2A Boys Regionals: Lynden Rallies, Sehome Falls

Whatcom County’s two Class 2A boys state entries split their state regional games with Lynden rallying in the fourth quarter to beat Port Angeles, 58-48, and Sehome losing to top-seed North Kitsap, 73-42, on Friday night, Feb. 25.

Both the Lions and Mariners, by virtue of their top-eight seeding, will advance to the state tournament in the Yakima SunDome.

Sehome (15-7), however, will have to play a loser-out contest on Wednesday at 9 p.m. against the winner of Saturday’s Sammamish-Lakewood game.

The winner of that Wednesday game will move to Thursday’s quarterfinals and will play Lynden (20-2) at 9 p.m. With Friday’s victory, Lynden received a first-round bye and advances directly to the quarterfinals.

Here’s a look at the first-round games:

Whatcom Hoops February-26-2022 — **Kaleo Jandoc reacts after sinking his second big 3-pointer.**

Lynden Roars Back To Stun Port Angeles

Even the Lynden faithful had to be worried when the Lions were down by seven in the fourth quarter against a talented and taller Port Angeles squad that obviously didn’t like its No.7 seeding and was taking it out on Lynden.

Enter Kaleo Jandoc, and the senior with the Hawaiian heritage said, “No worries.”

Jandoc hit the two biggest shots of the game to give second-seed Lynden a stunning 58-48 come-from-behind victory over the Roughriders.

“He does whatever it takes to win,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said of his point guard, whose known more for his ballhandling and passing than his scoring. “He doesn’t care about stats. He just wants to win. Tonight was a good example of that.”

Senior Jordan Medcalf: “That’s the game. Those (shots) won it for us.”

Well, not exactly. The first shot, a 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the game, gave Lynden a 47-44 lead to culminate the Lions’ uphill battle after trailing all game long. Jandoc’s second shot was another 3-pointer with 1:35 left and turned a one-point lead into a 50-46 margin.

Dawson Adams put in a rebound to make it a six-point lead with less than a minute to go and then it was just a matter of making free throws, which the Lions did. Kobe Baar sank two, Jandoc sank two, and Coston Parcher sank two … and that sank Port Angeles.

In the end, the most telling stat was the fourth-quarter score: Lynden 24, Port Angeles 7. The Lions’ defense held the Roughriders not only to their lowest point total of the season, but held them to 17 second-half points.

“The fourth quarter is our quarter,” said Medcalf, who led the team with 17 points and also had 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. “It’s a 32-minute grind.”

“We needed to take them out of their game and keep playing hard defense,” said Jandoc, who would rather talk about his defense than his big shots. “Everyone on the team was locked in. We take a lot of pride in our defense.”

That showed up on the stat sheet. Lynden outrebounded the taller Roughriders, 33-31, with 6-foot-1 Adams grabbing 9 boards often while battling 6-foot-9 John Vaara. Lynden also caused 12 turnovers and only committed four.

And then there was Baar, who came off the bench and accepted the toughest defensive assignment: stopping Port Angeles guard Xander Maestas, who torched the Lions for 11 first-half points.

With Baar in his face most of the second half, Maestas only managed six points. And when the Roughriders needed him the most — in the fourth quarter — he only scored two points.

In addition to Medcalf’s 17-point night, Adams had 13 points and three 3-pointers, Parcher had 11 points, and Jandoc finished with 10 points, all in the second half. The team also made 18 of 21 free throws, including all 10 in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line.

And now the Lions, who have now won 16 of their last 17 games, will be heading back to Yakima.

“It’s good to be back,” said Medcalf, who along with Jadoc started on the 2020 team that placed third at state.

Roper agreed.

“I get older,” he said, “but this never gets old.”

Lynden 58, Port Angeles 48

Port Angeles 16 15 10 7—48

Lynden 8 14 12 24—58

Port Angeles: Quanah Wheeler 4, Damon Gundersen 2, Xander Maestas 17, Michael Soule, Wyatt Dunning 14, Isaiah Shamp, John Vaara 11.

Lynden: Kaleo Jandoc 10, Coston Parcher 11, Cameron Petersen, Brady Elsner, Jordan Medcalf 17, Max Moore, Trey Smiley, Dawson Adams 13, Anthony Canales 5, Brant Heppner, Kobe Baar 2, Lane Simonsen.

Hot North Kitsap Shoots Down Sehome

Eighth-seed Sehome knew how good top-ranked North Kitsap was having lost to the Vikings by 23 during the regular season. But familiarity didn’t help the Mariners Friday night as they again lost to North Kitsap, 73-42, in the Class 2A state regional at Foss High School in Tacoma.

Fortunately, as a top eight seed, Sehome will still advance to the state tournament in Yakima. The Mariners, however, will have to play in the loser-out, consolation round on Wednesday, when they take on the winner of Saturday’s Sammamish-Lakewood game at 9 a.m. in the SunDome.

On Friday, Sehome (15-7) saw too much of North Kitsap star Jonas La Tour. The senior hit seven 3-pointers, including five in the first quarter, as the Vikings (22-3) took a 27-10 lead. He had 22 points in the first period and finished with a game-high 32 points despite being in foul trouble much of the game.

Outside shooting, which had been one of Sehome’s strengths all season, eluded the Mariners on Friday. They only made one of their 14 3-point attempts. Gavin Ortega, Sehome’s only senior, led the Mariners with 14 points.

North Kitsap, which is the defending state champion, moves on to Thursday’s state quarterfinal in the SunDome.

CLASS 2A BOYS

STATE REGIONALS

Friday, Feb. 25

#1 North Kitsap 73, #8 Sehome 42 (both to state tournament)

#2 Lynden 58, #7 Port Angeles 48 (both to state tournament)

Saturday, Feb. 26

#14 Prosser 60, #11 Mark Morris 58 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#12 Grandview 68, #13 Enumclaw 46 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#4 Pullman 61, #5 Tumwater 50 (both to state tournament)

#9 Lakewood 61, #16 Sammamish 53 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#10 Franklin Pierce 90, #15 W.F. West 69 (winner to state tournament, loser out)