The Lynden girls basketball team has been making it a habit to shut down opposing offenses but even coach Rob Adams was impressed with the Lions’ defensive dominance in beating Sehome, 60-20, in the Class 2A District 1 semifinals Saturday, Feb. 10.
“Their intensity and effort was as good as we’ve had,” said Adams of his Lions, who will now play Archbishop Murphy for the district championship and a state berth on Wednesday night. “I think we’re trending in the right direction defensively.”
Also trending in the right direction on Saturday were the Squalicum and Lummi Nation girls.
The Storm stayed alive in the 2A district tournament by taming Sedro-Woolley, 46-30, in a loser-out game. Sehome and Squalicum will continue consolation play on Tuesday night when the Mariners take on Anacortes at 5:30 and the Storm take on Burlington-Edison at 7:15 p.m.
NEXT UP MONDAY: The Class 2A boys once again have the night to themselves with a pair of consolation games at Mount Vernon High. Sehome takes on the Lakewood at 5:30 p.m. and Bellingham plays Anacortes at 7:15 p.m. For all the action, check out Whatcom Hoops.
In the opening round of the Class 1B District 1/2/3 tournament, fifth-seeded Lummi Nation scored all the points it would need in the first quarter as the Lady Blackhawks easily defeated 12th-seeded Northwest Yeshiva, 72-15, in a loser-out contest at home late Saturday night.
Lummi Nation now moves into the double-elimination portion of the tri-district tourney and will play fourth-seeded Evergreen Lutheran in Tacoma on Tuesday in a quarterfinal game. The winner of that game will earn an automatic berth in the state regionals.
Here are the results from Saturday night’s girls playoff action:
2A District
Lynden Makes Quick Work Of Sehome, 60-20
Top-ranked Lynden has held several opponents to their lowest point total of the season during its 15-game winning streak, but it was still shocking that the Lions managed to do it to Sehome in their 60-20 thrashing Saturday.
The Lions, who improved to 22-1, came out on fire and burned the Mariners with a 22-1 first quarter. By the time Emmy Hart sank a 3-pointer for the Mariners’ first field goal with 5:41 left in the second quarter, Lynden had already built up a 28-1 lead.
“We came out strong right off the bat,” said Lynden junior Kiki York. “We just played with a lot of energy. It was a lot of fun.”
Fun for the Lions. With York shutting down Sehome’s all-league point guard Madi Cooper, and the rest of the Lynden defenders playing with the intensity and effort Adams likes, senior Natalie Brewer was the only Mariner with more than four points. She only had six on a pair of second-quarter 3-pointers.
“We played one of the toughest teams in the state in any classification,” said Sehome coach Kim Stensgar, whose team fell to 12-10. “We’re not there yet.”
While Sehome struggled to score, Lynden did not as eight different Lions put up points.
Sophomore post Payton Mills dominated inside with 18 points and even tossed in a pair of 3-pointers. York and sophomore Rian Stephan had 9 points each, freshman Finley Parcher had 7 points, and senior Mallary Villars and freshman Lexi Hermanutz had 6 points each.
But Adams continued to praise his team’s defense starting with York. “Pound for pound, she’s one of the best defenders we’ve ever had and she’s only scratching the surface,” he said. “Defense travels, and teams win those ugly, postseason games with defense. This group is starting to get it.”
Sehome, meanwhile, is still alive for a state berth, but now has to win three more district games — starting with Anacortes on Tuesday — to return to Yakima.
“It’s frustrating,” said Stensgar of the district’s two-team state allotment. “There will probably be teams at state that we can compete with.”
Lynden 60, Sehome 20
Sehome 1 9 3 7—20
Lynden 21 19 8 12—60
Sehome: Cooper 3, Aven, Hart 4, Watson 3, Krout, Barge 2, Brewer 6, Gaston , Schroeder 2.
Lynden: Villars 6 , K. Newcomb, Bowler 3, VanderYacht 2, R. Newcomb, Slayton, Stephan 9, Hermanutz 6, Koetje, York 9, Parcher 7, Mills 18.
Squalicum Starts Slow, Then Finishes Off Sedro, 46-30
Squalicum needed a while to get going, but once it did the Storm blew past Sedro-Woolley, 46-30, to stay alive another day in the 2A district tournament.
The Storm were down 15-10 early in the second quarter to a team they beat by 19 earlier this year, but Squalicum closed the quarter on a 12-0 run capped off by a layup by Makayla Heaton off a great pass from Addison Kettman with four seconds left in the half.
