I’m not calling this a down year for the entity of the Northwest Conference when it comes to the 2024-25 basketball season, but when you set the bar so high, others would love to have your “down year.”
There are four championships given in the Yakima SunDome each March, and in tournaments held in 2022, 2023, and 2024, teams from the NWC came home with three each year. So, this year’s total of one is, of course, fewer than three, but there’s no reason to panic.
The Lynden girls kept the NWC’s championship streak alive as having won at least one state basketball title every year since 2017 by winning their second straight 2A championship. From 2017 to 2024, each year had multiple championships except for a single title in 2019.
The big news from the 2A boys tournament was Lynden, who lost their first two games. As the number one seed, they finished in the top eight, which is outside of the trophy dash. Prior to this year, the Lions had won five state championships since their last Northwest Conference championship. This year, they won the NWC, so…
Talk about setting the bar high. Since Coach Brian Roper’s first season in 2005-06 through this year, there have been 19 years of state tournaments. The Lions have qualified 17 times (I’m counting 2015 which was a regional loss to Mark Morris). Of those 17 times qualified, they have placed 15 times, with 13 of those a finish of third place or higher.
And, of course, prior to this year they were sitting on three straight championships, and five of the previous six. Once streaks like this get broken, that’s when you can look back and see just how dominant they have been.
This year, along came Prosser. They were the #10 seed for some reason. But after seeing them in person, their win over Lynden in the quarterfinals was not an upset. I’m not saying that Lynden didn’t deserve their top seeding. They did. But, going in, this tournament was deep with contenders. Prosser, Lynden, Selah, Columbia River, Mark Morris, RA Long, and, of course, eventual champion Bremerton.
Bremerton was #3 seed and finished first. Second went to the #10 seed Prosser. Third place went to #2 RA Long. Fourth place was #11 Columbia River. Fifth went to #5 Selah. And sixth place went to #8 Mark Morris.
Now, of course, you can’t seed them after the tournament is over. But #10 Prosser and #11 Columbia River could have easily taken the places of #4 West Valley-Spokane and #7 Foster who may have gotten too much credit for some late season wins. But no matter where they go in, the cream does rise to the top.
Lakewood had a tough time in their regional game going up against Bremerton. They in Yakima, went up against under seeded Columbia River, and the Cougars season ended there.
The Greater St. Helens League had a great season for themselves. RA Long finished 3rd and also won the GSHL title and the Southwest District championship. Columbia River took fourth in state after beating league rival Mark Morris, who finished sixth. The Monarchs finished second in league and district, with the Rapids right behind in both. Ridgefield, who was fourth in the GSHL and in district, was eliminated by Prosser in regional play. So, if Prosser had been seeded in the top eight, Ridgefield may have made it into the final 12 in Yakima.
The CWAC was powerful as well, with Prosser’s second place finish and Selah in fifth. Grandview, the team that won the CWAC and was the #2 team in the state polls for most of the year, was taken out in their district crossover by West Valley-Spokane.
One more observation on the 2A boys tournament. I think champion Bremerton was certainly the best team. No Cinderella this year. But take the rest of that list from earlier (Prosser, Lynden, Selah, Columbia River, Mark Morris, RA Long), and put them in six more tournaments and I bet you get a different winner each time. That’s how balanced and deep this tournament was.
Bremerton sophomore Jalen Davis was voted as the 2A Most Valuable Player by the attending media. He scored his teams first 13 points in the championship game. He had 27 by halftime, and finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds.
Koby McClure of Prosser, also a first team selection, surpassed the 2000-point plateau for his high school career. That’s a bunch of points.
Lynden senior Brant Heppner made the first team even though the Lions did not play on Saturday. That shows how dominant he was in the Lions two games. He scored 53 points and had 24 rebounds in his two games against Prosser and Columbia River.
Senior forward Dalton Stevens of Mark Morris and Prosser’s senior forward Landon Bailey also made the first team.
The 1A boys tournament was a different story as far as where the top seeds finished. All season long Annie Wright was the heavy favorite and everyone else was playing for second.
The top four seeds all got to the semifinals, and they all finished in the top five. (The format won’t let them take the top four places). #7 Meridian and #9 Chelan crashed the party on Saturday and finished fourth and sixth place, respectively.
The Trojans did very well for themselves, achieving their goal of playing on Saturday. Their fourth-place finish was their first piece of hardware since they took second place in 2010.
The senior duo of Talon Jenkins and Jaeger Fyfe were recognized as second team All-Tournament.
While we are thinking of those two guys, I’ve had a question that I’ve never gotten a firm answer to. And that is, “How are these guys able to shoot from so far out just by playing on the SunDome floor?”
All season, they shoot a toenail’s length outside the 3-point line. Sure, some from a step or two farther at times. But on the state floor, they end up shooting from several steps beyond the line, and it seems effortless. Is it all adrenalin? Couldn’t just be that after playing three or four days there.
However, a source close to the situation tells me that when you step on that floor, there’s just a feeling that you can just jump higher and shoot from more distance. Well, they do, and they can. So, problem solved.
