Whatcom County Girls & Boys High School Basketball
Whatcom Hoops: Boys Week 7 Recap (Jan. 13-18)
There are a lot of high school basketball rankings out there, but the one that matters most is the WIAA’s Rating Percentage Index (RPI). It is probably the most important factor in determining seedings in the playoffs, including state tournaments. It is a complicated formula taking into account teams’ records, their opponents’ records, and their opponents’ opponents’ records (we told you it was complicated) but not margin of victory, the classification of opponents, or head-to-head … Read More »
Whatcom Hoops: Girls Week 7 Recap (Jan. 13-18)
There are a lot of high school basketball rankings out there, but the one that matters most is the WIAA’s Rating Percentage Index (RPI). It is probably the most important factor in determining seedings in the playoffs, including state tournaments. It is a complicated formula taking into account teams’ records, their opponents’ records, and their opponents’ opponents’ records (we told you it was complicated), but not margin of victory, the classification of opponents, or head-to-head … Read More »
LC Girls, Boys Batter Under-The-Weather Storm
It’s hard enough to beat the first-place Lynden Christian girls and boys basketball teams when you’re at full strength, but Squalicum found out it was nearly impossible when you’re depleted by sickness as the host Storm lost both ends of a doubleheader Saturday night, Jan. 18. The LC girls only led by one after the first quarter but then wore down the Storm on the way to a 73-29 victory. The win raised the Lyncs’ … Read More »
It’s All Relative As Ferndale Girls Slip Past Bellingham
Ferndale’s exciting 52-48 girls basketball victory over Bellingham on Friday night, Jan. 17, was all relative even before tipoff. That’s because Ferndale junior Jilly Fox and her uncle, Bellingham coach Ken McLendon, had been looking forward to this — their first game against each other — since, well, since Uncle Ken and Aunt Hanna drove eight hours to a tiny hospital in Chewelah to see their niece born 17 years ago. “I was really excited,” … Read More »
Lynden Girls, Boys Storm Past Sehome
Some storms strike suddenly and overwhelming. Others build up over time before leaving destruction in their wake. The undefeated and top-ranked Lynden girls and boys basketball teams displayed both in storming to a doubleheader sweep at Sehome on Wednesday, Jan. 15. The Lynden girls scored the first 31 points of the game to claim a 69-16 victory over the Mariners. With the win, the Lions raised their overall record to 14-0 and their Northwest Conference … Read More »
Nooksack Boys, Meridian Girls Put Past Behind With Key Wins
The past made the Meridian-Nooksack Valley boys and girls doubleheader doubly important, but everyone agreed that Monday night’s games were not as important as the future. In the opener, the Nooksack Valley boys got some revenge for last year’s last-second, season-ending defeat when Caden Heutink’s last-second driving layup gave the host Pioneers a 54-53 victory over Meridian. In the second game, the Meridian girls ended three years of Nooksack domination by dominating the fourth quarter … Read More »
Whatcom Hoops: Boys Week 6 Recap (Jan. 6-11)
As we head into the second half of the season, the leaders of the Northwest Conference and Northwest 1B League remain undefeated in league play after last week’s action. Both Lynden, which is Whatcom’s only unbeaten team, and Lynden Christian were tested but came up with two victories each and sit atop the NWC standings. Lummi Nation had two league games, including a first-place battle at Tulalip Heritage, postponed because of illness to many of … Read More »
Whatcom Hoops: Girls Week 6 Recap (Jan. 6-11)
The leaders in the Northwest Conference and Northwest 1B League have begun to separate themselves setting up some key matchups starting this coming week. Lynden Christian was Week 6’s big winner with three victories, including a win over Meridian in an important Class 1A contest. The Lyncs remain unbeaten in league play and kept pace with Lynden, which easily won its only game of the week to remain Whatcom’s only undefeated girls team. Lummi Nation’s … Read More »
Blaine Girls Show Winning Attitude Even In Loss To Baker
The Blaine girls basketball team might not have won Wednesday night, Jan. 8, but don’t you dare call the Borderites losers. Although they came out on the short end of a 53-37 contest with visiting Mount Baker, the Borderites once again showed that the scoreboard doesn’t always determine success. “I didn’t expect a lot of wins,” said Blaine junior Brietta Sandell of the season. “But we’re all super close, and we’re having fun no matter … Read More »
Streaking Squalicum Girls Beat Flat Ferndale
The Squalicum girls basketball team is starting to warm up at the right time for the Storm but the wrong time for Ferndale as the Golden Eagles found out in a 49-35 loss at Squalicum on Monday, Jan. 6. The young Storm, who only have one senior and one junior on the team, have now won three Northwest Conference games in a row to even their league record at 3-3 and their overall mark at … Read More »
Girls: Midseason Report Cards (Dec. 30-Jan. 4)
Happy New Year, Whatcom basketball fans! Believe it or not, we just wrapped up Week 5, which means we’re halfway through the girls basketball regular season. So, instead of our weekly Whatcom Hoops recap, we’re going to look at each team and where they stand at the halfway point of their seasons. Like we’ve done the past couple of years, we’ve come up with midseason report cards for each team using the following elementary school … Read More »
Boys: Midseason Report Cards (Dec. 30-Jan. 4)
Happy New Year, Whatcom basketball fans! Believe it or not, we just wrapped up Week 5, which means we’re halfway through the boys basketball regular season. So, instead of our weekly Whatcom Hoops recap, we’re going to look at each team and where they stand at the halfway point of their seasons. Like we’ve done the past couple of years, we’ve come up with midseason report cards for each team using the following elementary school … Read More »
Meridian Girls, Boys Top Mount Baker
The Meridian girls basketball team didn’t need Glenda’s luck, but they sure needed some clutch free throws at the end to hold off Mount Baker in a Northwest Conference doubleheader, 56-48, on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 4. In the boys game, Meridian didn’t need luck or free throws and instead used a fourth-quarter blitz to pull away from Mount Baker, 58-38. Saturday’s results somehow left the two schools’ boys and girls teams with identical records. Both … Read More »
LC Boys Down Burlington In NWC Showdown
When a team is on pace to score 100 points in a game, it’s not often that its defense is the difference, but it sure was when the Lynden Christian boys basketball team took down visiting Burlington-Edison, 87-68, on Friday night, Jan. 3. The victory kept the Lyncs atop the Northwest Conference standings with a 5-0 mark and a 10-1 record overall. Burlington-Edison fell to 3-2 in league and 8-2 overall. But it wasn’t easy. … Read More »