The Lynden Christian Lyncs began their quest for a third straight state championship, by throttling the Kings Knights, 61-32, Thursday, at the Yakima SunDome.
The win advances the Lyncs to Friday’s state semifinal match up with the Annie Wright Gators at 530pm.
2023 State Tournament Most Valuable Player, Jeremiah Wright, picked up where he left off, finishing with a double-double on the day, scoring 18 points and pulling down ten rebounds.
Junior guard Gannon Dykstra scored eight points in the opening quarter and finished with 13. His running mate, senior Dawson Bouma, scored only five points in the game, but others made up the difference.
Freshman guard Dawson Hintz hit a 3-point shot to start the second quarter, which was followed by a three-pointer from junior forward Luke VanKooten, who went on to hit two more in the third quarter.
The Lyncs defense was also a major factor, as they held the Knights to a season low point total, seven below the 39 the Knights scored against Lynden in a game in January.
The key to the Lyncs defense was the play of junior forward Trey Bosman, who was given the task of defending the Knights leading scorer, Nick Linhardt. Linhardt took only seven shots and scored seven points. That led the Knights, along with seven points from junior guard Sebastian Cooper.
The Knights (17-9) drop into the consolation bracket, and will face Freeman (21-4), a loser to Annie Wright (23-2) on Thursday at 1030am.
The #2 seed Lyncs (23-2) will take on the #3 seed Gators in the second semifinal. The first semifinal will be undefeated, #1 seed Zillah (25-0), against #5 Seattle Academy (17-6) at 345pm.
~ Ted House
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