This is the second year of the team foul rule where there is no longer a “1-plus-1” bonus situations on the 7th team foul of the half. It was changed to a two-shot foul on the fifth team foul the quarter, and resets to zero at the start of the next quarter.
There were a few late game situations last year, and already five that I have seen this year, where the team that was behind and needed to foul at the end of the game, had to foul several times in a row to get the opponent to the free throw line.
With Meridian trailing Sehome late in the game on December 9, the Trojans had to foul, but had only one team foul as they began the process in the final half minute.
In Mount Vernon last week, the Bulldogs were in the same situation trailing Anacortes. They used their first foul of the fourth quarter with 20 seconds left, and spent the next six clock seconds fouling four more times.
On Tuesday at Squalicum, the Storm girls were down by a point to the Trojans, and committed their second team foul of the fourth quarter with 23 seconds left. Their fifth team foul came with twelve seconds left, but the Trojans held on to win by two points.
Thursday at Bellingham, the Anacortes and Bellingham junior varsity teams were in a close battle. The Bayhawks were down by five and committed their first team foul of the fourth quarter with 26 seconds left. They got to their fifth very quickly, as the clock ticked only down to 23 seconds to finally put a Seahawk on the free throw line.
In the varsity contest that night, the opposite was in play as the Seahawks were down by five and used their second team foul at 30 seconds, and reached their fifth at 23 seconds.
Strategically, you can’t tell your team early or midway through the fourth quarter that, “We better hack a couple arms now in case we need to foul in the last minute.” That would, most certainly, backfire.
It has turned into a completely different situation at the end of games. Other than that, I think it has really helped the other 31 minutes of the game, in a very subtle, almost unnoticeable way.
I wonder if someone will come up with an alternate strategy some day? I can only think of one. Teams will have to devise some sort of an all-out denial of the inbounds pass. I have not seen a turnover committed by the inbounding teams yet, in any of these situations.
Monday: Lynden 66, Lakewood 55
An early season game between two 3-0 teams, with complete opposite looking rosters. One with tremendous size, the other extreme quickness. They are also very opposite in the way they attack, defensively. One may think that with four starters 6-5 to 6-7, that would be an ideal “zone” team, while the quick guys would create havoc in a tight man-to-man defense.
Turns out, the tall team, Lynden, prefers their style of man-to-man, while the smaller team, Lakewood, plays a 2-3 zone that will give you fits.
Even with the Lynden size advantage, the Lakewood zone forced the Lions offense to the perimeter, unable to establish their inside game. The Cougars pressured the Lions around the outside, and shifted quickly to match movement of the ball. They always had their quick hands in the passing lanes.
At the other end, it also took the Cougars most of the shot-clock to work their offense. The Lions 6-7 senior forward, Jack Stapleton, was given the job of neutralizing the Cougars “Swiss Army Knife,” 6-2 junior forward, Caleb Greenland.
The Cougars moved the ball quickly with the pass and the dribble. They were able to create driving lanes to the hoop, but the Lion defenders were able to stay close.
Close enough that with their reach, they were able to stay disciplined not to commit on the “up-fakes,” and block several shots. If they weren’t disciplined in that regard, that’s when you get into foul trouble, and put shooters on the free throw line. That didn’t happen, as the Lions may have been close to double-figures in blocks. Senior forward Brant Heppner, at 6-6, had six on his own.
Fortunately, for the Lions, two of their own guard-sized players were able to pick up the offensive slack in the first half. Sophomore guards, Gordy Bedlington, with bench help from Malachi Koenen, combined for five 3-pointers and 17 points in the first half.
The best the Lions could do near the rim in the first half was the six points 6-5 junior, Spencer Adams added to the scoring column, converting three offensive rebounds.
The Lions had a late 9-2 run for a 32-22 halftime lead.
On their first possession of the second half, the Lions went to their strength, as they ran a high-low set against the Lakewood zone. Ty Jorgenson, a 6-5 junior forward, hit Heppner with a perfect pass from the high post, as Heppner had inside defenders sealed off for an easy lay-in.
The Cougars managed only nine points in each of the second and third quarters, and the Lions led by 15 after three periods.
But the Cougars kept battling, and produced a 24-point fourth quarter, thanks to the 14-point effort from senior guard, Nash Espe. Espe hit a 2-pointer early in the quarter, then followed that with four 3-pointers to get the Cougars within striking distance.
The Cougars crawled within 58-52 with :46 seconds left, but as the Cougars then had a couple empty possessions, the Lions hit 10-12 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the win.,
Heppner scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half. Bedlington finished with 15 and hit 4-4 at the free throw line in the final minute. Adams scored ten points for the Lions, eight as a result of offensive rebounds.
Espe’s 17 led the Cougars, with Greenland next with 14. Seniors Quinton Steen and Evan Stacey added ten points each.
