Like the great quote master, Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.
For the Lynden Lions, it was a similar script on a different day, as the Columbia River Rapids overcame a 21-6 deficit, and eked out a 41-38 win over the Lions, in a 2A state tournament elimination game, Friday in the Yakima SunDome.
In this game, as was the case yesterday, the Lions opponent got a full dose of Lions senior forward Brant Heppner, but as time went on, that prescription could not hold up.
Heppner scored 13 first quarter points, and the Lions defense smothered the Rapids, for a 15-6 lead after eight minutes.
Heppner continued on with six more points in the second quarter as the Lions built that 15 points lead that included a run of 15-1 over the Rapids. But the Rapids began to enter smoother waters and tightened the gap to 25-16 at halftime.
The Lions struggled even more at the offensive end in the third quarter, as they could only muster five points on 5-10 shooting at the free throw line. Meanwhile, the Rapids inched closer until striking gold when senior guards Ari Richardson and Aaron Hoey hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the last minute of the half, tying the game at 30-30.
In the fourth quarter, despite only 19 combined points from both teams, the lead changed hands six times. The Lions last lead came on a heavily guarded jumper by Heppner, giving the Lions a 36-35 lead with just over two minutes to play. That was answered with two free throws by Richardson with 1:57 left.
The Lions then went empty on a 3-point shot, then another miss after the defense forced the Rapids into a shot-clock violation. Columbia River then called timeout with 38 seconds to go in the game, and 20 seconds on the shot clock.
The Lions defended well, but fouled Hoey with 23 seconds left. He hit both free throws, giving the Rapids a 39-36 lead.
The Lions looked for Heppner for the tying 3-pointer, but ended up with senior forward Jack Stapleton scoring inside, cutting the lead to one point with 8.6 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Lions had the Rapids inbounds situation well covered for four seconds until the Rapids were forced to use their last timeout.
On the next try, it was well defended again, and with neither team with a timeout remaining, the Rapids tossed a prayer that was tipped by the Lions, but secured by Richardson, who was able to dribble off three seconds before being fouled.
With 5.5 seconds left, Richardson netted both free throws, pushing the lead back to three points.
The Lions last effort ended with Heppner hitting the rim on a well-guarded shot from deep on the left wing.
For the second day in a row, it was all about getting shots to fall for the Lions. It went from bad to worse, again, in the second half, as the Lions missed all nine 3-point attempts, and hit only 1-16 for the game.
The Lions shot 28-percent from the field for the game, which is just under the 31-percent mark set by the Rapids, but in a 41-38 game, those percentages tell the story.
Hoey led the Rapids with 15 points. Richardson scored 13 as he was only 2-15 from the field, but 8-10 at the free throw line, including some big ones in the fourth quarter. Senior John Reeder had ten points and ten rebounds for the Rapids.
Heppner’s 25 led the Lions, with Stapleton next with eight, as only four Lions got into the scoring column.
The Rapids will play for fourth and sixth place on Saturday at 8:00am, against the winner between Mark Morris and Franklin Pierce.
The Lions season comes to a quick end with a record of 25-3. This is the first season since 2015 that the Lions will not take home a state tournament trophy.
As some of the Lions long championship streaks get broken, it gives more perspective on just how dominant they have been.
~ Ted House
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