for third and fourth place on Saturday, February 17, 6:00pm at Mt. Vernon High School.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – In 2A boys District Tournament action on Thursday night, the Burlington-Edison Tigers and the Mountlake Terrace Hawks both won their consolation games, and will meet for third and fourth place on Saturday, February 17, 6:00pm at Mt. Vernon High School.

The Tigers got the best of the Sedro-Woolley Cubs, 77-66, and will advance to regional play. First year head coach, Chas Kok, is trying to lead the Tigers to their first state tournament appearance since 2013.

The Tigers controlled the game throughout, leading at the end of every quarter, and keeping the Cubs at a safe distance in the fourth quarter. Senior Caleb Sheldon was practically unstoppable in the key, scoring 14 of his 20 points in the first half. Then, sophomore Wyatt Walker took over, scoring 15 of his 20 points in the second half.

Sedro-Woolley senior, Cade Isakson, scored a game high 26 points, while senior Davis Mihelich added 14. The Cubs finished their season with a 14-10 record.

Burlington, the district’s #11 seed, is now 13-11.

In the nightcap, the district’s top-seed, Mountlake Terrace, ended the season for the Anacortes Seahawks, with a 68-60 victory. MLT senior, Khyree Armstead tallied 31 points.

The Seahawks played most of the game without senior forward, Evan Rodriguez, who injured a wrist in the first quarter. Tyler Blouin led the Seahawks with 17 points, and fellow seniors Jacob South and Trystan Lowry put in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Anacortes ends their season with a record of 20-3. Mountlake Terrace improved their record to 21-2.

Saturday at Mt. Vernon High School, Burlington-Edison will take on Mountlake Terrace in the tournament’s 3^rd/4^th place game. The championship game follows, which matches the Liberty Patriots and the Lynden Lions.

Burlington-Edison 77, Sedro-Woolley 66

B-E 18-16-20-23 = 77

S-W 12-16-18-20 = 66

Burlington-Edison – Nate Altenhofen, Josh Altenhofen 5, Brock Brewer 6, Jackson Reisner 13, Caleb Sheldon 20, Wyatt Walker 20, Michael Larson 7, Mitchell Wesen 6. 2P – 14; 3P – 9; FT 22-28.

Sedro-Woolley – George Janicki 3, Cade Isakson 26, Si Dejong 7, Jake Thompson 6, Davis Mihelich 14, Keenan Hofstad 6, Bryson Bartlett 4. 2P – 19; 3P – 2; FT – 22-28.

Mountlake Terrace 68, Anacortes 60

Anac 16-14-10-20 = 60

MLT 17-14-17-20 = 68

Anacortes – Thomas Dylan 0, Tyler Blouin 17, Trystan Lowry 10, Kaeden Flynn 0, Payton Beaner 9, Evan Rodriguez 3, Cort Senff 8, Jacob South 13. 2P – 15; 3P – 5; FT – 15-17.

Mountlake Terrace – Mason Christianson 2, Keegan Grayson-Zehrung 8, Khyree Armstead 31, Mason Petersen 13, Brendan Hayes 10, Max Hull 0, Akol Yel 4. 2P – 14; 3P – 9; FT – 13-18.

by Ted House

(Laurel) - The Mt. Baker Mountaineers have reached the regional round of the state tournament, thanks to a 63-41 win over Nooksack Valley, Wednesday night at Meridian High School.

by Ted House

(Laurel) - The Mt. Baker Mountaineers have reached the regional round of the state tournament, thanks to a 63-41 win over Nooksack Valley, Wednesday night at Meridian High School.

First, however, will be another date with the Kings Knights. That game will take place Saturday at Mountlake Terrace High School, and will decide third and fourth place in the 1A Bi-District Tournament. It will be the third time the teams have met in the post-season.

The Nooksack-Mt. Baker game was moved from Mountlake Terrace High School to Meridian High School in order to better accommodate the teams and their fans. There was a big crowd in the Trojan’s gym, and both school’s bands were on hand.

From the opening tip, the Mountaineers used an aggressive defense to their advantage. They pressed and trapped their way to an early 14-11 lead. The Pioneers had trouble breaking the constant pressure from Mt. Baker’s physical guards, which also contributed to their inability to find and hit open shots at the offensive end.

Pioneer senior, Casey Bauman, did score a game high 20 points, despite a battle with Mountaineer big man, and fellow senior, Ethan Gates.

After leading 32-24 at halftime, the Pioneers scored only four points over the next ten minutes, all at the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers slowly pulled away. When Nooksack senior, Jordan Veening scored the first Pioneer field goal of the second half, with just under six minutes left, the Mountaineers led 46-32.

From there, the desperation shots would not fall, and Mt. Baker built a 21 point lead with two minutes to play.

Gates led the Mountaineers with 13 points. Mountaineer juniors, David Vetkov and Carter Backstrom each hit two 3-pointers in the second quarter, and finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Nooksack finishes the season with a 12-12 overall record under second year head coach, Rich Skillman. Seniors Casey Bauman, Jordan Veening and Kyle Veldman were important parts of a team that improved on last year’s 7-13 record.

It will be the Mountaineers first appearance in a regional game since a 2013 loss to Toledo. A win in the regional round will advance them to the state tournament for the first time since their 2010 sixth place finish.

The State RPI will kick in Saturday night, after all the district tournaments have been completed. The 16 teams that qualify will be seeded based on their RPI. The top eight play a regional game that is not loser out. Seeds 9-16 will play a loser out regional game.

Before this game was played, Mt. Baker held the #18 seed in 1A. Kings holds the #35 seed. It is unclear just where the Mountaineers will land, but at first look, it does not appear that they will be able to climb into the top 8. With tonight's win, their record improved to 14-11.

Mt. Baker 14-18-12-29 = 63

Nooksack 11-13-4-13 = 41

Mt. Baker – Ethan Gates 13, David Vetkov 12, Caleb Forbes 2, Kaleb Bass 2, Waylon Kentner 6, Hayden Linderman, Carter Backstrom 10, Carson Engholm 3, Jason Lee 2, Thomas Barbo 11, Garrett Smith, Michael Whitson 2.

Nooksack – Matthew Pratt, Ty Rawls 3, Ryan Veening 3, Casey Bauman 20, Baylor Galley 3, Jordan Veening 10, Zach Johnson, Kyle Veldman, Cody Coppenger, Keldon Weidkamp, Cole Eldridge 2, Clancy Coppinger.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – Mt. Vernon High school was the site of the 2A Boys District semifinals, Tuesday night. In game 1, Liberty defeated Anacortes 57-55, followed by Lynden downing Sedro-Woolley 74-54. The winners will meet for the district championship, on the same famed floor, Saturday night. Liberty and Lynden have qualified for regionals.

by Ted House

(Mt. Vernon) – Mt. Vernon High school was the site of the 2A Boys District semifinals, Tuesday night. In game 1, Liberty defeated Anacortes 57-55, followed by Lynden downing Sedro-Woolley 74-54. The winners will meet for the district championship, on the same famed floor, Saturday night. Liberty and Lynden have qualified for regionals.

The Patriots took control early and forced the Seahawks to play catch up all night. They led by eight at the end of the first quarter, and ten at halftime. But with the outside shooting going through an off night, the Seahawks found an answer inside.

Senior post, Jacob South scored 18 of his game high 23 points in the second half. The Seahawks scored the first seven points of the third quarter, six by South, and trailed Liberty by just 40-38 after three quarters.

Senior Tyler Blouin, who scored 14 points, hit a 26-foot shot from straight away to trim the Patriot lead to 54-53 with 26 seconds left. After a quick foul, Liberty’s Stephen Hei hit two free throws to stretch the lead to three. The Seahawks got one free throw back to cut the lead to two, then fouled again with ten seconds left.

Liberty’s Jarod Roberson hit the first, but missed the second, giving the Seahawks a chance.

Cort Senff got an open 3-point shot from the right corner that hit the rim. The ball found the hands of South, but he couldn’t quite get a secure handle on the ball, and his shot missed at the buzzer.

The Seahawks, who entered the tournament as the 3^rd seed, will play top-seed, Mountlake Terrace, in a loser out game, on Thursday, at Mt. Vernon High School. Tip is scheduled for 7:30pm. This is a loser out game, with the winner advancing to regionals, and to the 3^rd/4^th place game on Saturday.

In the second semifinal, Sedro-Woolley used some hot shooting in the first eight minutes, and trailed Lynden only 20-18. The Lions then quickly stretched the lead to 7, before the Cubs fought back to 29-27. But over the last 3:30 of the half, the Lions went on a 12-2 run to close half with a 41-29 lead.

Lynden junior Clayton Whitman, playing in his sixth game of the season, scored 13 first half points, but he was just warming up. Whitman scored the first two hoops of the third quarter, prompting a quick Cubs timeout.

Whitman scored 25 of his game high 32 points in the middle two quarters. He scored 12 of those 32 in the first 3:30 of the third quarter. Blake Silves and Christian Zamora also shot well, logging 13 and 12 points, respectively. Davis Mihelich led the Cubs with 14.

Sedro-Woolley will play Burlington-Edison, Thursday at 6:00 pm, at Mt. Vernon High School, with the winner qualifying for regionals, and the loser is out.

Lynden and Liberty will meet in the district tournament for the second year in a row, and for the third straight year in the post-season. Lynden won both meetings, including a double-overtime, loser out game, last year.

The district championship game will be Saturday night, following the game for 3^rd and 4^th, which begins at 6:00pm.

In the loser-out games that were held at Skagit Valley College, Burlington-Edison eliminated Sammamish 72-57, and Mountlake Terrace knocked out Lakewood, 56-39.

LIBERTY 57, ANACORTES 55

Anacortes 14-12-12-17 = 55

Liberty 22-14-4-17 = 57

Anacortes – Thomas Dylan 2, Tyler Blouin 14, Trystan Lowry 6, Payton Beaner 3, Evan Rodriguez 4, Cort Senff 3, Jacob South 23.

Liberty – Josh Chung 6, Jake Elfstrom 11, Nick Chung 12, Chris Hanson 11, Stephen Hei 7, Jarod Roberson 10.

LYNDEN 74, SEDRO-WOOLLEY 54

Sedro-Woolley 18-11-12-13 = 54

Lynden 20-21-21-12 = 74

Sedro-Woolley – George Janicki 5, Cade Isakson 9, Si Dejong 4, Eli Dejong 4, Aiden Fitzpatrick 2, Jake Thompson 2, Davis Mehelich 14, Keenan Hofstad 8, Isaiah Guerero 0, Weston Abbott 0, Bryson Bartlett, 6.

Lynden – Kobe Elsner 4, Blake Silves 13, James Marsh 0, Clayton Whitman 32, Brock Heppner 4, Trey LaBounty 4, Noah Walker 3, Dakota Baar 2, Carson Bode 0, Carter Parcher 0, Christian Zamora 12, Jacob Kettels 0.

by Ted House

Now that was district tournament weather!

Oh sure, wind, rain and the occasional snow storm is also district tournament weather, but Saturday felt special. As I left the home office about 2pm, the truck window was down, and the AM Oldies station was the preferred choice. Though, when the speed limit reached 35 mph, the window quickly went up.

I saw two games yesterday that I hope you were able to read about. I will keep posting stories on the games that I attend, and try to fill in some of the gap that was recently created.

by Ted House

Now that was district tournament weather!

Oh sure, wind, rain and the occasional snow storm is also district tournament weather, but Saturday felt special. As I left the home office about 2pm, the truck window was down, and the AM Oldies station was the preferred choice. Though, when the speed limit reached 35 mph, the window quickly went up.

I saw two games yesterday that I hope you were able to read about. I will keep posting stories on the games that I attend, and try to fill in some of the gap that was recently created.

You can’t talk about yesterday’s happenings, without first mentioning the most amazing finish that has come about in a long while. Game winning buzzer-beaters during the regular season are one thing, but to get one in a post-season game is another. And this one also happened to be a real “bracket-buster.”

The game featured 2A boys district competitors, Sedro-Woolley, the 8-seed, at top seeded, Mountlake Terrace. The Hawks were cruising along, with a 44-30 lead over the Cubs, as the fourth quarter began.

The Cubs slowly trimmed the lead to 51-46 on a 2-pointer with 45 seconds left, by Cubs junior, and soon-to-be hero, Keenan Hofstad. After that, the Hawks turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, but the Cubs missed on a 3-pointer. A quick foul put MLT on the free throw line with 30 seconds left.

The Hawks missed the front end of the 1-and-1, and the Cubs added a free throw at the other end, to make it 51-47 at the 18-second mark.

