The Lynden Christian Lyncs will not win a third straight state championship, as they were edged by the Annie Wright Gators, 48-46, in a 1A state semifinal in the Yakima SunDome on Friday.
The Gators, making their second state tournament trip in their short history, played like they had something to prove, and that, they did.
Their defensive focus was on the Lyncs two guards, senior Dawson Bouma and junior Gannon Dykstra. They stuck close to those two using a triangle-and-two defense to start the game. The quickness of the Gators defenders made it difficult for Bouma and Dykstra to get their rhythm off the dribble and create space for shots.
Dykstra did get loose for two long 3-pointers in the first quarter, and senior forward Jeremiah Wright was effective inside early on, with six first quarter points. The Gators were equal to the task, and the teams were even at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Gators switched to straight man-to-man defense to better body-up on the Lyncs big seniors, Wright and Kayden Stuit. They also got more offense rolling in the second quarter and began to pull away to a 22-14 lead.
After a dunk by 6-4 junior Martin Kaupanger gave the Gators a 24-16 lead, Bouma and freshman guard Dawson Hintz hit jumpers to pull the Lyncs to within four. But the Lyncs fell behind 27-20 at halftime.
The Lyncs played their best basketball in the third quarter, which started with an 8-0 run in the first two minutes, forcing a Gators timeout.
In all, it was a 16-6 run through the third quarter for a 36-33 lead with eight minutes to play.
With 2:30 to play in the game and the Lyncs down one, Stuit went airborne for a two-handed rebound, landing to the right of the key, and immediately wrapped a pass around a defender to a wide-open Wright, who was under the rim and pulled the Lyncs to within a point at 43-42.
With the Lyncs down 45-42, a charging call on the Gators gave the ball back to the Lyncs with 1:08 to play, but the same thing happened to the Lyncs on their next possession, turning the ball back over to the Gators with 44 seconds left.
The Lyncs press nearly came up with a turnover, but the Gators got a lay in at the other end, taking a five-point lead with 30 seconds left.
Bouma drove the lane and scored to make it a 47-44 Gator lead with 19 seconds left.
From there, the Lyncs needed to steal an inbound pass, or foul to put a Gator on the free throw line, but the Lyncs had only one team foul in the quarter.
They fired off four more fouls in about a second of clock time and put sophomore forward Amare Breedlove on the line.
Breedlove missed the first free throw but hit the second which gave the Gators a four-point lead.
The Lyncs could only get a two-point bucket from Wright to get the lead down to two points, but the clock had run down to two seconds, and after a timeout, the Gators were able to get the inbounds pass and run out the clock.
The Lyncs 2-13 shooting from 3-point range is mostly a result of the tight Gators defense, not allowing the Lyncs to create, or simply catch and shoot.
Wright’s 15 points was tops for the Lyncs, with Dykstra getting 13, and 12 for Bouma.
The Gators got 13 points from Breedlove and junior guard Reggie Lester.
Saturday at 7pm, the Gators will take on undefeated Zillah for the 1A state title. It’s the first trip to the title game for the Gators.
This was the Lyncs fourth straight trip to the semifinals, but the programs ninth championship will have to wait. The Lyncs will take on Seattle Academy on Saturday at 11:15am for third and fifth place.
~ Ted House
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