From there the Squalicum defense held Sedro-Woolley to 15 points in the second half before pulling away for the double-digit win.
Storm coach Jenalyn Brown blamed part of the slow start on the hangover from Thursday’s emotional loss to rival Sehome.
“I was really hurting for the girls,” said Brown, whose team improved to 15-8. “But I was proud of the way they bounced back after the tough loss.”
Heaton led the balanced attack with 15 points and a pair of 3-pointers. Fellow seniors Mari Binning and Caitlyn Richardson also played well in their final home, scoring 9 points each. Junior Loretta Murphy-Kangas added 6 points.
“Our defense tightened up,” said Brown, singling out Heaton’s effort. “She showed up to play.”
Sedro-Woolley was led by freshman Reagan Evans, who had 23 points of the Cubs’ 30 points despite much of the Storm’s defensive attention. The loss ended Sedro’s season at 9-14.
Squalicum 46, Sedro-Woolley 30
Sedro-Woolley 10 5 7 8—30
Squalicum 9 13 9 15—46
Sedro-Woolley: Bernal, Torgerson, Bahr, McIlraith 2, Farrell, Evans 23, Collins, Oram, Stroud 5, Mathias.
Squalicum: Murphy-Kangas 6, Richardson 9, Kiesau 4, Voigt, Heaton 15, Robbins 3, Thompson, Paz, Binning 9, Goering, Singh-Sanchez, Kettman.
CLASS 2A DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Feb. 10
Consolation games
Squalicum 46, Sedro-Woolley 30 (loser out)
Anacortes 57, Lakewood 56 (loser out)
Semifinals
At Mount Vernon
Archbishop Murphy 66, Burlington-Edison 59
Lynden 60, Sehome 20
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Consolation games
At Mount Vernon
Anacortes vs. Sehome, 5:30 p.m. (loser out)
Squalicum vs. Burlington-Edison, 7:15 p.m. (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 14
At Mount Vernon
Championship game
Lynden vs. Archbishop Murphy, 5:30 p.m. (winner first, to state regionals)
Thursday, Feb. 15
At Mount Vernon
Consolation game
7:15 p.m. (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 17
At Mount Vernon
Consolation final
5:30 p.m. (winner second, to state regionals, loser out)
1B Tri-district
Lummi Nation Easily Wins Opener, 72-15
The Lady Blackhawks didn’t need to score after a 22-point first quarter because their defense held the Lions to their lowest point total of the season, even shutting out them out in the second quarter.
The game started after 9 p.m. due to the Mercer Island school’s religious beliefs of playing after sundown on Saturday. But the Lummi Nation offense got rolling with a 42-point second half to put the game away and improve the Blackhawks’ record to 17-6
“The late game threw us off,” said Lummi Nation coach Krista Mahle. “We started a little slow, but that’s alright, I guess.”
It certainly turned out alright. Freshman Jemma James led the balanced Lummi attack with 21 points, sophomore Ailina Rabang had 15 points, senior Zeta Landsem had 9 points, senior Serena Jo Pantalia had 7, and sophomore Brianna Metteba and eighth-grader Maliana Morris added 6 points each.
Lummi now moves on to the tri-district quarterfinals where the Blackhawks will get a chance to avenge a 44-33 loss to Evergreen Lutheran on Dec. 8.
Northwest Yeshiva, meanwhile, had its season end with a 9-8 record.
Lummi Nation 72, Northwest Yeshiva 15
Northwest Yeshiva 5 0 6 4—15
Lummi Nation 22 8 25 17—72
Northwest Yeshiva: Clayman 4, Birk, Shelby, Gamel 4, Kaufthal 7, Russ, Menashe.
Lummi Nation: Mak. Morris, J. James 21, Jones 2, Metteba 6, Dennis, Rabang 15, Pantalia 7, Landsem 9, C. James, Mal. Morris 6.
CLASS 1B TRI-DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Feb. 10
Play-in games
Lummi Nation 72, Northwest Yeshiva 15 (loser out)
Sound Christian Academy 46, Orcas Island 27 (loser out)
Darrington 53, Muckleshoot Tribal School 39 (loser out)
Grace Academy 40, Pope John Paul II 27 (loser out)
Tuesday, Feb. 13
First round
#9 Grace Academy at #1 Neah Bay
#7 Darrington at #2 Crosspoint
#6 Sound Christian Academy at #3 Mount Vernon Christian
#5 Lummi Nation at #4 Evergreen Lutheran