Another Cubs foul, and another missed free throw by the Hawks, and Hofstad raced the dribble toward the left wing. Under tight defense, and no other options, Hofstad launched a double-clutch, 24-foot desperation heave, that drew nothing but net. It was now a 51-50 game with just nine seconds left.

Two seconds later, the Hawks were on the line again, on the 9^th team foul of the half by the Cubs. The Cubs grabbed the long rebound, and took off for the impromptu sequel: “Despiration II.”

Rarely does the sequel measure up to the original. Caddyshack II, Major League II, just to name a couple. But this one was better.

Hofstad received the outlet pass on the left side of the floor in back court. He raced hard on the dribble with his right hand, toward his offensive right wing, the exact opposite spot of his last big shot.

As he dribbled through defenders, hoping for a look at the rim, one Hawk made a lunge at the ball, forcing Hofstad to make a sudden clockwise “360” spin to protect the ball. As he rotated back to his starting point, he was square to the rim, but with momentum still going heavily to his right. He released the ball and then hit the floor, just a fraction of a second before the ball, again, swished through, beating the buzzer, and advancing his team to the district semifinals.

Hofstad scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. Of the 11 fourth quarter points, eight were in the last 45 seconds. Six of those were in the last nine seconds. Reggie Miller, of the Indiana Pacers, once scored eight points in nine seconds against the New York Knicks, in the 1995 NBA playoffs.

The Hawks (19-2), who won the Wesco League Title, will play Lakewood (16-6) in a loser out game, Tuesday, February 13, at Skagit Valley College. Sedro-Woolley (14-8) will take on Lynden (17-5), in one semifinal, the same night at Mt. Vernon High School.

Also on Saturday, Anacortes (20-1) and Liberty (17-4), both played teams that they had beaten twice during the regular season. The Seahawks notched their third win of the year over Burlington-Edison, 63-51. Liberty did the same with Sammamish, 66-38.

The 3-seed Seahawks will play the 2-seed Patriots, in the first semifinal on Tuesday, at MVHS. The Tigers will play the Totems, Tuesday, at SVC, in a loser out contest.

In 1A district basketball, Lynden Christian (22-1), easily defeated Nooksack Valley (12-11), 72-34. Both teams had previously qualified for the Bi-District Tournament. The Lyncs will take on The Northwest School House (19-2, and something about them I like!). Both have qualified for regionals, so it will be a game with a nice State RPI boost.

The Pioneers will play on Wednesday, February 14, at Mountlake Terrace High School. They will play the winner of Monday’s, Mt. Baker – University Prep game. The winner Wednesday’s game will qualify for regionals, and the loser is out.

University Prep is 10-10 on the year, and finished 3^rd in the Emerald City League.

The Ferndale Golden Eagles are in a loser out situation after a 69-59 loss to Arlington. The Golden Eagles play at Edmonds-Woodway on Wednesday. They will have to win three straight to advance.

Here is a YouTube link to the Hofstad game winner (copy/paste):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1p37_OjsBM&feature=youtu.be

by Ted House

Kings 70, Mt. Baker 53

(Mt. Vernon) – The Mt. Baker Mountaineers lost to the Kings Knights 70-53, in a game that decided third and fourth place in the 2018 1A District 1 Boys Basketball Tournament, Saturday, at Mt. Vernon High School.

by Ted House

Kings 70, Mt. Baker 53

(Mt. Vernon) – The Mt. Baker Mountaineers lost to the Kings Knights 70-53, in a game that decided third and fourth place in the 2018 1A District 1 Boys Basketball Tournament, Saturday, at Mt. Vernon High School.

It’s a quick turnaround, as both teams will play on Monday, February 12, in the Bi-District Tournament. The Mountaineers will travel to University Prep, while the Knights will host Seattle Academy. Both are loser out contests.

The Mountaineers, who won at Kings in the tournament’s first round, did everything well early on. They continually broke the Knights full court pressure, and ended up with easy shots in transition. Baker’s junior guard, Kaleb Bass attacked the Knights press, scoring 11 first half points.

The Mounties held a double-digit lead early in the second quarter, but by halftime, the Knights had made things close. Baker’s senior big man, Ethan Gates got in foul trouble in the second quarter, and until then, was effectively clogging the middle of the Kings offensive plans.

Gates picked up his fourth foul with just 27 seconds gone in the third period, and his bench time opened up the offense for the Knights. From that point, until the 1:05 mark of the third quarter, the Knights went on an 18-2 run, that ended with a Carson Engholm 3-pointer, that cut the Knights lead to 47-37.

Gates made a quick exit in the fourth quarter as well, as he was tagged for his fifth foul with six minutes to play, the Mountaineers trailing by 12. The Knights lead quickly ballooned to 62-45, just two minutes later.

Bass finished with 13 points, as the only Mountie in double-figures. Knights 6-5 junior, Elyon Zevenbergen, scored 14 of his game high 25 in the fourth quarter.

Mt. Baker 17-15-7-14 = 53

Kings 9-20-22-19 = 70

MB – Ethan Gates 2, David Vetkov 4, Caleb Forbes 0, Kaleb Bass 13, Waylon Kentner 6, Hayden Linderman 0, Carter Backstrom 9, Carson Engholm 6, Jason Lee 6, Thomas Barbo 7, Garrett Smith 0, Michael Whitson 0. 2P – 12; 3P – 7; FT 8-11.

Kings – Shane McGaughey-Fick 3, Hunter Reeves 5, Levi Bundrant 12, Nate Kleppe 4, Tyler Durbin 8, Jaron Hanson 0, Eylon Zevenbergen 25, Luke Bobin 4, Taylor Schoenfeld 8, Nic Fotopoulos 1. 2P – 16; 3P – 5; FT 23-30.

Lynden 66, Lakewood 39

The Lynden Lions dominated the first and third quarters, on their way to a decisive 66-39 win over Lakewood, in the second round of the 2018 2A District 1/2 Boys Basketball Tournament, Saturday at Lakewood High School.

The Lions took a 6-2 lead after three minutes, then cut loose on an 11-2 run to finish the quarter with a 17-4 lead. Five different players scored for the Lions in the opening quarter, and the defense held the Cougars to a single field goal in the first eight minutes.

The Lions held a similar lead through the second period, until the Cougars began to find some rhythm. Lakewood senior, CJ McClellan hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, cutting the Lions lead to 29-21. But that’s as close as the Cougars would get.

Lion junior Clayton Whitman, who finished with 13 points, started the third quarter with two free throws on the Lions first possession. Whitman attacking the interior of the Cougars defense set the tone for what was to come.

The play of the night may have been a two on one fast break, featuring Whitman and 6-8 senior, Trey LaBounty. In a quick transition from offense to defense, and back, LaBounty was ahead of the pack as Whitman came up with a loose ball in back court. Whitman charged up the floor and lobbed the ball to LaBounty on the right side, on his way to the hoop. But LaBounty lobbed it back to Whitman, who elevated to the rim and kissed it easily of off the glass.

The 22-2 quarter by the Lions salted the game away, as they led 51-23 starting the fourth. The Lions shot 6 of 9 from the field in the third quarter, and converted on 8 of 9 free throws. Four of those free throws were the result of two technical fouls that were called on the Cougars during the stretch.

Lion junior, Christian Zamora, scored ten of his game high 15 in the third quarter. Alex Jensen and CJ McClellan scored 11 each for the Cougars. The Lions were razor sharp from the free throw line, hitting 16 of 20. The Cougars could only sink 7 of 16. The Lions outscored the Cougars 39-6 over the first and third quarters, combined.

The win sends the Lions to the district semifinal against Sedro-Woolley, who won in dramatic fashion, 53-51 over top seed, Mountlake Terrace on Saturday. The Cubs and Lions will play at Mt. Vernon High School on Tuesday, February 13, at 7:30pm. The Cougars will play Mountlake Terrace in a loser out game, the same night at Skagit Valley College. That game will tip off at 7:30pm.

Also Saturday, Anacortes beat Burlington-Edison, 61-53, and Liberty upended Sammamish, 66-38. That means that Anacortes and Liberty will play in the first semifinal game on Tuesday, at 6:00pm, at MVHS. And the Tigers will play Sammamish, Tuesday, at Skagit Valley College at 6:00pm, in a loser out contest.

Four teams will qualify for the regional round, and the “State RPI” will continue to calculate until the end of district play. The State RPI only seeds the 16 teams that qualify.

Lynden 17-12-22-16 = 69

Lakewood 4-17-2-16 = 36

Lynden - Kobe Elsner 1, Blake Silves 7, James Marsh 7, Clayton Whitman 13, Brock Heppner 7, Trey LaBounty 9, Noah Walker 3, Dakota Baar 0, Carson Bode 2, Carter Parcher 0, Christian Zamora 15, Jacob Kettels 2. 2P – 16; 3P – 6; FT 16-20.

Lakewood – Jon Cox 5, Jackson Schultz 3, CJ McClellan 11, Machai Harris 0, Preston Cochran-Kruse 0, Adam Duran 0, Alex Jensen 11, Austin Lane 0, Kaleb Duitsman 0, Tom Roe 2, Alex Coleman 7. 2P – 10; 3P – 4; FT 7-16.

by Ted House

(Lynden) – If the Bellingham Red Raiders were to upset the Lynden Lions in the first round of the boys 2A District Tournament, they would need to have a short memory. But, in the middle two quarters, things became all too familiar, as the Lions rolled to an 82-47 victory, Thursday night at Lynden High School.

The win sends the Lions to Lakewood to play the red hot Cougars, Saturday at 7:00pm. The Red Raiders ended their season with an 8-13 record.

by Ted House

(Lynden) – If the Bellingham Red Raiders were to upset the Lynden Lions in the first round of the boys 2A District Tournament, they would need to have a short memory. But, in the middle two quarters, things became all too familiar, as the Lions rolled to an 82-47 victory, Thursday night at Lynden High School.

The win sends the Lions to Lakewood to play the red hot Cougars, Saturday at 7:00pm. The Red Raiders ended their season with an 8-13 record.

Just six days ago, the Lions beat Bellingham 68-40 in a league contest. And, early on in this game, it seemed like the Red Raiders had forgotten all about that night.

With the score tied at eight in the middle of the first quarter, the Lions used a 7-2 run to gain some breathing room, but the Red Raiders knotted the score at 16 each, in the first minute of the second quarter.

At that point, however, is when Lion juniors, James Marsh and Clayton Whitman took over. Marsh hit four straight shots around the basket, while Whitman scored in a variety of ways. Lynden had a 14-3 run that pushed the score to 30-19, until a Spencer Lee 3-pointer gave the Red Raiders some hope.

Whitman nailed a step-back 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half, to give the Lions a 39-29 lead at the break.

The Lions slammed the door in the first 4:30 of the third quarter with a 13-4 run, for a 52-33 lead. Less than a minute later, Lion junior reserve Carson Bode reaped the benefits of making a heady “basketball play.” On a missed Lion free throw, Bode tipped the rebound back to a teammate at the top of the key. Alertly, as players were still tangled up in the middle of the key, Bode took a return pass and swished a 3-pointer from the left wing, to put the Lions up by 20.

Whitman’s three-point play at the end of the third quarter ended his night, as well as Bellingham’s, as the Lions led 67-37.

Over the middle two quarters, the Lions outscored the Red Raiders 51-23. During that time, Whitman scored 19 of his game high 21 points, and Marsh scored 12 of his 16. Junior Blake Silves added 10 points on the night, scoring seven of those in the middle quarters.

Spencer Lee kept the Red Raiders close early, scoring 15 of his 19 in the first half. He was the only Red Raider to reach double-figures.

Lynden played at Lakewood on January 26, a game won by the Cougars, 58-52.

Bellingham 14-15-8-10 = 47

Lynden 16-23-28-15 = 82

Bellingham: Rits Voeut 6, Drew McFall 6, Colm Schaefer 0, Kobey Georgen 2, Iyan Manju 0, Spencer Lee 19, Caden Mee 4, Jackson Lee 3, Rand Bentley 7, Miles Ferran 0. 2P – 13; 3P – 4; FT 9-17; Total 47.

Lynden: Coby Elsner 8, Blake Silves 10, James Marsh 16, Clayton Whitman 21, Brock Heppner 6, Trey LaBounty 2, Noah Walker 2, Dakota Baar 2, Carson Bode 6, Carter Parcher 0, Christian Zamora 7, Jacob Kettels 2. 2P – 26; 3P – 6; FT 12-21; Total 82.

by Ted House

(Lynden) – For 28 minutes, the Mt. Baker Mountaineers kept pace with the Lynden Christian Lyncs. But those last four minutes posed a big problem, as the Lyncs separated themselves enough to claim a 72-56 victory, in the semifinals of the 1A Boys District Tournament, Wednesday night at Lynden Christian High School.

by Ted House

(Lynden) – For 28 minutes, the Mt. Baker Mountaineers kept pace with the Lynden Christian Lyncs. But those last four minutes posed a big problem, as the Lyncs separated themselves enough to claim a 72-56 victory, in the semifinals of the 1A Boys District Tournament, Wednesday night at Lynden Christian High School.

