The greatest season ever of the Northwest Conference took a bit of a hit on Saturday. But, despite losses by Anacortes and Sehome, everyone’s goals remain in reach.
In the 2A boys tournament, the #2 Seahawks lost to #7 Prosser, Saturday at Arlington High School, 74-69. The #5 Mariners, lost at WF West High School, to #4 Mark Morris, 84-72. On the victors side, #6 Lynden routed #3 Renton, 70-52, at Auburn Mountainview High School, Friday night.
In the 2A tournament, there is so much parity in the top eight teams that I would not consider any of these results as “upsets.”
And in Saturday’s 1A tournament, #1 Lynden Christian ran away from #8 Overlake, 69-49, at Mount Vernon High School.
In the 1A tournament, however, there was an upset, as #7 Blaine took an early trip to Yakima, and knocked off #2 Zillah, 61-58, at Davis High School.
All these games were between teams in the top eight, so none were loser out games. The winners slide straight to Thursday’s semifinals in the Yakima SunDome. The losing teams will get an extra game in on Wednesday, but those will be loser out situations.
Friday night, the 19-4 Lions took on the 23-1 Renton Redhawks. Through the first eight minutes, both teams got through early jitters, hit a few shots, and wound up tied at 14-14.
That’s when things changed.
The Lions, who hit only three field goals in the first quarter, all 3-pointers, didn’t settle for threes in the second quarter. The went to work on getting twos, lots of them, especially Anthony Canales.
Canales hit six 2-point field goals in the second quarter for 12 of his game high 23 points. The Lions scored the first 10 points of the period for a 24-14 lead. They stayed 10 ahead at halftime, then took it up another notch.
Lynden went on a 19-0 run over the first five-plus minutes of the third quarter. The Redhawks declined to use a timeout or substitute until after they got their first bucket on a breakaway lay-in.
The Lions got any shot they wanted on offense, as the ball moved around like a hot potato, finding cutters for open lay-ins, or open 3-pointers. They eventually took a lead of 31 points in the middle of the fourth quarter.
The 23 by Canales was aided by 15 from Coston Parcher, and 11 from Brant Heppner. The Lions starters outscored the Redhawk starters, 60-29.
The Lions jump to a Thursday, state quarterfinal game at 12:15pm in the SunDome. They will play the winner of Wednesday's matchup between #13 North Kitsap and Sehome.
The Mariners took a trip to Chehalis to take on the Monarchs. Mark Morris is the home of one of the strongest programs in the state from year to year. They have two players averaging over 20 points per game on the season. Both went past their averages against the Mariners.
The Mariners fell behind in the first quarter and could never get over the hump. Kobe Palin, who averages 23 a game for the Monarchs, hit for 27. While Braydon Olson, who scores 21 a game, went for 34.
Grey Garrison and Grant Kepley scored 20 points each for the Mariners.
Sehome will take on North Kitsap, Wednesday, at 12:15pm, in an elimination game.
In Arlington, the Anacortes Seahawks had trouble keeping up with the smooth-shooting Prosser Mustangs.
The Mustangs were champions of the CWAC and led the league in three-point shooting. That’s not what hurt the Seahawks, as the Mustangs hit just two in the first half and finished with six. It was the Mustangs ability to get offensive rebounds, and some transition baskets that earned them as much as a 10-points lead early in the second quarter.
But the Seahawks made several comebacks. A 3-pointer by Cooper Barton and a 3-point play by Jacob Hayes in the last minute of the half brought the Seahawks to within 40-38 at halftime.
Prosser extended the lead with a 7-0 run to start the second half, but by the end of the third quarter, it was back to a 2-point game.
A driving shot by Brock Beaner knotted the contest at 55-55, but a 2-pointer by Prosser’s Kory McClure, and a 3-pointer by Koby McClure, put the Mustangs back up by five.
In the final minute, Gabe Eilertsen hit a corner 3-pointer to get the Seahawks to within five. Davis Fogle hit a shot that was initially ruled a 3-pointer, but was changed to a 2-point shot, ruling that Fogle’s toes were on the 3-point line. That left the Seahawks down by three with 21 seconds left.
The Seahawks then had to commit three straight fouls to get the Mustangs to the bonus situation, but Koby McClure ended the suspense by going 4-4 at the free throw line to secure the win.
Koby McClure was 10-10 at the free throw line in the game and led the Mustangs with 27 points. Kory McClure scored 16, and 12 for Issak Hutberg.
The Seahawks got 21 from Fogle and 16 from Jacob Hayes.
Anacortes will also play on Wednesday. They will take on #10 Enumclaw, at 1030am, in an elimination contest. A win by the Seahawks would advance them to the quarterfinals against #1 Pullman, who was a winner over #8 RA Long.
After a rough first 12 minutes, the Lynden Christian Lyncs broke loose from the Overlake Owls for a 20-point win. Tyler Sipma and Griffin Dykstra began to heat up late in the second quarter, giving the Lyncs a 29-25 lead at halftime.
Sipma hit six 3-pointers and finished with 26 points, while Dykstra hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points. On the inside, Jeremiah Wright dominated the physical Owls, scoring 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Wright used both sides of the rim on offense, while rejecting several shots on defense.
The Lyncs advance a Thursday, 530pm quarterfinal game, and await the winner of Wednesday's elimination game between Seattle Academy and Zillah.
That’s where the Borderites come in.
In 2020, it was #6 Lynden Christian beating #3 Zillah, 65-62 in overtime, at Davis High School in Yakima. In 2023, #7 Blaine edged #2 Zillah, 61-58, in the same venue.
This wasn’t some lucky, last-second win. The Borderites led the entire way, except for a few seconds. They led 17-8 at the quarter, and by two at halftime. Their one-point lead after three quarters increased to nine, before the Leopards closed the gap in the final seconds.
The win sends Blaine to a 9pm quarterfinal game on Thursday against Wednesday’s winner between Lakeside and Overlake.
To be continued…I’ll be clocking in Wednesday at 8am.
コメント