Anyway, the 1A boys tournament’s Most Valuable Player was Jeremiah Harshman, senior, of the champion Gators. Also, from Annie Wright on the first team was senior guard, Reggie Lester.
Dekker Van De Graaf, a junior forward from Zillah, who made the last second game-winner to beat Annie Wright in the 2024 title game, also made the first team. Sophomore Kaiden Wilson of Seton Catholic was also voted to the first team.
Two players from runner-up Lynden Christian were named to the All-tournament first team. Senior guard Gannon Dykstra capped his high school career with a spot on the first team. Also selected was sophomore guard Dawson Hintz.
Think about this for the LC future: The Lyncs sophomore class includes Hintz, Gunnar Dykstra, and Kaden Veldman.
The 2A girls tournament had two favorites all year, but in the end, there was really only one. Lynden. Ellensburg and Deer Park, who were both undefeated coming in, were a few laps behind the Lions. The Lions finished 28-0, plus winning their last 20 games last year, that’s pretty healthy streak. But the way they played, it never looked like the winning streak was anywhere in their minds. Their closest game was a 16-point win.
The 2A girls teams held serve to their seeds as the top six seeds all took the top six places. The top three finished in that order. #3 Deer Park, who was undefeated, lost in the semifinals to #2 Ellensburg, who was also undefeated. The Bulldogs then lost to undefeated, #1 Lynden.
Lion sophomore Finley Parcher was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Junior Payton Mills made the second team, after taking home MVP honors last year.
Others on the fist team were senior, Jamison Philip of Ellensburg, Julia Dalan, senior from WF West, sophomore Ashlan Bryant of Deer Park, and sophomore Herbie Wright of Prosser.
In the 1A girls tournament, the top five all placed in the top five, but not in that order. #2 Bellevue Christian beat #4 Kings in the final. The only seed lower than five to earn a trophy was #8 Naches, who took sixth.
The two-time defending champions, the Nooksack Valley Pioneers, were eliminated in the round of 12 by Naches Valley. The Pioneers getting that far after a major roster change is a reflection on their program. They were a very young team this year, and their trips to Yakima are not ending any time soon.
The Lynden Christian girls entered as the top seed, but were edged by #4 Kings at the buzzer in the semifinals. They went on to take third place. They have taken home a trophy every year since 2005.
Two Lyncs made second team All-Tournament. They were seniors Danya Dykstra and Allison Shumate.
Of course, the Triple-berry Lemonade was irresistible, and the bands were awesome. Many different styles, but they were all great in filling the SunDome with great atmosphere.
In the 2A girls championship game between Lynden and Ellensburg, the great Lynden band was cross the way, and behind me where I was sitting at the press table, was the Bulldogs band. It seemed like I was at a concert when they played, as I had a seat next to the speaker. (No, this isn’t old guy talk). It was all good however. In fact, at halftime as their cheer squad was performing to an Aerosmith tune via, I don’t know, 8-track? Cassette? CD? I was thinking that was something that their own band should have performed live!
Finally, for the 2024-25 season, an acknowledgment and a thank you to a hard-working group.
Over the four days around the press table, I got to spend a lot of time with a bunch of folks who were also there to cover our local teams.
They represent our local media outlets, and are there to cover the event to promote our local schools, teams, coaches and athletes. No one is getting rich doing this, but it is fulfilling and certainly covers a need.
I got to be around the following group of talented individuals, and I want them to know that I had a great time interacting with you all, talking about what we were watching, and everything else.
Thank you to the following:
Jim Carberry of whatcomhoops.com
Tyler Anderson of whatcompreps.com
Randy Small of randysmall.com Whatcom County Weather and Photography
Nick Zeller-Singh of Cascadia Daily News
Eric Trent of Cascadia Daily News
Randy Farmer, Jason Upton, Dan Kaemingk, and Rick Todd of KPUG.
There’s a nice variety of media there, so If you follow any or all of these fine folks, you are getting the best coverage you can get.
And, finally, to my sponsors that you see at the top of my page. They were a huge part of my ability to cover what I cover. I appreciate their help very much. They are:
Jerry Blankers, Muliat Group North
Tom Zylstra, S&H Auto Parts
Dane Johnson, Bay City Supply / Walter E. Nelson Co.
Anthony Wierderkehr, Aeromech
Sarb Malhi, Sumas Market
This was my 40th straight state tournament. My overall total is 46 as there was a gap in the early 80’s. My first tournament was in support of the Mount Baker Mountaineers as a sixth grader in 1973. That was the 1A state tournament at the University of Puget Sound. I saw my first bracket, and I was hooked for life.
That was the site where I heard the best public address announcer ever. His name was the great Dick Webster (I added “the great.”). In those days, and even into the 80’s, he did all 26 games over four days, and he was in tune with everything. If a player scored three or four hoops in a row for a team, he would say, “That’s Mister Petersen, again!”
And, as the games dragged on, he would announce scores from other tournaments, he would always add something like, “And a partial score from the B tournament…Ritzville 42…” Just to see if you were paying attention.
I don’t know why I added all that, but I do have vivid memories of state tournaments of long ago.
That’s all, for now.
~ Ted House
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