Tuesday: Meridian 52 Squalicum 45
The Trojans were like a marathon runner, pacing themselves through three quarters, then put on the final kick and hit the tape, going away, for a 52-45 win at Squalicum.
The Trojans struggled against the tight man-to-man defense offered by the Storm, with senior guard Marcus Nixon taking on Trojans’ ace, 6-7 senior, Talon Jenkins.
The Trojans trailed at the end of each quarter, including 37-31 at the end of the third. In that time frame, they were never able to hit that big shot to get them the lead. Every time they had a chance, things broke down.
Down 24-19 with time running out in the half, the Trojans played for the last shot, but Nixon stole a pass out front that was headed for Jenkins. Nixon’s lay-in with seven seconds left gave the Storm a seven-point lead at intermission.
But the Trojans finally did create that big play with 4:40 left in the game.
Jenkins picked up a loose ball in back court, and tossed a long pass ahead to sophomore point Pierce Brzozowski, who’s lay-in gave the Trojans their first lead since the opening seconds, 39-38. From there, the Trojans would not let go of the lead.
Leading by three near the 2-minute mark, senior guard Canyon James made a key steal, which led to a 3-point shot by Jenkins, giving the Trojans a six-point lead.
Nixon answered that with a 3-pointer of his own, but Trojans senior guard, Jaeger Fyfe got a bucket to push the lead back to five with 1:30 left.
From there, the Storm had to foul quickly in the final minute, but the Trojans were up for it, as they hit 8-10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Jenkins played a very patient offensive game, and still got loose for 23 points. Fyfe added 12 more, and senior post, James Hedahl finished with 10.
Nixon was the only Storm player to reach double-figures, with 18. Sophomore guard Hunter Calloway was next, with eight.
The win pushed the Trojans record to 2-1 in the NWC, and 4-1 overall. The Storm fell to 0-3 and 1-4.
Tuesday: Mount Baker 71, Sehome 53
For the second year in a row, the Mount Baker Mountaineers defeated the Sehome Mariners in the big dome in Deming. Last year, it turned out to be their only conference victory. This NWC win comes 370 days later and shouldn’t be their last one this season. They broke loose in the middle of the opening quarter and cruised to a 71-53 win over the Mariners.
After leading 15-8 after eight minutes, junior guard, Peyton Abitia, hit a 3-point shot to start the second quarter, followed by a steal and lay-in by senior wing, Darius Gilstrap, giving the Mountaineers a 20-8 lead.
Mount Baker’s largest lead was with 4:40 to play, 61-42. They led by double-digits the whole second half, with the Mariners not able to get close than 13.
Sophomore post Kell Reardon was destructive to the Marines with his inside play at both ends, scoring 24 points. Junior guard Carter Hill had 11, with senior Luke Smith adding 10.
Junior guard Nolan wright continues to score well, netting 20 for the Mariners, with sophomore guard Quincy Tanovan adding 11.
Thursday: Bellingham 73, Anacortes 64
Despite sitting out the last 7:40 of the second quarter after committing his second foul of the game, junior forward Joe Harward scored 27 points as the Bayhawks got past the Seahawks, 73-64, in the Bayhawks’ gym, Thursday night.
The 6-3 Harward teamed with 6-5 senior Kincade Vanhouten to dominate the inside against the Seahawks in the first quarter. They combined for seven 2-point field goals, with Vanhouten nailing a 3-pointer for good measure.
But the Seahawks had a menace of their own on the floor. Senior guard Jake Andrew scored seven first-quarter points, and he was just getting started, as the teams raced to a 20-20 tie after eight minutes.
Harward picked up his second foul after 20 seconds of the second quarter, and went to the bench. At that point, the Bayhawks settled more for the outside game, but had trouble connecting, hitting two 3-pointers in the quarter, and a total of just eight points.
The Seahawks had trouble as well, but did manage a four-point lead at halftime, as junior forward Micah Dickison scored seven of his teams 12 points in the quarter.
The second half was a tale of two players.
Andrew scored the first eight points of the half for the Seahawks, as they took a ten-point lead, 40-30.
Harward also went to work, scoring seven points in the first four minutes, all within close range. He scored nine in the quarter to Andrew’s 12. The Seahawks led 51-48 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter started with a bucket by Harward, then he took a rebound coast-to-coast for another lay-in. That started a 10-0 run for the Bayhawks, who took a 58-51 lead with five minutes left.
The Bayhawks lead reached 12 points with 1:18 left, as the Seahawks had trouble finding the hoop from anywhere on the floor. Nor could they keep the ball out of Harwards hands, as once it was, he was going to the rim. But the Seahawks continued to scrap, and had one run left.
After missing two free throws, Andrew scored on a lay-in and followed that with a pull-up 3-pointer from the top, and the Seahawks were within seven.
Then a steal on the press led to a lay-in by sophomore guard Spencer Roberts, and the Bayhawks lead was down to five, with 31 seconds to go.