The Lyncs will play Nooksack Valley for the district championship, Saturday at 7:00pm, at Mt. Vernon High School. The Pioneers took out Cascade Conference champion, South Whidbey, 65-46, also on Wednesday.

Through the first half, the Mountaineers shut down the Lyncs offense. Against the Mt. Baker zone defense, the Lyncs had trouble getting into their normal rhythm. The Lyncs first score came on a Cole Bajema put-back of a missed shot at the 5:10 mark of the first period. By the end of the quarter, the Mountaineers had claimed a 9-6 lead, with 6-10 senior, Ethan Gates scoring six of those from close range.

The Mountaineers continued to dictate the pace, even with the Lyncs trying to speed things up with an assortment of pressing and trapping defenses.

At the five minute mark of the second quarter, the Mountaineers went “extra large,” by adding 6-8 senior, Michael Whitson to the lineup, together with Gates. The pair combined on some hi-low action and the Mountaineers took a 20-15 lead.

The chess match continued, as the Lyncs backed off on the outside pressure, and packed in their zone defense to help cover the Baker big guys. The Lyncs then forced a shot clock violation, and were able to tie the score in the last minute, but Mt. Baker held a 21-20 lead at the half.

The Lyncs made only 1 of 13 3-point shots in the first half, but stayed tight with the Mountaineers by stroking 12 of 17 free throws.

The third quarter was more of the same, until junior forward Luke Bos found the soft spot of the Mountaineer zone. Bos hit a shot from the key, then got two more by sneaking around Gates with a nifty inside move. Bos then hit another jumper, and soon after, a 3-point play for nine third quarter points.

The Lyncs finally got the pace a little more frantic and junior sharp-shooter Andrew DeVries nailed a 3-pointer off a fast break, followed by a Bajema steal and a layup. The Lyncs had a 41-36 lead after three quarters.

Bos scored five more points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Lyncs took a 49-40 lead. But the Mountaineers grit, and a couple hoops, cut the lead to five with 4:46 left. Then, with the Mountaineer defense now having to pay attention to Bos at the high post area, he alertly set up his shooters, DeVries then Bajema, for back-to-back three’s.

The Lyncs shooting got better as the game went on, and gave Mt. Baker no opportunity to play catch-up in the last four minutes. In fact, the Lyncs outscored the Mountaineers 23-12 over the last 4:49. The Lyncs scored only 20 points in the first 16 minutes.

DeVries hit four straight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and totaled 23 points on the night. Bajema was 9-10 at the free throw line and scored 19. Bos finished with 14, all in the second half, and senior Jordan Riddle added 10, on 7 of 8 from the charity stripe.

Gates and senior Thomas Barbo led the Mountaineers with 14 points each, and junior Kaleb Bass added 12.

Mt. Baker made three more field goals than the Lyncs, with both teams taking 46 shots. But the Lyncs outscored Mt. Baker by 14 at the foul line, and made eight more 3-pointers.

After a long struggle with the offense, the Lyncs ended up scoring 51 points in the second half.

The Mountaineers will play a loser out game at home, on Friday, against Cedar Park Christian. The Eagles lost at Nooksack on Monday. The winner will play for third and fourth on Saturday, and will be assured of a spot in the Bi-District Tournament.

MB 9-13-14-16 = 56

LC 6-15-20-31 = 72

Mt. Baker – Ethan Gates 14, David Vetkov 2, Caleb Forbes 0, Kaleb Bass 12, Waylon Kentner 0, Hayden Linderman 0, Carter Backstrom 8, Carson Engholm 0, Jason Lee 0, Thomas Barbo 14, Michael Whitson 6. FG 22-46 (3P 2-13), FT 10-14

Lynden Christian – Jordan Riddle 10, Cole Bajema 19, Andrew Devries 23, Michael Lancaster 1, Bryce Bouwman 0, Luke Bos 14, Tanner Jansen 1, Cole Langstraat 1, George DeJong 3, Jake Libolt 0, Zach Sipma 0. FG 19-46 (3P 10-28), FT 24-34.

by Ted House

As of Super Bowl Sunday, the Northwest Conference is just two days from finishing the 2017-18 regular season. The 1A’s have already checked out, and will begin their quest for Yakima on Monday, while the 2A’s and 3A’s will get together one last time, the following day.

It’s been a much quieter finish to the season than last year. That was the time when the area was hit with a brutal snow storm that cancelled everything in sight for several days. Including the last game of the regular season for the 2A’s and 3A’s, and played havoc on the 1A District Tournament.

When I say “quieter,” I mean outside. We still saw plenty of hot buildings this week.

by Ted House

As of Super Bowl Sunday, the Northwest Conference is just two days from finishing the 2017-18 regular season. The 1A’s have already checked out, and will begin their quest for Yakima on Monday, while the 2A’s and 3A’s will get together one last time, the following day.

It’s been a much quieter finish to the season than last year. That was the time when the area was hit with a brutal snow storm that cancelled everything in sight for several days. Including the last game of the regular season for the 2A’s and 3A’s, and played havoc on the 1A District Tournament.

When I say “quieter,” I mean outside. We still saw plenty of hot buildings this week.

Before reviewing the past week, here is a short review of the season so far.

It is widely known that the NWC is a tough conference. And that label goes on teams in all three classifications. NWC teams play 13 league games, so there is plenty of room to schedule non-league opponents. Some will play non-league games against other teams in the NWC. But every team is able to play several games against teams outside the conference.

NWC teams don’t schedule to pump up their own records. They schedule to prepare for the post-season. But even if they do find a cupcake or two out there, so what? The league schedule is tough enough, especially for 1A teams.

NWC teams played a total of 86 games against teams from outside the conference. Lynden Christian went 8-0, and Anacortes was 6-0, to lead the way. The 1A group was 19-6. The 2A’s and 3A’s together, ended up with a record of 40-21. That means the league went a combined 59-27, for a .686 winning percentage.

I’m pretty sure that’s an impressive accomplishment. For a small comparison, the 2A SPSL Mountain division, with eight teams, led by Foss and Fife, were a combined 21-22. The eight 2A teams of the NWC were 34-14.

Early in the week, Lynden Christian eked out their 20^th win of the season, a 62-58 nail-biter over Bellingham. The Lyncs had to overcome a double-digit deficit in the second half. It also proved the fact that the Red Raiders will be a very dangerous “12-seed” in the 2A District Tournament.

Meridian, who’s season was shortened severely due to the success of the football team, was just starting to jell, but were still two games out with two to play after beating Nooksack last Saturday. They followed that with a win over Squalicum, but the Pioneers beat Sedro-Woolley the same night, to eliminate the Trojans.

Nonetheless, I took in the Trojans final game, as they hosted Burlington-Edison. Now, please understand, I don’t go to MHS just for the food. But it is a nice bonus. And, yes, I did have my usual. Following that, it was announced (by me, to me) that the Trojan Concession Stand had finished with their third consecutive undefeated season. Hey, folks out there in “concession-stand-land”, if you can’t beat’m, join’m.

Friday was a big night in the NWC, starting in Lynden, were the Lions roared past an “under the weather” Bellingham team, 68-40.

It was the second game back for Lynden’s 6-5 junior, Clayton Whitman, who missed the first 17 games due to a wrist injury. After seeing the floor for the first time on Tuesday against Mt. Baker, Whitman made his first start of the season, in game 19, against the Red Raiders. Whitman wasted no time displaying an assortment of highlight reel moves. This late season addition will not only boost the Lions play at both ends of the floor, but they have also been able to deepen their bench in his absence.

Bellingham was not at 100% on this night either. Starting forward Drew McFall missed the game, and others had been hit hard by the sick bug recently.

Moving south (direction) to Anacortes, the Seahawks needed a layup by senior post, Jacob South (player), to nip Ferndale, 50-49. The Golden Eagles, who took care of Sehome on Wednesday for their eighth straight win, held a 47-38 lead with 2:40 to play.

The Seahawks chipped away at the lead until they trailed 49-48 with 10 seconds left, and Ferndale at the free throw line. The shot was missed, and senior Trystan Lowry got the ball with eight seconds left, and about 80 feet of court to negotiate.

Lowry took off on the dribble, and weaved his way through the Golden Eagle defense. Just past mid court, he spotted South, planted in the middle of the key. A perfect pass, away from the last defender, led South right to the rim for the game winner.

It was the sixth straight win for the Seahawks, whose league record improved to 11-1, just one win behind the Lyncs.

One player who is really fun to watch is Ferndale’s 6-1 “center” Reid Benson. Don’t let the height or the position fool you. He plays several inches taller than that, and he could just as well handle the point-guard duties. He has incredible floor vision and passing ability. He is able to draw defenders and dish to teammates for easy open shots. He is also a tremendous low post player who can go with either hand, and never seems to shoot the same shot twice.

In the current age of basketball, very few shots are taken between 10-feet and 19-feet-nine-inches. Even the low post game is generally non-existent. I would bet that players don’t even practice mid-range shots very much, since zone offenses are looking for the open three. But, maybe with defenses extending more, the mid-range game will make a comeback some day. Ferndale is really good in the mid-range area.

It is not official yet, but Arlington seems to be the first round opponent for the Golden Eagles, in the 3A District Tournament. They will not have to play in the Wesco play-in round. The double-elimination tournament begins on February 10.

Meanwhile, back to the north at Lynden Christian, the 20-0 Lyncs were trying to hold off the red-hot Lakewood Cougars. Trailing by six points with eight minutes to go, the Cougars outscored the Lyncs 21-10, and pulled out an 80-75 victory. That’s seven wins in the last eight games for the Cougars.

The difference in the game was Michai Harris, a 5-10 junior. Harris, who has about a 6-point scoring average, came off the bench to toss in 27! Generally, a team will focus their defense around their opponents two or three leading scorers. But when lightning strikes like this from an unknown source, it’s difficult to stop.

And now, for my next trick, I would like to explain the scenarios that are possible in the 2A District 1/2 RPI. But first, this disclaimer:

“The scenarios you are about to read have been studied by me, and me only. They were not given to me by District AD’s, or anyone else. I fully back the RPI that was developed by the NWC, but it is a tree with many branches, and each win has a domino effect. I am sure that the information I am about to reveal is correct, to the best of my ability, or I wouldn’t put it out there. However, proceed with caution.”

There are three races in the 2A District RPI. The race for 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th is the most important, and the toughest to call. Lakewood is in the 4^th position, which is important because the top four don’t have to play in the loser out round.

The 4-seed was really a two-team race between Lakewood and Lynden, until Archbishop Murphy beat Kings on Tuesday. That hatched a bunch of new scenarios. After that, however, ATM was beaten at home by Sultan. The Wildcats season is complete, and they are currently the 5-seed.

On Tuesday of this week, 6-seed Lynden plays at Ferndale, while Lakewood travels to Sedro-Woolley. Here is what could happen, accompanied by who gets 4^th/5^th/6th:

1-Lakewood and Lynden both win: Lakewood/Lynden/ATM

2-Lakewood wins and Lynden loses: Lakewood/ATM/Lynden

3-Lakewood loses and Lynden wins: Lynden/Lakewood/ATM

4-Lakewood and Lynden both lose: Lakewood/ATM/Lynden

One thing to note here pertains to the Lakewood-Sedro Woolley game. Right now, the Cubs are 6-6. Their outcome effects Lynden’s RPI. The Lions beat the Cubs this season, so the point total for that win will be higher if the Cubs win, than if they lose. That extra bump is what would move Lynden past Lakewood, in the third scenario.

The top three seeds seem to be locked in, with an order of Liberty, Mountlake Terrace, and Anacortes. Liberty’s season is complete. The Patriots finished tied with Bellevue at 13-1, co-champs of the KingCo 2A/3A League.

Mountlake Terrace is 18-1 on the season, and tied with Shorecrest and Marysville-Pilchuck for first place in the Wesco. The Hawks play MP in their season finale on Monday.

Seeds 7-12 go something like this:

Cedarcrest finished their regular season as the 7-seed, and appears to be locked in. Sedro-Woolley, currently 8^th, will finish no lower than 9^th. Sehome is 9^th, and can finish 8^th or 9^th. Sammamish and Burlington-Edison can finish anywhere between 9^th and 11^th. Bellingham is locked in to 12^th.

