The Lynden Christian boys basketball team got its chance to play No.1 Annie Wright and found out why the Gators are considered the best team in Washington state as the Lyncs lost their Class 1A state tournament final, 59-46, on Saturday, March 8.
While the loss stung the proud Lyncs, it didn’t diminish their accomplishment of finishing second in the state with a 24-3 record and reaching the state finals for the 15th time in 40 state appearances, all despite graduating half their team and all but one starter.
“This was a huge accomplishment for this group,” said LC coach Tim Zylstra, praising the play and leadership of senior Gannon Dykstra. “We filled in around him pretty well. I’d have loved to win the game, but we played our tails off.”
LC’s effort was never in question even though the Lyncs had three sophomore starters against a team with 10 seniors, several of whom will be playing for colleges next year, and all of whom were just as quick as the Lyncs but usually three inches taller.
“I knew they were good and we’d have to play a perfect game to beat them,” said Zylstra. “And you can’t ask 15- and 16-year-old kids to play a perfect game. They were just better than us.”
And better than pretty much everyone as it turns out. The Gators’ only two losses were to elite Indiana academy and to a 3A state tournament team. They even beat 3A state champion Rainier Beach.
“It’s like the David and Goliath story,” said Dykstra, who despite being stalked by the Gators’ best defenders still had 10 points. “We gave it our best and give glory to God that we got this far. The goal was to play Saturday at state. Mission accomplished.”
For his efforts in Yakima, Dykstra was named to the all-tournament first team along with sophomore teammate Dawson Hintz, whose 33 points helped the third-seeded Lyncs defeat second-seeded Royal in Friday night’s semifinal.
Hintz only managed 6 points on Saturday, but then points were hard to come by for LC, which came into the tournament averaging nearly 80 points a game.
“They defend like crazy,” said Zylstra, whose team had by far its lowest point total of the season. “We had three or four layups that they just went up and took them away.”
Sophomore Gunnar Dykstra, Gannon’s little brother who at 5-foot-9 looked even littler on Saturday, had 9 points on three long 3-pointers, and senior Luke Van Kooten and sophomore Kaden Veldman had 7 points each.
Veldman also had 7 rebounds battling against the taller Gators.
Despite it all, the Lyncs hung close through the first half with the Gators needing a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to go into intermission up, 29-22. But the Lyncs never got their high-powered offense going in the second half and couldn’t cut into the double-digit deficit.
It was the final Lynden Christian game for three seniors — Gannon Dykstra, Van Kooten, and Carter Ahlers. Dykstra was the team’s MVP and the last link to the Lyncs’ 2023 state championship team. Van Kooten blossomed into one of the best 3-point shooters in the Northwest Conference, and Ahlers became a valuable starter at guard with the injury to Gunnar Dykstra.
“Luke and Carter were basically JV players (last year) and both stepped up and played fantastic for us,” said Zylstra. “They (the seniors) know what our standard is, and the younger ones see that. That’s how you know you’ve got a great team, when they care about each other more than themselves.”
Although the WIAA does not sanction all-tournament teams, in voting by media members, Jeremiah Harshman of Annie Wright was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Joining Hintz, Dykstra and Harshman on the first team were Dekker Van De Graaf of Zillah, Kaiden Wilson of Seton Catholic, and Reggie Lester of Annie Wright.
On the second team were Meridian seniors Jaeger Fyfe and Talon Jenkins, Martin Kaupanger of Annie Wright, Grant Wardenaar of Royal, Tev Uttech of Chelan, and Memphis Jones of Zillah.
Annie Wright 59, Lynden Christian 46
Lynden Christian 9 13 7 17—46
Annie Wright 13 16 14 16—59
Lynden Christian: Dawson Hintz 6, Gunnar Dykstra 9, Gannon Dykstra 10, Carter Ahlers, Boyce Robertson 4, Luke Van Kooten 7, Kaden Veldman 7, James Vos 3.
Annie Wright: Noah Schow 8, Jermiah Harshman 20, Gabe Walsh 6, Dewayne Anderson, Reggie Lester 5, Cale Carter, Kiente’e Caldwell, Brian Halliday, Will Reger 4, Martin Kaupanger 10, Dient’e Calewell 2, Rowan McEvilly 6.
CLASS 1A BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT
At Yakima SunDome
Wednesday, March 5
Seton Catholic 68, Cashmere 61 (loser out)
Meridian 65, Overlake 52 (loser out)
King’s 69, Bellevue Christian 67 (loser out)
Chelan 69, Bear Creek 51 (loser out)
Thursday, March 6
Zillah 61, Seton Catholic 59
Annie Wright 53, Meridian 22
Lynden Christian 69, King’s 44
Royal 67, Chelan 46
Friday, March 7
Meridian 68, Seton Catholic 48 (loser out)
Chelan 63, King’s 59 (loser out)
Annie Wright 58, Zillah 37
Lynden Christian 56, Royal 49
Saturday, March 8
Meridian 59, Chelan 48 (winner fourth, loser sixth)
Zillah 75, Royal 70 (winner third, loser fifth)
Annie Wright 59, Lynden Christian 46 (winner first, loser second)
The 2025 Class 1A state runners-up Lynden Christian Lyncs
