Over a span of 12 games played by Northwest Conference boys and girls teams in the 1A and 2A state tournaments on Thursday and Friday, Northwest Conference teams went 11-1. Of the 16 semifinalists, six represented the NWC. Five of those advanced to their respective championship games.
The 2A boys tournament is as deep as it has ever been. The general thought was that there were eight teams, give or take, that could end up hoisting the gold ball. This includes Sehome and Anacortes, who were knocked out on Wednesday. Thus, the depth of the tournament.
The 1A boys tournament also had multiple possibilities, but a familiar pair will face off again in the championship game. In fact, only the 2A boys championship game features a team that was not in a 2022 title game, Mark Morris.
The 1A girls championship game will be a repeat of last year, again featuring NWC rivals, Nooksack Valley and Lynden Christian. Burlington-Edison will take on Ellensburg for the second straight year for the 2A girls title. And the Lyncs boys will again play the Kings Knights for the 1A championship. The Lions, Lyncs, Bulldogs, and Lyncs are all defending champions.
On the boys side of the curtain on semifinal Friday, Mark Morris knocked off #1 and undefeated Pullman, 52-49. Had the Greyhounds been able to keep their record perfect, the 2A boys championship game would have made all four title games repeats from 2022.
Lynden 60, Prosser 42
The #6 seed Lynden Lions completely smothered the dangerous offense possessed by the CWAC champions, the #7 seed Prosser Mustangs, holding them to nine points below their lowest offensive output of the season.
The game began with a 3-point shooting contest, with the Lions hitting four in the first quarter, two by sophomore Brant Heppner. The Mustangs also drilled two as the Lions took a 15-10 lead after one quarter.
From there, the defenses got in each other’s way resulting in a 9-7 quarter in favor of the Lions.
However, Heppner started the quarter with his third three of the game. And, in one sequence, the Lions pulled down three offensive rebounds, and finally finished the long possession with a drive down the middle of the key by Lion senior Kobe Baar. His lay-in gave the Lions a 22-13 lead.
Baar began a 26-point third quarter for the Lions by hitting a 3-pointer. As the Mustangs inbounded the ball, they committed a violation, turning the ball over to the Lions. Baar then drilled another 3-pointer on the inbounds play for his second in 20 seconds. The Lions led 30-17.
Baar doubled up again later in the quarter, swirling down a 3-point jumper as the shot-clock expired, then hit another one a short time later from the other side of the floor for 48-29 lead.
The 3’s were raining down on the Lions side of the floor like it was pregame warmups. In all, the Lions took 30 shots from 3-point land, hitting 12, for 40 percent. Anything over 33 percent is gravy.
Baar was 4-5 and Heppner hit 4-9 to lead the way. The Lions were just 2-3 from the free throw line in the game, but when you shoot that many 3-pointers, you won’t get fouled very often.
Baar’s 16 points tied Lion junior Anthony Canales for game-high honors. Heppner finished with 14.
Canales finished a textbook press break by the Lions, with another emphatic two-handed dunk in the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs have some very good shooters and led the CWAC in 3-pointers but could manage just 4-20 against the Lions man-to-man defense. Sophomore Kobe McClure was the only Mustang in double-figures with 12 points.
The Lions will meet the Mark Morris Monarchs in a championship rematch, but not from last year. The Lions defeated the Monarchs in the 2007 2A title game, held in the Tacoma Dome, 62-44.
The Lions, not only will be looking for their twelfth championship, but their second straight, and fourth in the last five tournaments. The Monarchs have three titles in the 3A classification. The last in 1987.
Lynden Christian 82, Toppenish 60
Lyncs 6-6 junior post, Jeremiah Wright, clear of Thursday’s foul troubles, dominated the undersized Wildcats by scoring 23 points and clearing ten rebounds in just 22 minutes of play.
The Lyncs shot 61 percent in the first half as they broke away from the Wildcats with a 20-11 second quarter.
Senior guard Dexter Zylstra gave the Lyncs a nice offensive boost off the bench in the first half, scoring all eight of his points with two 3-pointers, and set Wright up for a couple buckets. The Lyncs led 38-26 at halftime.
In the second half, the Lyncs crafty point-guard Tyler Sipma got the offense going with a variety of shots as the Lyncs increased the lead to 17 points.
The Wildcats cut that to 13, then senior guard Griffin Dykstra ignited a quick rally with a follow in of a missed shot. On the next possession he tosses a perfect lob pass to Wright who redirected the ball off the glass for an easy two. Then Dykstra drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to 20.
Senior guard Dawson Bouma scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half as the Lyncs lead grew to as much as 27 points in the fourth quarter.
The Lyncs ended up shooting 57 percent for the game and hit eight of 17 3-point attempts.
Sipma finished with 16 points for the Lyncs and no player played more than 25 minutes, which could be a key in Saturday’s final.
The Lyncs and the Knights will meet for the 1A title for the second consecutive year, and for the fourth time since 2015. The Knights have won two of the three championship meetings. The Lyncs won last year’s title game 61-58. The Lyncs will be playing for their eighth championship in program history.
Kings 57, Blaine 38
The Knights used a sticky man-to-man defense to hold the Borderites to their lowest point total of the season, and denying an all-NWC championship game.
Senior forward Mathew Russ got going by hitting three runners in the key as the Knights held a 16-12 lead after one quarter.
Over the next 16 minutes, the scoring slowed to a crawl. A 3-pointer by Russ at the 3:15 mark of the second quarter was the first hoop by the Borderites in the second quarter. But the Knights were also having trouble finding the hoop.
Senior guard Lucas Smith, being face-guarded by the Kings defense, found the hoop for the first time with just under two minutes to play in the half. That brought the Borderites to within 19-17. But Nick Linhardt went 3-3 from the free throw line, and Maddox Boyce hit a 3-pointer to push the Knights lead to eight at halftime.
Both teams shot only 29 percent in the first half as the Knights led 25-17, with the Knights outscoring the Borderites 7-1 at the free throw line.
The key to the Knights defense was their ability to keep Blaine from penetrating off the dribble, and they were unable to connect from the outside. The Borderites hit only 3 of 17 3-pointers on the night. The Knights outscored the Borderites 24-13 in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
While the Borderites misses out on an opportunity to play for a championship for the first time since the 1999 and 2000 years led by Luke Ridnour, they will take home a state tournament trophy for the first time since a fifth place finish in the 2004 2A state tournament.
The Borderites will play Toppenish for third and fifth place at 1pm, Saturday.
After Blaine takes on Toppenish, there is championship action for the rest of the day in the SunDome.
3pm: 1A Girls championship between Nooksack Valley and Lynden Christian.
5pm: 1A Boys championship between Lynden Christian and Kings.
7pm: 2A Girls championship between Burlington-Edison and Ellensburg.
9pm: 2A Boys championship between Lynden and Mark Morris.
~ Ted House
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