Here is a tiny preview on Monday’s 1A District Tournament games:

Cedar Park Christian (5-7/9-11) at Nooksack Valley (5-8/10-10), 7:15pm

Best Wins:

CPC – Split with Kings and Cedarcrest.

NV – Sehome, Bellingham, Sedro-Woolley.

Common Opponents:

University Prep – CPC won 57-52. NV won 53-30.

Lynden Christian – CPC lost 76-35. NV lost 85-61.

CPC was fifth in the Cascade Conference, and is led by 6-5 senior guard, George Reid, 27 ppg (based on 18 box scores). Reid is the only Eagle who averages in double-figures.

The Pio’s recent win over MB bought them a home game in the first round, while the Mounties have to travel. George Reid’s 27 points a game is certainly eye-popping, but their lack of scoring balance should allow the Pioneers to focus their attention on him. As long as they don’t give up a bunch of points from an unexpected source, Nooksack should advance to play South Whidbey in round two.

It is a double-elimination tournament, with four of the six teams advancing to the Bi-District. The losing team will also continue, and play the semi-final loser from the other side of the bracket.

Mt. Baker (5-8/10-9) at Kings (8-4/10-10), 7:00pm.

Best Wins:

MB – Lakewood (2), Oak Harbor, Squalicum, Sehome.

Kings – Archbiship Murphy, Cedarcrest, South Whidbey (all splits).

Common Opponents:

South Whidbey – MB lost 59-57. Kings lost 65-50, and won 57-43.

Lynden – MB lost 49-35. Kings lost 48-45.

Friday Harbor – MB won 70-46. Kings won 66-36.

Box scores are scarce on the Knights, but they are always a well balanced, tournament tested, fundamental team, that plays tough defense. They have no players in the 6-8 to 6-10 range like the Mountaineers have, but they are certainly not short on height. Watch for 6-5 senior, Eylon Zevenbergen; 6-4 junior, Luke Bobin; 6-5 senior, Nate Kleppe; 6-2 senior, Levi Bundrant.

Other than a game at Burlington, the Mountaineers were competitive throughout their NWC schedule. Along with Nooksack, their 5-8 record isn’t bad, considering the competition. Playing Kings in the post-season generally isn’t something to look forward to, but the Mounties can get this one. There are no Kispert’s on the roster, but the Mountaineers will need to be aggressive on the defensive end, especially inside, like they were in the second half of their 14 point win over Lakewood.

The winner’s next game will be at Lynden Christian. The loser will play the loser of the semi-final contest from the other side of the bracket.

By Ted House

The 2A District 1/2 boys basketball tournament tips off Thursday, February 8, at four locations. These will be loser out games, and the winners advance to the double-elimination portion that starts on Saturday.

The teams were positioned by the District RPI system. Mountlake Terrace, Liberty, Anacortes and Lakewood ended up as the top four, and will host the Thursday winners.

Here is a brief look at games 1-4.

By Ted House

The 2A District 1/2 boys basketball tournament tips off Thursday, February 8, at four locations. These will be loser out games, and the winners advance to the double-elimination portion that starts on Saturday.

The teams were positioned by the District RPI system. Mountlake Terrace, Liberty, Anacortes and Lakewood ended up as the top four, and will host the Thursday winners.

Here is a brief look at games 1-4.

Game 1: #11-Burlington-Edison (5-8 / 10-10) at #6-Archbishop Murphy (8-4 / 13-7) 7:00pm

This game features two coaches who are in their first year as head coach at their school. Christopher (Chas) Kok, after time as an assistant, leads the Tigers. Long time Snohomish coach, Len Bone is in his first season with the Wildcats.

The Tigers’ go-to-guy is 6-5 senior, Caleb Sheldon, who averages 14 points a game. Sheldon is big, strong and athletic, with energy to go end to end.

ATM is led in scoring by 6-3 senior, Rwehabura Munyagi, also at 18 points a game (based on 11 box scores). Trey Miller, a 6-4 senior scores about 15 points a game, based on the same information.

The Tigers are only 2-4 in the last six games, but each loss was by exactly two points. The Tigers have wins over 3A Arlington, the first round district tournament opponent of Ferndale, and 4A West Valley-Yakima. ATM is 6-2 in their last eight games. The losses were to league champion, 1A South Whidbey, and on the last night of the regular season to 1A Sultan.

Winner plays at #3-Anacortes on Saturday.

Game 2: #10-Sammamish (4-10 / 7-13) at #7-Cedarcrest (7-5 / 7-13) 6:45pm

The Totems finished sixth in the 2A/3A KingCo League. They have two players who made league honorable mention, 6-5 senior Jared Jackson, and 5-10 senior, Iman Bhamper. They enter the post season having lost six of eight.

Cedarcrest’s leading scorer is 6-0 junior, Chris Busch, at about 14 points a game. They also get about ten points a game from University of Hawaii baseball signee, 6-0 senior, Aaron Davenport.

The Red Wolves split games with Kings and Archbishop Murphy, but went 0-8 in non-league games. One of those was a 58-49 loss to Sammamish in mid December.

Winner plays at #2-Liberty on Saturday.

Game 3: #12-Bellingham (3-10 / 8-12) at #5-Lynden (10-3 / 15-5) 7:00pm

Bellingham centers around seniors Rits Voeut, Caden Mee and juniors Spencer Lee and Drew McFall, who got to the final game of the 2017 district tournament, where they lost to the Lions.

Lynden’s team roster is littered with experienced juniors, Christian Zamora, James Marsh, Coby Elsner and Blake Silves, among others. Then, they added Clayton Whitman back to the mix for the last three games of the regular season.

The first thing you do when you get to the post-season is toss out the records, especially in a loser out contest. That would probably be the Red Raiders preference, anyway. But they are dangerous, given that eight of their ten losses were between three and seven points. But they will also have to toss out the 68-40 loss on the Lions floor, last week.

Winner plays at #4-Lakewood on Saturday.

Game 4: #9-Sedro-Woolley (6-7 / 12-8) at #8-Sehome (6-7 / 8-12) 7:00pm

The long and lanky Cubs are led by the bruising 6-3 senior, Davis Mihelich, at 18 points a game. Then there’s 6-4 senior, Cade Isakson at 14 a game. Long range shooter, Keenan Hofstad, a 6-4 junior, scores 11 a game.

Sehome has only two seniors. Evan Kingma, at 6-2, and a bruiser in his own right, and 6-9 Wyatt Watson. Junior Eddy Hochsprung, a 6-4 scoring threat, teams with Austin Roberts, Lucas DeLisle and Michael McLin to form a very formidable shooting combination.

Both teams split their last six games, and the Mariners took a 61-59 win over the Cubs in December. This one could go late.

Winner plays at #1-Mountlake Terrace on Saturday.

By Ted House

We just witnessed the most competitive week of the 2017-18 season in the Northwest Conference. There were packed gyms and tight scores. In the end, the week belonged to? The One-A’s.

Go back to Monday. While the Lynden Lions were in the ShoWare Center knocking off defending 4A champion, Kentwood, the 1A’s were home, feasting off some of the Lions’ 2A rivals. Nooksack won at Bellingham; Lynden Christian won at Sehome; and Mt. Baker won at Squalicum.

By Ted House

We just witnessed the most competitive week of the 2017-18 season in the Northwest Conference. There were packed gyms and tight scores. In the end, the week belonged to? The One-A’s.

Go back to Monday. While the Lynden Lions were in the ShoWare Center knocking off defending 4A champion, Kentwood, the 1A’s were home, feasting off some of the Lions’ 2A rivals. Nooksack won at Bellingham; Lynden Christian won at Sehome; and Mt. Baker won at Squalicum.

At the end of the week, the 1A Lyncs came away with a 67-64 win over Lynden, ended a three game losing streak against their rivals. (More on that later). The win gives the Lyncs the clear inside track to the (solo) NWC title, something that has never accomplished by a 1A team on the boy’s side.

The Lyncs won’t get much time to celebrate that win, and maybe that’s a good thing. On Monday, they travel to Sedro-Woolley to play a dangerous Cubs team, who is coming off a big win over their own rival. Sedro-Woolley got an overtime win over Burlington-Edison on Friday, and are slowly moving up the 2A ladder.

The Lyncs three point win over Lynden, and the Cubs two point overtime win over the Tigers, were just two of four games on Friday that were decided by three points or less.

Ferndale won at Squalicum 56-53 in a key 3A game, and Nooksack Valley won at Mt. Baker 49-46, in a pivotal game between 1A teams. The Golden Eagles look to be in good position for the 3A district tournament, as 3A teams must finish in the top six in the NWC to qualify. The Storm are not in the top six at the moment, but they certainly still have a chance.

It’s not just the 1A boys who are making some noise lately. The 1A girls are dominating the NWC. Lynden Christian girls are also undefeated, and Meridian is tied for second place with Burlington-Edison with 7-1 records. Nooksack is tied for fourth with Ferndale at 6-2.

The combined record of the Lyncs varsity programs is 31-0.

The Cascade Conference is currently being led by 1A South Whidbey. The Falcons 8-1 record leads second place (1A) Kings and (2A) Archbishop Murphy, who have 5-3 league records.

South Whidbey is led by 6-4 senior, Lewis Pope, who may be one of the best kept secrets in the state. Last I heard, Pope was a Central Washington University commit. The Falcons first game of the season was a two point win over Mt. Baker. Pope scored 34 points in that one. Wouldn’t it be cool to say you averaged 34 points a game?

Pope hit for 40 in a game against Granite Falls this season, and scored 41 in a win over ATM on Friday. Because box scores are so hard to find in our area (and I have no idea why it continues to be that way), my guess is that Pope’s scoring average is in the mid to high 20’s per game.

The Lions-Lyncs game was similar to the game last week when Anacortes played at LC. Both teams started out hot on offense, but you knew the early pace would not continue.

In front of the raucous crowd in the tightly packed LC gym, Lynden’s Christian Zamora nailed his first shot, a 3-pointer from the left corner, but LC’s Andrew DeVries answered, just seconds later. DeVries scored eight in the first quarter, as the Lyncs led 21-15. Each team hit three 3-pointers in the opening quarter.

On back-to-back possessions in the first quarter, the Lyncs were able to penetrate the Lions man-to-man defense. When the help arrived, the ball was dished to the Lyncs 6-7 center, George DeJong, who stepped to the rim for two thunderous dunks. Fortunately, that west rim held up. Both times.

The pace of the second quarter didn’t change much, as the Lyncs continued to keep the Lions at arm’s length on the scoreboard. The Lyncs led 40-33 at the half, which was close to the combined score that these teams have put up in several of their rivalry games over recent years.

Bajema scored 14 of his 23 in the first half, while DeVries added 11 in the half and 17 for the game. The Lions were more balanced, with three players scoring six points each in the first half. One of those was junior point-guard, Coby Elsner.

The Lyncs didn’t do anything crazy on defense. No box-and-one, or anything like that. They mainly played their 2-3 zone, but the top two stayed flat, around the foul line. This left Elsner open at the top of the key, basically allowing him to shoot whenever he wanted to.

This is the kind of thing that could foil a less experienced player. An early miss of wide open shots, when you are literally being dared to shoot, has been known to take its toll on some over the years. But Elsner found a different way. Instead of launching shots, he waited for the right opportunity, then set up his defenders with the dribble, and repeatedly drove down the middle of the LC defense.

By drawing fouls and scoring inside, Elsner had is best offensive night of the season, scoring nine points in the second half, and 15 for the game.

In the meantime, the Lyncs offense remained difficult to slow down. Bajema had his own version of a way to get into the middle of the Lion defense. The 6-7 junior also used the dribble to attack the middle, but used a variety of drop-steps and jumpers to build up his 23 point night. The Lions were able to cover him fairly well on the outside, limiting Bajema to two 3-pointers on the night. But few have the defensive abilities to slow him down, one-on-one, in the mid-range area.

In the meantime, the Lyncs offense remained difficult to slow down. Bajema had his own version of a way to get into the middle of the Lion defense. The 6-7 junior also used the dribble to attack the middle, but used a variety of drop-steps and jumpers to build up his 23 point night. The Lions were able to cover him fairly well on the outside, limiting Bajema to two 3-pointers on the night. But few have the defensive abilities to slow him down, one-on-one, in the mid-range area.

In the fourth quarter, a Zamora 3-pointer gave the Lions a 58-55 lead with 5:20 left. But a drive by LC senior Jordan Riddle, and a long three by DeVries put the Lyncs back up 60-58 with 3:50 to play. The DeVries shot was a set play against the man-to-man defense, where DeVries comes around multiple screens to the top of the key area where he takes a short pitch. The Lions defense didn’t make it easy. The shot was much farther than just the top of the key, and the defenders were right there.