The Seahawks committed a quick foul with 30 seconds to play, and as described above in the late game foul situations, finally put junior guard Myllo Wright on the line with 23 seconds left. Wright missed both free throws, giving the Seahawks a chance.
However, a miss by Andrew led to another foul of Wright, who hit both free throws this time, and the Bayhawks were able to hang on.
Harward scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, and played, basically, three quarters. Vanhouten added 20 for the Bayhawks.
Andrew had 19 of his 29 in the second half, while Dickison finished with 14.
It was the third game of the season for the late-starting Seahawks, all conference games, and are now 2-1. The win for the Bayhawks (3-1/4-1) was a nice response after losing to Lynden Christian by 40 points on Monday.
On Thursday at Sehome, the Lynden Christian Lyncs sprinted to a 15-0 lead on the Mariners before Nolan Wright got his team on the board with two free throws with 5:30 left in the first quarter.
The Lyncs led 21-5 before the Mariners broke the momentum with a little run of their own to close the gap to 23-12 at the end of the quarter.
A 10-0 run for the Mariners to start the second quarter told all that we now had a ball game. The Lyncs responded with two quick 3-pointers for some breathing room, but the Mariners stayed close. LC junior Eli Maberry followed in a missed shot just before the halftime buzzer, giving the Lyncs a 36-32 halftime edge.
The game stayed tight, with two ties in the third quarter, and the game was knotted at 51-51 with six minutes to go in the game.
Later, a five-point lead for the Lyncs was cut to two with 3:30 remaining, but the Lyncs outscored the Mariners 13-4 the rest of the way to stay undefeated on the season.
Senior guard Gannon Dykstra led the Lyncs with 22 points. Senior forward Luke VanKooten scored 17, while sophomore Kaden Veldman had 14. Gunnar Dykstra finished with 12.
The guard combo of Nolan Wright and Quincy Tanovan scored 14 each for the Mariners.
On Friday, Burlington-Edison and Meridian used big second halves to log wins over Mount Baker and Blaine, respectively.
In the last four minutes of the third quarter in Burlington, the Tigers increased their one-point lead over Mount Baker to 16, with an 18-3 run. The Tigers went on to a 77-56 win behind 26 points from 6-6 junior forward Logan Heigert.
The Trojans lead over Blaine was 54-44 after three quarters, but the Trojans pitched a shutout over the final eight minutes, outscoring the Borderites 21-0, for a 75-44 win.
Also on Friday, Lynden milked out a 56-44 win at Ferndale. The worst part of this game was the inability of “X” (Twitter) to be able to negotiate the thick walls of the young gym.
The Lions worked their passing offense and sticky defense efficiently to a 22-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Senior forward Brant Heppner scored 12 of his 25 points in the first eight minutes.
The Lions held the Golden Eagles to five points in the second quarter, for a 35-18 lead at halftime.
Much like Heppner, Jonah Brillowsky’s offensive game has grown greatly since last season. The 6-6 senior has a variety of offensive shots, and a soft touch. Late in the second quarter, with the shot clock winding down, Brillowsky hit nothing but net with a step-back 3-pointer from the right wing over the outstretched arm of Heppner.
Brillowsky led the Golden Eagles with 15 points, though he was held scoreless in the final period.
In the fourth quarter, Ferndale cut the Lions lead down from 14 to seven points as senior guard Lincoln Thomas finished a backdoor cut with an open lay-in with 3:15 to play.
Lions 6-7 senior Jack Stapleton scored with 2:25 left, as he was able to come up with a loose ball in the key, after a mad scramble, in which several players got fingers on it.
That gave the Lions a nine-point lead and was their only field goal of the final quarter.
Heppner was the only double-figures scorer for the Lions, with junior forwards, Ty Jorgenson and Spencer Adams scoring eight points each. Junior guard Mantaj Singh finished with 12 points for the Golden Eagles, all in the second half.
With about one-fourth of the league schedule complete, Lynden Christian (4-0/7-0) has the best resume in the NWC at the moment, with Lynden (4-0/5-0) being next on the call list.
But they aren’t far ahead of six other teams. Burlington-Edison, Lakewood, Meridian, Bellingham, Anacortes, and Ferndale each have one league loss.
Christmas headlines the upcoming week, with no league games until Friday, January 3. That’s when this stuff starts to get serious.
Lakewood and Lynden are headed to the SunDome Shootout in Yakima on Friday and Saturday. The Cougars take on Lake Stevens and Selah. Lynden will play Grandview in a rematch of last year’s title game, and 1A runner-up, Annie Wright.
Anacortes will play two games in Chelan, while Sehome will play a pair at Central Washington University. Lynden Christian and Squalicum will play games at Mountlake Terrace.
I have a new idea for a book: "How to Foul Five Times in Four Seconds."
~ Ted House
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