The first week of 2024 started with a big upset, and ended with in individual feat that was nothing short of miraculous.
On Tuesday, the Lakewood Cougars knocked off the Anacortes Seahawks 63-55 on the Cougars home floor. This came on the heels of the Seahawks taking a loss at Cedarcrest, on their way home from two days of looking like state champs in a couple wins in Yakima.
The Cougars played well in Yakima as well, and that carried over, even though they were short-handed in their win over the Seahawks.
Without one of their top scorers, sophomore forward Caleb Greenland, the Cougars managed a big second half, to overcome a three-point halftime deficit.
Much of the credit for making up for the loss of Greenland’s scoring goes to Cougars senior Zach Stoddard, who tossed in 22 points. Senior Ben Rucker added 14 points, as the Cougars outscored the Seahawks 36-25 in the second half.
Seahawks junior guard, Davis Fogle, who was averaging 35 points per game, was held to 15, most of the time under the defense of Cougars junior Evan Stacey.
The Cougars had an up-and-down week, as they later lost at Sehome 61-51 on Friday, before defeating Bellingham at home on Saturday, 80-64, in a non-league contest.
Lakewood is 3-4 in the conference and 6-6 overall.
The Seahawks recovered with a win over Squalicum, 68-47 on Thursday. Fogle scored 16 points in the opening quarter and finished with 37.
In that game, Storm junior guard Kai Smith hit a 15-foot jumper with 6:25 to play in the first quarter, giving the Storm a 4-2 lead. The Storm’s next bucket came with 7:25 to go in the half, on a 3-pointer by Smith. In the meantime, the Seahawks ran off 26 straight points.
Freshman guard Hunter Calloway led the Storm with 19 points.
Anacortes finished the week with a 5-2 conference record. They are 9-3 on the season.
The Meridian Trojans got a home win over Burlington-Edison on Tuesday, 63-61.
After leading by three after eight minutes, the Trojans went cold, hitting only one field goal in the second quarter. The Tigers found passing lanes through the Trojan zone defense to their 6-8 junior post Tim Feskov, who scored eight first half points, as the Tigers led 25-20 at halftime.
Meridian junior guard Talon Jenkins did not shoot well in the first half, but still managed eight points. But the third quarter was something special.
Early in the third quarter, Jenkins hit a lay in, which must have ignited something much more. His next six shots were all 3-pointers, and every one was nothing but net. He didn’t miss until I announced his greatness through “X.” He scored 20 points in the third quarter. After that, he missed his first two shots of the fourth quarter, adding only two more points, and finishing with 30.
The Tigers trailed by as much as seven points in the fourth quarter but kept it close enough to have a chance in the final seconds. A late turnover kept them from the tying or winning shot.
Tiger senior guard Rex Wilson scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half.
The third of three tight ones on Tuesday was Mount Vernon’s 61-58 win at Squalicum.
The Storm led by three at the half, and the score was tied going into the fourth, where the Bulldogs held on for the win behind 35 points from senior guard Quinn Swanson.
Mount Vernon also got an 85-50 win over Meridian on Thursday, leaving the Bulldogs in sole possession of third place in the conference with a 6-1 record. They are now 10-2 on the season.
Sedro-Woolley got a big win in their only game of the week. They left Blaine on Thursday with a 64-57 win. Sophomore Isaac Johnson led the Cubs with 17 points, while fellow soph Cliff Tadema added 16. The Cubs led at every horn, and by as much as 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Cubs are 3-4 in the NWC and 5-6 on the season.
The Borderites got 20 points from senior forward Noah Tavis and 15 from junior guard Josiah Weeda. Blaine is now 1-6 in the NWC and 3-9 on the season.
In a game that was thought to be much tighter, the Lynden Lions improved their NWC record to 7-0 with an impressive 67-36 win over Bellingham.
The Bayhawks were playing without junior guard, and the team’s leading 3-point shooter, Harmon Wienkers, was out with an injury.
The Lions only led 4-2 after three minutes, but soon increased the lead to 10-2. After a 3-pointer by Bayhawk junior guard Gabe Van Hofwegen, the Lions scored the next 19 points for a 29-5 lead.
Senior forward Anthony Canales scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half. Jack Stapleton, the Lions 6-6 post, scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, as he continually beat the Bayhawks down the floor from baseline to baseline with some sort of time warp travel, receiving passes from teammates for easy lay ins.
The Lions are 9-3 on the season. The Bayhawks fell to 5-2 in the NWC, and after the non-league loss at Lakewood on Saturday, are now 7-5 on the season.
In another game that I thought could be closer, the Lynden Christian Lyncs stayed undefeated on the season with a 72-42 win at Nooksack Valley on Friday.
The Lyncs have the outside firepower and the inside strength that has yet to be matched.
Senior guard Dawson Bouma and junior guard Gannon Dykstra combined for 25 first-half points as the Lyncs took a 41-23 lead at the break. Bouma finished with 21 points and hit five 3-point shots. Dykstra added 17. Senior forward Jeremiah Wright added 16.
And that wasn’t even the exciting part of the game for LC.
The Lyncs led 58-30 after three quarters, and then something happened that I haven’t seen since my nerf hoop career ended in the 1970’s.
LC senior forward Kayden Stuit, a muscular 6-4 Eastern Washington University football commit as a tight end, scored the first three baskets of the fourth quarter for the Lyncs, all on two-handed dunks.
Ok, the first one was a little iffy, but he went up from right under the rim, jumping off two feet. He snapped the rim and the ball went in, so I’m giving him credit for it.
The second one was the perfection of a big-man basketball move.
LC had a baseline inbounds on the left side of the basket. Stuit was lined up at the right elbow of the free throw line. He made a cut toward the hoop and got the inbounds pass on the right side of the basket, inside the low post. He completed a beautiful drop-step move and elevated enough to slam the ball through with two hands.
The third came after another inbounds play, where a lay in attempt came off the front of the rim, and Stuit timed his leap perfectly, flushing the ball back through, again with two hands. This was all completed in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Lyncs and the Lions are tied for the NWC lead with 7-0 records. The Lyncs are 13-0 on the season and have now won 25 straight games.
The Pioneers are 4-3 in the NWC and 8-4 on the season. Against the Lyncs, sophomore guard Cole Coppinger came off the bench to score ten points to lead the Pioneers.
While I was at the LC-NV game, I realized that it had been about 15 years since I put their concession stand on the map by critiquing their nachos. They were great then, and they are great now. Maybe even better. Lots of chips and lots of that hot and spicy cheese for those three bucks!
In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve sampled many concession stand foods because I’m just so darned busy at these games. But this one I had to do. It’s great to know that they are there when needed.
As we look to next week’s schedule, something of a mystery has occurred.
I don’t see any extreme weather forecast for Monday, January 8. It’s not a holiday. I can’t think of any other reason why the Anacortes at Lynden Christian game was moved from Monday to Saturday, January 13, at 2:15pm.
Now, I’m going to have to watch football on Monday night!
~ Ted House
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