An Elsner free throw cut the lead to 60-59, but the Lyncs scored the next seven points to take control, until Zamora hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds to go. Just seconds later, Blake Silves stole the ball on the press and drove in for a layup to get the Lions to within three, 67-64.

Without much choice on who to foul, the Lions had to put Bajema on the line for a one-plus-one with 22 seconds left. It’s the last guy you want to have in that position if you are behind, and the perfect guy to have there if you are ahead. But Bajema missed, giving the Lions a chance for the tie. But a Lion missed 3-pointer, and subsequent foul, put Bajema back on the line with 8 seconds left.

Another missed free throw, gave the Lions one last crack at a tie. Needing a three-pointer, Elsner was forced to take a leaning three from the right wing that could only catch the rim.

After the final buzzer, the cross-town rivals and their fans were friends again. Until next year, when I’m sure “The Jake” will fill to its limit of 3000 and we will see another epic contest, as the bulk of these two teams rosters will return.

To put some numbers in place to outline the offensive capabilities of the Lynden Christian team, the Lyncs scored 65 against Anacortes last week, and 67 against the Lions. And those two teams know how to play defense. Their non-league schedule didn’t turn out to be very challenging, but when you play in the Northwest Conference, it doesn’t have to be.

In the meantime, the 2A District RPI is taking shape. Here are the standings through January 19:

(Note: This is an unofficial list that I compiled. The list published by league Athletic Directors will be official. Teams will fluctuate, and the order will not be official until all regular season games are completed).

BOYS:

1-Liberty

2-Mountlake Terrace

3-Anacortes

4-Lynden

5-Lakewood

6-Archbishop Murphy

7-Cedarcrest

8-Sehome

9-Sedro-Woolley

10-Sammamish

11-Burlington-Edison

12-Bellingham

13-Blaine

13-Granite Falls

GIRLS:

1-Archbishop Murphy

2-Burlington-Edison

3-Lynden

4-Cedarcrest

5-Liberty

6-Sehome

7-Anacortes

8-Granite Falls

9-Lakewood

10-Sedro-Woolley

11-Mountlake Terrace

12-Sammamish

13-Bellingham

13-Blaine

The top 12 advance to the 2A District Tournament, with the top four avoiding the first round, loser-out game.

There are five games left in the regular season. The 1A’s pack up and head to the post-season a few days before the rest of the league, so they will play a third league game this week. The four 1A teams will play each other on Saturday, and it’s almost like “I” made out the schedule. Mt. Baker will play at LC at 4pm Saturday, while Nooksack will be at Meridian at 7:15pm that night.

On Friday night, after things calmed down, Brady Bomber, a four year starter at point-guard for Lynden, and current head coach of the Lyncs girls, hit the nail on the head with this comment on Twitter: “Few things more enjoyable than high school hoops in a sold out gym.”

More correct, he could not be.

By Ted House

After three wins in eight days over 2A teams Anacortes, Sehome, and Lynden, and advancing their record to a perfect 16-0, Monday’s game at Sedro-Woolley would have been the perfect spot to predict a big old “let down” for the Lynden Christian Lyncs.

After all, they have the top 1A seed from the Northwest Conference locked up. They just finished that eight day run, ending with a very emotional win over their rivals. Then they take a Monday trip to play the dangerous Cubs.

Well, I guess you could say the let down happened, but only for about 10 minutes. .

By Ted House

After three wins in eight days over 2A teams Anacortes, Sehome, and Lynden, and advancing their record to a perfect 16-0, Monday’s game at Sedro-Woolley would have been the perfect spot to predict a big old “let down” for the Lynden Christian Lyncs.

After all, they have the top 1A seed from the Northwest Conference locked up. They just finished that eight day run, ending with a very emotional win over their rivals. Then they take a Monday trip to play the dangerous Cubs.

Well, I guess you could say the let down happened, but only for about 10 minutes. .

The Lyncs overcame a ten point deficit in the second quarter, and rallied for a ten point win. Their 3-0 week, now has them at 19-0, with a finishing week against Bellingham and Lakewood coming up.

Speaking of Belliingham, the Red Raiders are just 2-8 in the NWC this season. Certainly, not the position that anyone thought they’d be in at this point. They currently hold the 12^th seed in the 2A District RPI. That position could change, as there is not much separation in seeds 10-12. However, Bellingham does not have an easy finish, with Lynden Christian at home, followed by road games at Lynden and Blaine.

How are the Red Raiders only 2-8? Seven of those losses have been between three and seven points. They are just a few possessions from being in the middle of the RPI race. If they stay in the top 12, they will be as dangerous as anyone in the loser-out round.

That’s why it’s of high importance to finish in the top four. Those teams won’t have to sweat out that first round. Would you want to play ANY Northwest Conference 2A team in a loser-out game? Me either.

Here is the current “UNOFFICIAL” list of the 2A Boys and Girls District 1/2 RPI:

Boys

1-Liberty (12-1)

2-Mountlake Terrace (8-1)

3-Anacortes (9-1)

4-Lakewood (7-3)

5-Archbishop Murphy (7-3)

6-Lynden (7-3)

7-Cedarcrest (6-5)

8-Sehome (5-5)

9-Sedro-Woolley (5-5)

10-Sammamish (4-9)

11-Burlington-Edison (4-6)

12-Bellingham (2-8)

13-Blaine (0-10)

13-Granite Falls (0-10)

Girls

1-Burlington-Edison (9-1)

2-Archbishop Murphy (10-0)

3-Lynden (7-3)

4-Cedarcrest (9-2)

5-Liberty (7-6)

6-Sehome (6-4)

7-Anacortes (4-6)

8-Granite Falls (3-7)

9-Sammamish (2-11)

10-Lakewood (2-8)

11-Sedro-Woolley (2-8)

12-Mountlake Terrace (1-8)

13-Bellingham (0-10)

13-Blaine (0-10)

Lakewood’s wins this week over Sehome and Lynden vaulted the Cougars into the 4^th seed. They are tied by record with Archbishop Murphy and Lynden, but they have the 4^th seed based on the teams they have beaten so far. The Cougars have a difficult finishing stretch, with three road trips to Blaine, Lynden Christian and Sedro-Woolley.

Lakewood has a new school this year, along with a beautiful, brand new gym. The center point(s) of that being the scoreboards. I wonder if they were donated by Jerry Jones? They are two huge, brightly illuminated digital displays, on the wall at each end of the floor. Each team has their logo above their score. They are, easily, the most modernized high school scoreboards in the western world!

Squalicum’s post-season possibilities took a direct hit with a six point loss to Sedro-Woolley on Friday. The Storm must win their last three games and finish 7-6, in order to have any chance at the post-season. District Rule #1 is that NWC teams must finish with a record over .500. If that happens, we will have to see if that is enough to get the Storm into the top six in the league, which is Rule #2.

Ferndale looks like they are a lock for the post-season, with an 8-2 record.

Lynden Christian has locked up the NWC’s top seed to the 1A District Tournament. South Whidbey is close to being the top seed from the Cascade Conference. If the Falcons beat Granite Falls (0-18), they will clinch the top seed, before their final game with Kings.

Meridian’s win over Nooksack on Saturday, has kept the Trojans in the race. But they still trail the Pioneers and Mountaineers by two games, with just two to play.

There is no forecasting program yet available that can predict the outcome of the 2A RPI. But if anyone wants to build one, feel free. The best I can do is guess, assume, and generalize.

Even with Lakewood’s win over Lynden, there is still a three team race for the 4^th seed. Archbishop Murphy closes the season with two 1A teams on their schedule. One is Kings, which would give their RPI a big boost with a win. Kings beat ATM by 17, earlier in the season, however.

The Lynden-Lakewood race may end up being decided way to the right of the decimal. If one of those teams can win out, they will take the 4^th seed. If both teams were to win out, then it would appear that Lakewood would edge out the Lions for 4^th.

The key teams to watch will be Sehome and Sedro-Woolley. Both of those teams currently have .500 records. Neither will finish with .500 records because they play 13 games (unless we get another week-long snow storm like last year). So it’s important to see which side of .500 they finish on, because you get more points for beating teams with winning records. Lynden has already beaten both Sedro-Woolley and Sehome. Lakewood has also beaten Sehome, and still has to play Sedro-Woolley.

#1-seed Liberty has only one game left, against 2A Sammamish (10-seed). Mountlake Terrace has three games left. Two are against winning 3A teams. If MLT wins all three, they could overtake Liberty. However, if MLT drops two of those three, and Anacortes wins out, the Seahawks could move up a notch.

Again, there is a lot more to it than the games that are in front of you. Any team that you have beaten, that is hanging around .500, will also be a factor in your final RPI number.

I am pleased to report that a long time advocate, and voice of high school athletics in our area, Doug Lange, has resurfaced. Unfortunately, Doug was silence for a short time, but has recently started his own network, and is again broadcasting local sports.

You can find him on “The Doug Lange Network,” at www.onthedln.com. Links to his broadcasts can be found on the NWC schedule pages, with the letters, “TDLN.”

On Friday, I was fortunate enough to be able to help him with his broadcast of the Lynden-Lakewood game. I had a wonderful time, and had a great experience. I only hope I was able to let him take a breath or two, and add a little bit to the game.

With cutbacks and reductions happening in different areas of the media, it’s great to have a positive addition. I think I speak for all of Whatcom County when I say, Welcome back, Doug!

by Ted House

This week will mark the half way point of the regular season. After six games, the league standings are symmetrical. The axis is the four teams with 3-3 records.

Here are some examples of how balanced the league is this year:

by Ted House

This week will mark the half way point of the regular season. After six games, the league standings are symmetrical. The axis is the four teams with 3-3 records.

Here are some examples of how balanced the league is this year:

Bellingham beat Sehome (NL), who beat Squalicum, who beat Bellingham.

Lakewood beat Bellingham, who beat Mt. Baker, who beat Lakewood (twice).

Bellingham beat Sehome (NL), who beat Sedro-Woolley, who beat Belliingham.

Lakewood beat Burlington-Edison, who beat Mt. Baker, who beat Lakewood (twice).

Belllingham beat Nooksack, who beat Sehome, who beat Sedro-Woolley, who beat Bellingham.

Ferndale beat Sedro-Woolley, who beat Mt. Baker, who beat Lakewood (twice), who beat Ferndale.

There are probably more of those round-robins, but remember, this is only six games into the regular season.

I saw some games this week that deserve a little more recap. Let’s go all the way back to Monday, where the Mt. Baker got a big dome win over Lakewood. (See what I did there)?

The Mountaineers took a 68-67 non-league win over the Cougars in December. Prior to the rematch, Coach Gray told me that he was a bit concerned about the Cougars 3-point shooting ability as they hit 15 against them in game one.

Early on, Baker did a good job in covering the outside, as the Cougars did not hit a 3-pointer in the first half. However, Lakewood junior, Alex Coleman used his athleticism to efficiently maneuver in the key, and scored ten points in the first quarter, as the Cougars took a 16-10 lead.

The Mountaineers got their offense on track in the second quarter to take a 27-26 lead at halftime. After that, Baker’s 6-10 senior, Ethan Gates took over, at both ends of the floor. Gates scored eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, and seemingly grabbed every defensive rebound in the second half.

Baker was never challenged after halftime, and took a 63-49 win. Lakewood hit three 3-pointers in the second half, two by Coleman in the fourth quarter, as he finished with 18 points. Kaleb Bass had a nice offensive night, scoring 15 of his 19 in the second half.

The next night, Lynden traveled to the Storm Shelter to take on Squalicum. The Lions are still without Clayton Whitman, and James Marsh had missed the previous week due to injury, and only played sparingly on this night. The Lions were still able to take a quick 5-0 lead, but by the time the Storm scored their first field goal, at the four minute mark of the first quarter, the Lions only led 5-2.

The names “Mitchell and Powell” have been familiar on the Squalicum roster over the last four years. That will continue for two more years after this. If you are not familiar with sophomores Dedrick Mitchell and Devonte Powell by now, you soon will be. Mitchell is 5-8 and runs the show for the Storm. Powell is a strong 6-1 wing who can shoot and drive strong to the hoop.

As the Lions led 9-5 with seconds to go in the opening quarter, Mitchell banked in a 3-quarter court shot at the buzzer, to cut the lead to 9-8, and provide a huge spark for Squalicum.

The second quarter belonged to the Storm, outscoring the Lions 16-7. Powell drove the ball inside for eight points in the quarter. Senior Kendall Englehart scored six more, and finished the half with nine points. Englehart has always had the shot, but is also a noticeably intelligent player. I bet he didn’t lose many games of H-O-R-S-E, while he was growing up.

