As they crossed the finish line on Saturday, in a photo finish, the Mount Vernon Bulldogs emerged as the champions of the Northwest Conference. Their 76-75 win over Lynden on Thursday was the tiebreaker, as both the Bulldogs and the Lions finished with 14-1 conference records.
The Lions defeated the Lynden Christian Lyncs, 61-56 on Saturday, which dropped the Lyncs to a third-place finish at 13-2. Not far behind was Anacortes, with a record of 12-3.
Those four teams were certainly the powers of the league, and if you shuffle the deck, any of the four were good enough to grab the title.
Case in point: Mount Vernon defeated Lynden, who defeated Anacortes, who defeated Lynden Christian, who defeated Mount Vernon.
But this year it’s the Bulldogs turn, and they well deserved it. It is the first NWC title for the Bulldogs, after winning many in the old Northwest League.
The Bulldogs were charter members of the NWC and were in the league for their first six years before growing to 4A status and leaving for the Wesco Conference. After eight years in the Wesco, they returned to the NWC in 3A, where they have been since the 2020-21 school year.
The decisive games for the Bulldogs were wins over Anacortes (in overtime), and the one-pointer over Lynden. (Both have game stories on this site).
The Bulldogs record improved to 14-1 with their 74-69 win over Bellingham on Friday. The Lions and Lyncs were both 13-1 heading into their final matchup. If the Lyncs had beaten their rival on Saturday, they would have claimed the league title due to their win over Mount Vernon, early in the season. But the Bulldogs were fans of the Lions on Saturday.
Anyone in the sporting world can point to a rivalry that they think is the greatest, and it doesn’t matter what sport. I think most would consider the Lynden-Lynden Christian basketball rivalry as the best in our area. It’s been happening since 1960, except for three years in the early 2000’s, for some reason.
The teams had split the last ten meetings, with the Lyncs winning last year, 55-52. This was the Lions fifth game in the last eight days, to which head coach Brian Roper states is a “players dream.”
This one was in the Lyncs gym, and seats were at a premium. Doors opened an hour prior (noon) to the tip off of the junior varsity game (1pm), so the youngsters got a preview of their futures, playing before a capacity crowd.
The Lyncs have explosive guard play and rock-solid posts who have great athleticism in football frames. It would be up to Lion defenders to control tempo, because those guards are especially dangerous in freeform transition situations.
The Lyncs would have to deal with the Lions Anthony Canales, and his ability to maneuver himself for mid-range shots, or slither between defenders and get to the rim.
The teams traded baskets over the first few minutes to a 7-7 tie, but the Lions took control by hitting four 3-pointers in the first eight minutes, and an 18-12 lead. For the Lions, the scoring was spread out, as all five starters had a bucket.
On the other side, LC guards Dawson Bouma and Gannon Dykstra were held in check, not getting many shot opportunities facing the man-to-man defense from Lions defenders Brady Elsner and Charlie Ayres. Senior post Jeremiah Wright did muscle his way to the rim for six first quarter points for the Lyncs.
The second quarter was more of the same. Bouma and Dykstra managed only two points each, but saw Canales come alive for the Lions as he scored seven points in the quarter.
A 3-pointer by Ayres, his second of the half, gave the Lions a 27-16 lead with 4:10 left in the half.
A spark for the Lyncs was the play of freshman guard Dawson Hintz. In the final minute of the half, Hintz scored on a drive, then hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to cut the Lions lead to 28-22. A bucket by Canales gave the Lions a 30-22 lead at the half.
The third quarter began like a shoot-out at the OK Corral. Bouma and Dykstra got into the flow, after combining for only nine points in the first half, they scored the Lyncs first 12 points of the third quarter.
Canales squeezed a 3-pointer into the middle of the LC run. Dykstra hit a 3-pointer with 3:40 left in the quarter to cut the Lions lead to 37-36. But that shot was answered by Canales, just a few seconds later, to push the lead back to four.
A minute later, Elsner grabbed a long rebound off of an LC miss and fed Canales down the floor for a two-hand jam, forcing a Lyncs timeout, with the Lions lead back up to eight.
Dykstra hit a pull-up 3-pointer in transition to trim the lead to five, heading into the fourth quarter.
The Lyncs inched closer as the clock ticked away, eventually tying the score at 51-51 with under four minutes to play, and with the already frenzied crowd, reaching its peek decibels.
But Canales continued to have the answers for the Lions. In fact, he aced the test.
Canales gave the Lions the lead for good with a long 3-pointer from the top with three minutes left. From there, Canales scored again, then on an emphatic dunk for a seven-point lead with just over a minute to play. He added two more free throws, as he scored the Lions final ten points over the last three minutes.
Canales scored 32 on the afternoon, with 22 in the second half. Ayres was next with nine points on three 3-pointers.
Dykstra scored 18 in the second half for the Lyncs, netting 23 for the game. Wright scored 14 for the Lyncs. Bouma scored nine in the second half and finished with 13.
The Lions, after shooting 20-20 at the free throw line against the Bulldogs, managed only 6-14, while the Lyncs were 10-16.
The intensity of this game was at the highest of levels, but the emotions were kept in check. It was a rough battle. Every time there was a loose ball, all you saw were the soles of their basketball shoes, as anyone in the area hit the floor.
For the best example of that, check out Jim Carberry’s photos of the game at the bottom of his story: It's Lynden Boys' Turn to Beat LC in Rivalry Game . After the read, scroll through the pictures and you will see three players tangled up on the floor, but the ball squirting away. That shot epitomizes the entire game.
Now, it’s time for some of these teams to go their separate ways. And they are surely happy to see that.
Monday has elimination games in 1A boys and girls, and 2A boys.
The Mount Baker boys will be at Blaine on Monday, with the winner advancing to the double-elimination tournament and will play at Lynden Christian in one semifinal on Wednesday at 530pm.
Wednesday’s other boys’ semi will be the Meridian at Nooksack Valley, which will start at 530pm. That precedes the girls’ semifinal game as the Pioneers host Monday’s Mount Baker-Meridian winner at 730pm. The other girls’ semifinal game will have Blaine at Lynden Christian, which follows the boys’ game at 730pm.
From there, the tournament moves to Lynden High School on Saturday, February 10, with boys and girls’ championships, and elimination games. The top two teams advance to state. There are no crossover games with District 2.
2A boys play-in games are on Monday, with #10 Archbishop Murphy at #7 Squalicum, with the winner playing at #2 Cedarcrest on Wednesday. Sedro-Woolley, the #9 seed, will be at #8 Burlington-Edison on Monday, with the winner at #1 Lynden on Wednesday.
2A girls play-in games have #10 Bellingham at #7 Lakewood on Tuesday, with the winner playing at #2 Archbishop Murphy on Thursday. The other play-in has #9 Cedarcrest at #8 Sedro-Woolley on Tuesday, and the winner at #1 Lynden on Thursday.
In the 3A girls tournament, Ferndale will host Monroe on Thursday, with the winner at Snohomish on Saturday. Oak Harbor will host Stanwood on Thursday, and the winner advances to play at Meadowdale on Saturday.
The 3A boys tournament begins on Wednesday with Ferndale at Marysvill-Getchell on Wednesday. The winner plays Friday at Arlington.
Mount Vernon will play at home on Friday against Wednesday’s Stanwood-Everett winner. That will be a busy day in “The Palace,” as the 2A boys’ semifinals will also be held at MVHS on that day. The first 2A semi will be at 445pm, with the second at 630pm. The Bulldogs will play their game, scheduled for 8pm.
Now that the regular season is over, let the games begin!
~ Ted House
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