The Lynden Lions were derailed from their fourth straight state championship, 64-50, by the Prosser Mustangs, in Thursday’s state quarterfinals, in the Yakima SunDome.
The Mustangs (21-7) advance to the state semifinals. They will play league rival, Selah, who they are already 1-3 in head-to-head games this season.
It started off well for the Lions, getting a quick lay-in by sophomore Gordy Bedlington off the opening tip. They went on to a 19-11 lead late in the quarter as senior forward Brant Heppner, who had been a part of many games under the SunDome roof, had a stellar opening quarter with 16 of the Lions 20 points.
However, the Mustangs gathered themselves and worked their way back to trail by only two points at the end of the first quarter.
The Mustangs are one of few teams this season who can match the size of the Lions front line. They also put pressure on the Lions perimeter, which, after the first quarter, caused a very bumpy road for the Lions offense.
From a 19-11 lead late in the first quarter, the Lions went cold as the Mustangs asserted themselves, and through much of the second quarter, outscored the Lions 14-1 for a 25-20 lead.
Down 27-22 late in the second quarter, sophomore guard Malachi Koenen hit a 3-point shot, then Bedlington scored on a drive and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the rebound was grabbed by senior forward Jack Stapleton. He found Heppner at the 3-point line and that gave the Lions a 30-27 lead with 50 seconds left in the half. The Lions go to halftime with a 31-30 lead.
The Mustangs kept the defensive pressure on and the Lions suffered through a five-point third quarter, and the Mustangs led 49-36 after three periods.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions had chances but still could not find the hoop. After four minutes of play, the Lions outscored the Mustangs 5-4. As the scoring picked up, the Mustangs had an answer for every Lion bucket, and eventually got the lead to 18-points near the final buzzer.
The Mustangs did to Lynden what the Lions have done to teams all season. They used their size and strength to do damage. Teams in the CWAC like to go-go-go. And you have to get them into a half-court game to be successful. The Lions are tops in the state when it comes to half-court offense and defense, but Prosser was even better on this day.
Koby McClure, the Mustangs senior guard who entered the game 42 points short of 2000 for his career, got 22 points closer in this game. But the real battle was won by Prosser inside, as 6-5 senior Landon Bailey scored 19 points, and 6-7 senior Trent Russell scored eight. But the two combined to go double-digits in offensive rebounds. The Mustangs had 19 at the offensive end.
Heppner scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds but was not able to score in the second half until the final two minutes.
The Lions hit 5-9 3-point shots in the first half but went 0-15 from the arc in the second half. They shot 25 percent from the floor in the second half, and 33 percent for the game. They also committed 20 turnovers to only seven for the Mustangs.
The Lions were sitting on 46 points late in the game, and that matched their scoring output when they won two games in this building in December in the SunDome Shootout. They beat Grandview and Bonney Lake by scoring 46 points in each game.
Friday will be the first night of semifinal games without Lynden. This breaks a streak of 11 straight years in the semis. Now that some streaks are being snapped, you can get a sense of just how consistently dominant the Lynden Lions have been over the past many seasons.
The 25-2 Lions will take on Columbia River (20-6) in an elimination game, Friday at 9:00am. The winner will play on Saturday for fourth and sixth place.
~ Ted House
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