The Lions had a quick start to the third quarter, and tied the game at 27, half way through. Christian Zamora found ways to score, and was up to 11 points by the end of the quarter, where the Storm still maintained a one-point lead.

The Lions stayed in striking distance, but continued to play from behind in the fourth quarter. With 1:39 left, the Storm led 52-47. After a missed free throw by the Storm, the Lions had the ball with 20 seconds left, down three.

After the Lions missed a free throw, in a hard scramble for the ball, the Lions kept possession as the ball ended up going out of bounds at the sideline with 6.9 seconds left. The Lions called a timeout to set up a game-tying play. Then the Storm called a timeout to set up a game-saving defense.

After the inbounds pass, the Storm defense did all they could do. They had all the 3-point options covered, so it was time for the Lions to improvise. The ball ended up in the hands of Lynden junior guard, Blake Silves. With no other options, Silves stepped back from the defense, and created some momentum off the dribble. He hoisted a shot from near the volleyball line, that banked in as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.

That momentum didn’t last long. As the Lions scored the first point of overtime, they soon found themselves down by three. However, the Lions took over in the last two minutes, and pulled out a 66-61 win.

It’s funny how the two teams combined for 17 points in the eight minute first quarter. Then they combined for 19 points in the four minute overtime.

Mitchell and Powell scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Englehart finished with 27. He scored 15 of those in the last 12 minutes.

For the Lions, 6-1 sophomore Brock Heppner, who has become a tremendous inside scorer for his size, led them in scoring with 21 points. He scored 11 of those in the final 12 minutes. Zamora added 17, with 13 of those after halftime. Silves scored 10 of his 14 in the final 12 minutes.

We move on to Friday, where the game of the year, so far, was played at Lynden Christian. The 1A top-ranked Lyncs, hosted the 2A top-ranked Anacortes Seahawks. Both teams were undefeated on the season. The stands were packed with Lyncs, Seahawks, and neutral observers.

You could say that both teams play a similar style. They play aggressive pressure, trapping defenses, with quick strike offenses. No shot-clock violations were expected in this one.

When you think about the LC shooters, two come to mind quickly: Cole Bajema and Andrew DeVries. However, it was none other than 6-1 junior, Luke Bos who got things rolling quickly for the Lyncs.

Bos connected on two early 3-pointers, and scored ten points in the first three-and-a-half minutes. Bajema took over after that, as he scored nine in the quarter, and the Lyncs ran out to a 27-19 lead after only eight minutes.

At the other end, the Lyncs zone defense was attending to the Seahawks outside shooters, leaving the high post area open for senior guard, Tristan Lowry. Lowry hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, but also hit several little 8-12 foot runners in the key. He scored 14 points in the first quarter to keep the Seahawks relatively close.

The Lyncs quickly fell off of their 108 point pace, scoring only nine points in the second quarter. The Seahawks managed some balance in their scoring, and chipped away at the lead, and trailed only 36-33 at halftime. Over the last four minutes of the quarter, the Seahawks outscored the Lyncs 4-2. Half of those points for Anacortes came as Cort Senff followed in a missed bank shot from 60-feet by Lowry, that just beat the halftime buzzer.

In the second half, the Seahawks full court defense was able to force enough turnovers to be disruptive to the LC offense. However, the Seahawks were unable to make a good run at the Lyncs because of their outside shooting woes. The normally confident and deadly shooters began to pass up shots that they normally would have taken without thinking for a second.

Lowry, however, was not affected by any of that, as he continued to attack the basket and finished with a game high 27 points. But the Lyncs were able to keep the Seahawks at a safe distance, and won 65-57.

Bajema finished right on his average of 25. Boss hit three 3-pointers in the second half, and totaled 19.

The teams combined for eight 3-pointers in the first quarter, and ten more the rest of the way.

With the win, LC is now the only remaining undefeated team in the NWC, with the inside path to the league title. They will try to take down another 2A titan this Friday, as they host the Lions.

The Seahawks saw their 21 game NWC winning streak come to an end. That is the second longest win streak in the 12 years of the league. Squalicum holds the record at 36.

Here are some other teams around the state to pay attention to:

1A

The Northwest School (13-0). Wins over Roosevelt and Ballard. 10 point win over Seattle Academy.

Bellevue Christian (12-1). Beat Seattle Acad. by 7, and Seattle Chr. by 6.

Forks (11-2). Beat second place Montesano (11-3).

LaCenter (7-7). Lost to Lynden Christian by 8. Beat Granger. They played five games against teams from higher classifications.

Zillah (12-1). They seemed a bit down at the start of the year, but have now beaten 2A Mark Morris by 8, and have recently given 2A Selah, their only loss of the season.

Freeman (12-0) owns the Northeast. They have played four of the five teams in the 2A GNL, and have beaten them all.

Newport (10-2), lost to Freeman by 12, and has beaten 2A Pullman by 17.

2A

Liberty (10-4). Currently tied with Bellevue for the lead in the KingCo 2A/3A League with an 8-1 record.

Foss (11-3). They will most likely be the 2A #1 this week. They took Evergreen of Seattle (1-8), 74-17 last week. They led 54-4 at halftime. They host Fife on Tuesday, a team they beat in double-overtime earlier in the season.

Fife (13-2). Keeping Foss on their toes.

North Kitsap (11-4). They were upset by third place Olympic last week.

WF West (11-2). Leads the Evergreen Conference.

Columbia River (12-2). Leads the GSHL. Beat second place Mark Morris by 15.

Selah (13-1). Recently lost to Zillah, but are clearly the class of the CWAC.

Toppenish (11-3). Tied for second in the CWAC. Two losses to Selah.

3A

Garfield (13-0) just separated themselves by beating Rainier Beach (10-3). Those two will get a little push from O’Dea, but not from the defending 3A champions, Nathan Hale. The Raiders won the 3A title last year with a 29-0 record. This year, they are 0-12, pending Friday’s outcome. I wonder how that could happen? (Just say’n).

This week in the NWC, Lynden will be busy as they head to the Showare Center in Kent to play in a Martin Luther King event. The Lions will play Kentwood, who are the defending 4A champions.

After that, the Lions host a key 2A game against Sedro-Woolley, then go across the tracks to play their rivals on Friday.

LC goes to Sehome on Monday. Burlington-Edison is at Ferndale on Tuesday, then plays at Sedro-Woolley on Friday. That game is a combo Coaches vs. Cancer, and Chickenfest.

Also on Friday is the first league meeting between two 1A teams in the NWC, as Nooksack goes to Mt. Baker.

Ferndale beat Blaine and Sedro-Woolley last week to put themselves in playoff position. After Burlington on Tuesday, the Golden Eagles play at Squalicum on Friday. 3A teams must finish in the top six in the NWC to qualify for their post-season.

By Ted House

Basketball season is different than the other sports seasons of the school year, in that it has multiple major holidays to negotiate. With that comes, not only a variety of potential problems, but a variety of positive elements as well.

By Ted House

Basketball season is different than the other sports seasons of the school year, in that it has multiple major holidays to negotiate. With that comes, not only a variety of potential problems, but a variety of positive elements as well.

The season gets to be about a month old, and then it’s as if everyone is told to scatter for a couple weeks to do their own thing. However, depending on how big your league is, and how many league games you play, not everyone can treat that break the same way.

In the case of the Northwest Conference, teams play 13 league games, leaving seven “get ready” games. They may use two or three of those to “get ready” for the start of the conference season. And they might use the rest to “get ready” for the post-season.

Most leagues around the state are in a similar situation, where their league schedule leaves room for the same sort of planning. However, the 2A CWAC plays a slightly different game. They have a ten team league, and play every team twice, for a total of 18 league games. That doesn’t leave room for any big holiday tournaments, or much flexibility in scheduling non-league games.

Over the holiday break, teams want to keep some sort of consistency going with practices when school is out, and getting in enough games to keep the rust off. They also use the time to prep for the post-season. Many try to find a place where they can play three or four days in a row, as they would at the state tournament. Out-of-state holiday tournaments are very popular with schools from Washington. So many Washington teams play holiday tournaments in California and Arizona that very often two teams from our state will end up playing each other.

Yakima’s SunDome Shootout, which is a two-day event of non-stop basketball games on the two SunDome courts, is also very popular. Some 1A and 2A teams from the NWC have taken the wintery trip across the pass to play a couple games in their potential state tournament venue. This gives teams a nice familiarity with the surroundings and backdrops. This year, Burlington-Edison, Bellingham, Lakewood and Lynden made that trip, and got a couple games against quality competition.

Some CWAC teams have gotten creative with the Shootout. For the past two seasons, Selah and Ellensburg have used the first day of the Shootout as the venue for one of their two head-to-head conference games. On day two, they are each able to get in a non-league game. Lynden has played Selah on day two of the Shootout, two years in a row. This way, Selah and Ellensburg get two games in the state venue, and are then able to schedule their second non-league game for another part of the season.

Other NWC teams have the same idea. They use a trip as a team building experience, and play some good competition.

Ferndale and Sehome played two days in a row at Mountlake Terrace. Blaine went to Port Townsend for a couple days, while Sedro-Woolley went a little farther west, to Port Angeles. Meridian joined host Lynden Christian at the Cloud 9 Christmas Classic. Squalicum got three games in at the Sterling Shootout at Kennedy Catholic High School.

Anacortes logged the most miles, as they participated in an eight team tournament in Ketchikan, Alaska. The Seahawks took second place at the same tournament three years ago. This time they flew back as champions of the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic.

In hearing about the tournament first hand from the Anacortes coaches, and reading about it where possible via on-line newspapers, this is a huge event for the area. The town with a population of just over 8,000 (which is a lot less than I would have thought), creates quite an atmosphere for the three-day tournament. Frankly, I think the Seahawks went north just to get out of the cold weather!

With their 4-0 league record, the Seahawks now have won 20 consecutive NWC games. That ties them with Lynden for the second longest streak in the history of the NWC. The Seahawks play Meridian and Lynden Christian this week. The Lyncs came within a point of snapping that streak last season.

The highlight for me last week was the Sehome-Meridian game. I had the Teriyaki Chicken & Rice. Also, the Casey Bauman dunk was pretty cool. That’s speaking as someone who didn’t have to clean it up, fix it, or pay for it.

RPI Answers

(Because I get a lot of RPI questions).

STATE RPI

By now, teams around the state have played enough games to give the State RPI enough information for build on. Last year the first numbers were released in early January. This year, it was released in mid December, and there wasn’t enough information at that time for it to be very accurate or meaningful. But now, you can see that it is starting to take shape. It’s important to remember, however, the State RPI, as you see it at any point during the regular season, is no more meaningful than any Top 10 poll. Its power does not kick in until all teams have qualified for state through their district tournaments.

The State RPI is updated daily. However, those updates come from the schools themselves, so just because a game was played on Tuesday night does not mean that your teams RPI will be accurate on Wednesday morning. There will be a little bit of lag time. Teams that play games against teams from out of state, must also track the records of those teams, and keep them updated.

The three categories in the RPI remain the same as last year: Own record accounts for 25%; opponents record is 50%; opponents-opponents record is 25%. For out of state opponents, only the record of that team has to be followed (not their opponents-opponents). The State RPI is only based on team records. It does not account for playing teams in different classifications.

One significant change to the RPI this year is that post-season games will now be counted in the tabulation through the end of all district tournaments. Remember that the RPI does not qualify you for state (regionals). Teams qualify through their district tournaments.

2A RPI – DISTRICTS 1 & 2

This is the second year of the 2A district RPI. This will rank the 14 2A teams, and send the top 12 to the district tournament. This formula is much the opposite of the State RPI. District RPI only counts league games and it does account for games between teams from different classifications. In fact, the 2A District RPI was developed because of all the league games among teams from different classifications.

Boys and Girls basketball RPI’s should be updated and available on the NWC basketball pages very soon.

by Ted House

After seeing eight games in eight days, spanning Friday to Friday, there are only three NWC teams that I have yet to see. The one conclusion I have drawn from all that is, if someone wants to win the league title this year, they are going to have to take it from Anacortes.

by Ted House

After seeing eight games in eight days, spanning Friday to Friday, there are only three NWC teams that I have yet to see. The one conclusion I have drawn from all that is, if someone wants to win the league title this year, they are going to have to take it from Anacortes.

The Seahawks built their foundation with wins over Nooksack and Lynden, both on the road. The 18 point margin of victory over the Lions on Thursday was a surprise. So was their run of 19 straight points, after giving up an early 3-pointer to Christian Zamora, which was part of his game-high 25.

The Lions all but erased that deficit by halftime, then took a 29-28 lead early in the third quarter. That finished off a 26-9 run by the Lions. Also a surprise, based on the start. But the Seahawks regained control with an 11-0 run, and led by 14 at the end of the quarter.

Seahawk senior guards Trystan Lowry and Tyler Blouin have been the focal point of opposing defenses for a long time. The combined for only 20 points in this one, which would be a “job well done” for the defense. However, fellow senior Evan Rodriguez was the difference in this one, as he torched the nets for 20 points. Three of his six 3-pointers came in the decisive third quarter.

There were some other games that raised the eyebrows this week, beginning with Lakewood’s home win over Bellingham on Monday. The Red Raiders looked good in their non-league win over Sehome, but the Cougars remained undefeated, and survived their first real test.

Sehome turned around after the Bellngham loss, and won by 15 points at Squalicum. And Lynden had a surprisingly easy 19 point win over a much improved Burlington-Edison team, also early in the week.

Meridian finally got to play with referees, scoreboard, and concession stand on Tuesday. They scored 72 points in a 10-point loss to Sedro-Woolley. Who also looks really good.

Ferndale pushed Lynden Christian to the final seconds before losing 71-68. Reid Benson (20), Sequoyah Julius (19), and James Hinson (15 – more on that later), had big nights for the Golden Eagles. Cole Bajema had 21 for the Lyncs.

Thursday’s other two contests could also be seen as surprises, depending how you look at them. Squalicum, fresh off their loss to Sehome, went to Lakewood and gave the Cougars their first loss of the season, 66-63. Meanwhile, Burlington-Edison got a big 59-55 win over Bellingham, knocking the Red Raiders to 0-2.

The best game I saw this week was Friday night at Sehome, as the Mariners won a buzzer-beater over Sedro-Woolldy, 61-59. (The last 12 seconds can be seen on Twitter @TEDnwcathletics).

What’s suddenly in the water in Sedro-Woolley? On their roster, only one player is listed under 6-feet tall. The other eleven range between 6-3 and 6-5. They start four players listed at 6-4. If this long and lanky group all wore the same jersey number, only their parents would be able to tell who was who. As it was, I thought their starting five was the basketball equivalent of quintuplets.

This game was as fast paced at the start as any game you will see, but they didn’t make the scoreboard operator work very hard. It took the Cubs more than four minutes to score their first point, and five-and-a-half minutes before logging their first field goal. While the Cubs had trouble connecting from close range, Eddy Hochsprung got loose for some early three’s, and the Mariners took a 13-9 lead after a quarter.

Hochsprung continued to connect from long range in the second quarter, and had 14 points by halftime. Eight early points by Cub junior, Keenan Hofstad, got the Cubs going. He then handed the torch to seniors, Cade Isakson and David Mihelich.

Yes, many of the Cubs seem to have the similar body type, but even with that, they still have “inside guys” and “outside guys.” Mihelich is definitely an inside guy, who also possesses a high motor. He banged inside for a total of 22 points, with ten coming from the free throw line. Isakson (19 points) has four years of varsity experience, and a beautiful jump-shot. He is also tremendously instinctive on the defensive end, as he stepped into the Sehome passing lanes for several steals on the night.

With all that, the Mariners still led 30-23 at halftime. The Cubs mixed their defenses in the first half between 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 zones, but that didn’t help in slowing down Hochsprung.

In the second half, the Cubs went to a “box-and-one” defense, were they played Hochsprung face-to-face. That slowed the Sehome offense for a while, and gave the Cubs the opportunity to come back with the offense of Isakson and Mihelich.

After several minutes of Sehome looking for other ways to score, they finally found the answer(s). Evan Kingma had a great inside game in the second half, and finished with 15 points, one behind Hochsprung’s 16. But the game changer for Sehome was junior, Lucas DeLisle, who hit three 3-pointers in the second half against the Cubs box defense.

But, it all came down to the last 12 seconds. Austin Roberts raced the ball into front court for the Mariners, where they were looking for Hochsprung in the low post, or DeLisle coming out to the wing off the screen. The ball went to DeLisle, but the Cubs defense was up to the challenge. So the ball went back outside to Roberts, with only one option left.

Roberts drove one hard dribble toward the left elbow, planted and quickly spun around, effectively clearing space away from the longer Cub defender, Hofstad. Roberts rose high and nailed the winner, with 6-tenths left on the clock.

With all the zone defenses being played today, the most popular shot comes from the wing, as the ball is usually reversed to the open shooter, and he fires. There aren’t many true jump-shooters out there anymore. Or, there are, but the jump shot just isn’t used as much. It’s really the only way to score on your own. But, I’m talking about that guy who can truly rise over a defender, and make himself open.

I saw three players this week who have the ability to make themselves open off the dribble. One is James Hinson. He is 6-2, and can really rise over defenders to make shots around the high post area.

There were two more good ones in that Cubs-Mariners game. Eddy Hochsprung and Cade Isakson can put the ball on the floor a few times, and rise up and nail shots, including from 3-point range. A good and true jump-shooter is a beautiful thing to watch.

Speaking of Sedro-Woolley, this is a good time to update one of their former players, now playing at the next level.

One of my favorite players to watch was 2015 SWHS grad, Jackson Price. He was a four-year starter for the Cubs, a two-time NWC-MVP, State 2A Player of the Year as a senior, and the Cubs all time leading scorer.

Price first played as a college freshman at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. He averaged 16.7 points a game. He then transferred to Lindenwood University, an NCAA Division 2 school in St. Charles, Missouri. As a sophomore, he averaged 11.8 ppg, and was voted the Lions Offensive Player of the Year.

This year, as a junior, Price has played in nine of the teams 10 games, starting in five. He is averaging eight points a game so far, with a high of 15. He is in the “best of the best,” on the list of jump-shooters that our conference has seen.

From the news feed, this week, a story was published in the South Whidbey Record, and reposted by the Everett Herald, announcing that the Cascade Conference will disband at the end of this school year. The four 1A schools wanted to break away from the three 2A schools, due to a competitive imbalance because of enrollment differences.

Granite Falls, currently a 2A school, but by less and one student, will go with the four 1A Cascade members. GFHS was the smallest 2A school after the current four-year count was finalized before the 2016-17 school year. They lost an appeal to the WIAA to be classified as 1A for last year. They are appealing again to be reclassified as a 1A school for next year, as their enrollment has decreased.

The new league will be named the North Sound Conference, and will have South Whidbey, Kings, Sultan, Cedar Park Christian, and Granite Falls, at this point.

Suddenly, Archbishop Murphy and Cedarcrest are without a home. The change in leagues by the 1A schools won’t affect state allocations. However, there are two things that could potentially change 2A allocations to state. The first is if Granite Falls wins their appeal, and gets reclassified to 1A. That takes a 2A team out of District 1, which could limit District 1 to three state allocations a year, instead of the current rotation of three one year, and four the next.

The other allocation changer could be if ATM and Cedarcrest end up leaving District 1 all together. No one yet knows where they will land, but it is easy to see that the NWC and the Wesco are already pretty full. We will have to wait and see how the domino effect plays out.

Districts get allocations to state based on the number of teams in their district, compared to all other districts in the state for that classification. Each district gets an equal amount of the percentage of allocations.

If local 1A basketball fans want to scout the 2017-18 version of the Kings Knights, they will be on display on Monday, December 18. The Knights and Lions will play a girls & boys double-header, with the girls game tipping off at 6pm.

All games are non-league, until the winter session returns on January 2.

By Ted House

As the field of 14 Northwest Conference boys basketball teams leave the starting gate for the 2017-18 season, most of the technical aspects have actually stayed the same as last year. We have the same two 3A teams; the same four 1A teams; and the same eight 2A teams.

By Ted House

As the field of 14 Northwest Conference boys basketball teams leave the starting gate for the 2017-18 season, most of the technical aspects have actually stayed the same as last year. We have the same two 3A teams; the same four 1A teams; and the same eight 2A teams.

All will have state tournament aspirations, and can get there, as always, through their respective district tournaments. Ferndale and Squalicum will again compete with the Wesco Conference for their 3A state tournament bids. In order to qualify for the post season, the Golden Eagles and the Storm must win at least half of their NWC games, and finish in sixth place or higher.

The 1A’s will again go through their district and tri-district tournaments, where four will advance to state.

The 2A path is also the same as last year, except that four will go to state this year. However, the 2A’s are a little more of a high maintenance group.

They will still employ their District 1/2 RPI system. It will rank the 14 teams from the four leagues, and the top 12 will advance to the district tournament. The NWC will again compete with 2A teams from the Cascade Conference, along with Mountlake Terrace from the Wesco, as well as Liberty and Sammamish from the Kingco Conference.

The WIAA has made a couple adjustments to its statewide basketball RPI formula. The first is the matter of teams playing games against opponents from outside the state of Washington. Last year, those teams were given a flat .500 default record. That made it easy to calculate, but seemed to do more harm than good to the teams who played them, as they were a part of your overall “opponent’s record.” This year, any team that plays a team (or teams) from out of the state, must follow that team throughout the season, and report its actual record.

The other WIAA change has to do with post-season games. All post-season games, prior to regionals, will now be included in the RPI. Those games will weigh heavily, as most will, obviously, have good records.

While Meridian will again start their season late because of the great success of the Trojans football team, that also means that their now famous, Teriyaki chicken & rice dish will also be delayed. I’m sure that both will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I did see four teams play this past week. The Lynden Lions, now without standout junior, Clayton Whitman, could not hang on to a generous lead against Wesco power, Stanwood. To be just a little bit fair, the Lions only had one practice after Whitman’s injury to prepare for the Spartans. Whitman suffered a broken wrist in a jamboree on November 25. In my book, Whitman was to be a league MVP candidate this year. We all saw the explosiveness he possessed as a sophomore, as he was quite “un-guardable” in the open floor.

His injury, unfortunately, brings a couple others to mind. Logan Schilder, now a 7-0 center at Western Washington University, was lost for the season during his junior year at Bellingham, due to a broken leg in his first game of the year. And fellow Viking, Daulton Hommes missed both his junior and senior seasons at Lynden Christian due to ACL tears. That’s a lot of games that were missed by some great basketball players. What is it about being a junior?

After the Lions figure it all out, they will still be in the mix at the end of the season. I also expect Anacortes to be at, or near, the top of the NWC again this year.

One team on the rise will be the Bellingham Red Raiders. If they were a public company, I would be guying stock now. Several starters return with speed and athleticism.

Another team on the rise is from that place where the Nor’easter comes from. The Nooksack Valley Pioneers looked really good in their big non-league win over Blaine on Friday. This was on the heels of a 16 point loss to Bellingham. The Pioneers have their big quarterback, 6-6 senior Casey Bauman on the inside, along with some solid outside shooting.

Lynden Christian will also be making a case for a league title this year. They have some “bigs” who will be tough for anyone to handle. With 6-6 senior George DeJong, 6-8 junior Christian Colwell, you will need to focus your defense on the inside, right? Do that carefully, because if you do, that will leave openings for 6-7 junior Cole Bajema, senior Jordan Riddle, and sophomore Andrew DeVries to bomb away from the outside. Those three combined for twelve 3-pointers and 51 points in a 32 point win over Tamanawis Secondary on Saturday.

There are some new faces on the sidelines. Blaine’s new coach has a whole lot of experience. He is, former Borderite coach, Rob Ridnour. He returns to the sidelines fresh off of back to back state championships in 1999 and 2000. In the meantime, Coach Ridnour has overseen the building of the highly successful, Bellingham Slam, as well as son Luke’s long NBA career.

Burlington-Edison also has a new head coach. Chas Kok takes over after spending several years as a Tiger assistant. As a former member of the Bellingham Slam himself, Kok won a state championship with the 2007 Lynden Lions, under coach Brian Roper.

There were several post-season successes in 2017. Squalicum got through their 3A district tournament, and qualified for regionals. But the Storm’s season ended with a three point loss to Bellevue. Over the past four seasons, the Storm has been led by their dynamic league MVP Damek Mitchell, who has taken his talents to Lewis-Clark State College. I checked, and he only started for the Storm for four seasons. I’m sure many opposing coaches and fans thought he it was more like five or six!

Mt. Baker and Lynden Christian were the 1A NWC reps to the Bi-District tournament. The Lyncs took the title over The Northwest School, but the Mountaineers season ended with a loss to Kings in the third place game.

LC took the state’s #2 seed to regionals, were they defeated Warden. They went on to take fifth in the state.

In 2A, Anacortes completed a 12-0 season in the NWC. Remember that most 2A teams played 12 instead of 13 games due to the blizzard of 2017. The Seahawks swept through district, winning their second title in three years.

Lynden, after an opening round loss to Bellingham, recovered to win three straight loser-out games. One of those was a double-overtime win over Liberty, before beating Bellingham in the third place game.

The Lions advanced to state with as the top seed in 2A. Anacortes was the #2 seed. The Lions eliminated Lindbergh in the opening round, and then edged Anacortes in the quarterfinals. After a lost to Foss in the semi’s, the Lions got revenge on Olympic and took home third place.

Anacortes came back with wins over Pullman and North Kitsap to take fourth.

The Seahawks currently own a 16 game winning streak in the NWC. That’s the third longest win streak in the 11 year history of the conference.

Squalicum Senior Damek Mitchell was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Northwest Conference, by league coaches.

Bellingham’s Brad McKay was named the Coach of the Year.

For complete first and second teams, please see the attachment below.

Squalicum Senior Damek Mitchell was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Northwest Conference, by league coaches.

Bellingham’s Brad McKay was named the Coach of the Year.

For complete first and second teams, please see the attachment below.

By Ted House

The mammoth Northwest Conference just completed its 11^th year in existence. It has always been the home to either 13 or 14 schools, and has always included the 1A, 2A and 3A classifications.

Mt. Vernon was one of the charter members, and Lakewood is the latest to join the conference, having been picked up as a free-agent from the Cascade Conference last summer.

By Ted House

The mammoth Northwest Conference just completed its 11^th year in existence. It has always been the home to either 13 or 14 schools, and has always included the 1A, 2A and 3A classifications.

Mt. Vernon was one of the charter members, and Lakewood is the latest to join the conference, having been picked up as a free-agent from the Cascade Conference last summer.

The basketball history of the NWC speaks for itself. But I’ll put some numbers in its mouth to boast a little bit. The success of the teams of the NWC is a tradition that was started by the Whatcom County League, and the Northwest League, over the previous four decades.

If you have been around the Northwest Conference for all 11 seasons, you can probably tell which teams have been the most successful in the league over that time. But, let’s put the numbers to work.

Lynden and Squalicum have the league’s best records over the last 11 seasons. How close are they? Pretty close. In NWC games only, they each have a record of 111 wins and 27 losses.

If you nailed the top two, then number three should be easy.

The Anacortes Seahawks have the third best record in the NWC over the last 11 seasons. The Seahawks are 95-43. Here is the complete list:

In smaller doses, over the last six seasons, Lynden has a league best record of 64-9. Anacortes is right behind at 62-11. Lynden Christian comes in third at 54-20, and Squalicum is 53-20.

Over the last four seasons, it’s Anacortes at 41-7, and Lynden at 40-8. In the last three years, the Seahawks and Lions are tied at 31-5. And, in the last two seasons, it’s Anacortes 22-2, Lynden 21-3, Squalicum 20-4, and Lynden Christian 20-5.

In 11 years, there have been seven outright league champions. Lynden leads with four, followed by Squalicum and Anacortes with two each. The Lions and Storm also have two shared titles to their credit, as does Burlington-Edison. Sehome and Lynden Christian also have had a share of the NWC title.

(When I say a “shared” title, that means that two teams finished with the same record. No tiebreakers included).

Who has the longest winning streak in the history of the NWC? You might get the team, but you may be surprised at the number. Stop, take a breath, and ponder for a minute…

Over three seasons from 07-08 through 09-10, Squalicum won two NWC titles, and split one with Burlington. The Storm won their last eight league games in 2008, then went undefeated (13-0) in 2009 and (13-0) 2010. That’s 36 in a row, folks!

To carry it out a little farther, the Storm lost their first league game of the following season to Lynden Christian, by two points. Then they dropped a 6-pointer to the Tigers. After that, they reeled off another ten straight wins. That’s a 46-2 record over most of four seasons.

Lynden has the next longest winning streak. The Lions won 20 straight that spread over three seasons. It started near the end of the 2011-12 season, and went into 2013-14.

Currently, Anacortes owns the third longest winning streak, which stands at 16. The Seahawks won their last four league games in 2015-16, and went 12-0 this year.

Lynden also won 14 straight by going 13-0 in 2006-07, and getting another win in their first game of 07-08.

Though official records aren’t kept, the Concession Stand at Meridian just completed their second straight undefeated season. It’s more of a club sport, so there is no post-season, which is too bad. They had a “rice & chicken teriyaki” dish there this year that was to die for! I may go there next year, just for dinner.

Because the teams of the NWC split into three different district tournament classifications, it’s hard to put numbers on their district success. Not only are there different classification levels, but the 1A’s even have to negotiate a second layer by getting through their Bi-District tournament.

After that, we come to the regional round. That’s the final filter before the coveted state tournament. Some refer to regionals as “state.” I choose not to. State, is, and will always be, the tournament where the dome is.

Since regional play became a part of the process in 2011, the 2A teams of the NWC have been quite successful. Five NWC teams have combined to go 13-3 in regional games.

Anacortes is 4-0 in regional games. I know what you’re thinking, Anacortes. I’m merely pointing out your successes. It’s not like I’m talking about a no-hitter in the middle innings!

Lynden has a 4-1 record in regional games. Rounding out the field is Burlington at 2-0, Squalicum is 2-1, and Sehome is 1-1.

The 1A schools are a combined 4-3 in regional games, led by LC’s 3-2.

In the last 11 years, Lynden Christian is the only NWC 1A team with a state championship. That was in 2012. The Lyncs also finished second in 2015. Meridian got to the state championship game in 2010, and came home with second place that year.

The 2A state tournaments have been dominated by the NWC and the Great Northern League. The GNL owns the last four state titles. Two by Pullman, and the last two belong to Clarkston. The Greyhounds are in the regional field this year, but the Bantams have been eliminated.

The NWC earned championships four times in the last ten tournaments, with Squalicum and Lynden each winning two. The Storm and the Lions also have a second place finish during that time. Burlington finished second three times, and Anacortes has been there twice. In all, there have been 20 teams competing in the last ten championship games. Eleven of those teams belong to the Northwest Conference.

Until last season when Clarkston beat Shorecrest in the championship game, the NWC had at least one team in the finals for nine consecutive years.

It’s difficult to be a 3A team in this area, simply because of the lack of 3A teams in this area. Even with the highly competitive level of our own 1A and 2A teams, it’s not enough to propel our 3A’s to the top of the state. Especially when Seattle’s Metro League is in the 3A classification. Generally, Rainier Beach and Garfield don’t let anyone else touch the 3A Gold Ball. Metro teams have won 12 of the last 14 3A championships.

This year, Nathan Hale, also of the Metro League, is considered the best high school basketball team in the country.

But, I have always said, if you are a 1A or 2A team in the NWC, and are competing for a league championship, then, ipso facto, you are competing for a state championship.

By Ted House

The second full week of basketball in the Northwest Conference should have been named, “Non-League Rivalry Week.” There were only three rivalry games over the past six days of the NWC schedule, but that’s where the excitement was.

This is where the Skagit County schools have the upper hand on the Whatcom County schools. It’s not on the floor, exactly, but in the stands. “The Battle for the Bridge,” and the “Tiger-Hawk Challenge,” were the big happenings to the south this week.

By Ted House

The second full week of basketball in the Northwest Conference should have been named, “Non-League Rivalry Week.” There were only three rivalry games over the past six days of the NWC schedule, but that’s where the excitement was.

This is where the Skagit County schools have the upper hand on the Whatcom County schools. It’s not on the floor, exactly, but in the stands. “The Battle for the Bridge,” and the “Tiger-Hawk Challenge,” were the big happenings to the south this week.

In the Battle for the Bridge, the Burlington-Edison Tigers beat the Mt. Vernon Bulldogs, 57-49 in the Tigers gym. Following that, on Friday night, the Tigers went west to Anacortes, for the Tiger-Hawk challenge. In this one, the Seahawks downed the Tigers, 65-51.

I’ve been to, and written about these games before, and my hope for this to catch on in Whatcom County. They have challenges by fans, students, bands. And a winner is determined through these contests. They are very well attended, and the spirit is awesome. You also need to get there very early to get a good seat. Or, any seat.

Burlington-Edison also has a contest with Sedro-Woolley, called “Chickenfest.” That will be their league game on January 19. It is for control of the coveted rubber chicken. The best part is the halftime show when they sling-shot the rubber chicken from half court, toward the hoop.

On Friday night, the Bellingham-Sehome rivalry would have been a perfect setting for something like that. Great crowd in the Sehome gym. Lots of students from both schools. In the end, Bellingham’s 70-65 win could have won them the umbrella for conquering the “Battle of the Downpour!”

(I have to quit just handing out these free ideas).

Had this umbrella been in play over the past decade, it would have kept Sehome dry, most years. Going in to Friday’s game, the Mariners had won three of the last four, and 15 of the last 18 games against the Red Raiders.

On this night, however, the Mariners could only keep the score close, as the Raiders were in control. Sehome junior, Eddy Hochsprung had trouble getting into the scoring column, until hitting back-to-back jumpers in the last seconds of the first half, to cut Bellingham’s lead to 32-31 at the break. Hochsprung finished with 16 points. Sehome senior, Evan Kingma led the Mariners with 18, on a variety of drives and free throws.

Bellingham was a little deeper with scorers, as Rits Voeut, Spencer Lee, Drew McFall, and Caden Mee (I love a team that rhymes!) combined for 51 of their team’s 70.

The Red Raiders are very aggressive at the offensive end. Voeut is difficult to defend due to his long shooting range, and his ability to drive the ball inside. Several teammates were the beneficiary of easy lay-ups as a result of a drive-and-dish.

The two rivals will meet again, for real, on January 26.

Elsewhere, Lakewood and Lynden Christian have pushed their season records to 4-0. They are both going crazy on offence at the present time. The Cougars are averaging a whopping 83 points per game, while the Lyncs are scoring at 79 a game. Those numbers are a bit inflated, as neither team’s schedule has tested them yet. But, I’ve seen the Lyncs play twice, and they have offensive skills, inside, outside, and in between. They have also been without 6-8 junior, Cristian Colwell, to this point.

Lynden has smoothed things out this week with a 25 point win over Semiahmoo Secondary, and a 34 point win at Archbishop Murphy. In that game, the Lions ran out to a 28-4 lead after eight minutes, and the running clock rule was in effect in the middle of the third quarter.

Ten seconds after I walked into the gym for the first time this season, something caught my eye. What I saw, got me wondering, so I put in several minutes of research into the subject.

One of the things that is different about the style of today’s high school game, as compared to decades prior, is the absence of that “big guy” being fed the ball in the low post. The old style of holding the defender off with one hand, asking for the ball with the other, getting a good entry pass, then going to work, is not a very big part of today’s game.

There could be several reasons for the game evolving this way: more zone defenses are used now; more motion offenses are used now; or maybe, just the lack of an actual “big guy.”

I remember a sign that former Western Washington University coach, Chuck Randall, had above the door to his office: “If you have to duck to get through the door, don’t bother to knock.”

Well, there are some big guys out there. In fact, that’s what I researched. I filed (clicked) through rosters of teams from around the state, which easily went into the triple-digits. I mainly looked at varsity rosters, looking for at least 6-9. I can confirm that the following roster has not been run through the “Coach Bob Ames Conversion Table:”

Riley Sorn, 7-3 SR, Richland. (5^th in state in 2017).

Philip Pepple, 6-9 SR, Shorecrest.

Nic Lynch, 6-11 SR, Seattle Prep

Will Loughlin, 6-10 SR, Seattle Prep

Connor Turner, 6-10 SO, West Valley-Yakima

Brandon Chatfield, 6-9 SO, Clarkston

Tanner Christensen, 6-9 SR, University, Spokane

Jake Medjo, 6-10 SR, Bothell

Sam Berensohn, 6-10 SR, Issaquah

Will Abram, 6-9 SO, Arlington

Ryker Wuttke, 6-10 JR, Kamiak

Jaden McDaniels, 6-9 JR, Federal Way

Zyair Dillon, 6-9 SR, Todd Beamer

Zane Foster, 6-11 JR, Bonny Lake

Kaden Perry, 6-8 FR, Battle Ground (varsity)

Paolo Banchero, 6-8 FR, O’Dea

Closer to home, Mt. Baker has 6-10 senior, Ethan Gates, and 6-8 senior, Michael Whitson. But the one who caught my eye that started all this, was Liam Hanenburg, a 6-9 freshman, playing for the Lynden junior varsity. He shouldn’t have to knock on any coaches’ door!

Week 3 in the NWC will bring us gobs of good league games. Everyone gets two, then it’s back to the non-leaguers during Christmas break.

A few of the headliners for the week include Burlington-Edison at Lynden, and Bellingham at Lakewood on Monday. Tuesday’s Anacortes at Nooksack Valley game looks interesting. Even more interesting will be Thursday’s grudge match between the Seahawks and the Lions, at The Jake. Sedro-Woolley goes to Sehome on Friday.