It’s never easy to stray into the Lions’ den, especially when you have to play the defending state champion Lynden girls and boys basketball teams.
The Lions showed why they are still the class of not only the Northwest Conference but the state by sweeping a doubleheader against Squalicum on Thursday, Dec. 12, in Jake Maberry Gym. The Lynden girls rolled to a 64-21 victory, and the Lynden boys topped the Storm, 52-34.
“We’re still working on the little things so that when the big games comes we’ll be ready,” said Lynden sophomore Finley Parcher of the playoffs. “We don’t look at the score. We just want to keep grinding it out. Tonight, it was fun.”
With the win, the Lynden girls improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference. Squalicum fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the NWC.
On the boys side, Lynden also remained unbeaten with a 3-0 record overall and is 2-0 in NWC play. The Storm fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in league.
Lynden Girls Silence Young Storm, 64-21
It’s easy to rest on your laurels when you have most of your players returning from last year’s Class 2A state championship team, but the Lions did anything but rest on Thursday.
They came out running, pounding the boards, and playing really, really good defense in jumping to a 21-5 first-quarter lead. They didn’t stop there, outscoring the Storm 23-2 in the second half.
“One through 12, we played with energy,” said Lynden coach Rob Adams of the 12-girl roster. “We’re up by 44 points with 45 seconds left and Melanie Anderson, a senior, is willing to dive for a loose ball head-first out of bounds. There’s not a coach in America who wouldn’t be happy with that.”
Parcher led the way on offense with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Junior Payton Mills dominated inside with six of her 13 points coming in the decisive first period, senior Kiki York had 12 points, sophomore Lexi Hermanutz had 9 points, and junior Rilanna Newcomb had a pair of 3-pointers for 6 points.
“When we get out running and sharing the ball, we’re tough to guard,” said Adams. But he wasn’t ready to crown his team quite yet. “We’ve got 10 games in three weeks. We’ll see where we are then.”
For the Storm, it was a rough night especially with high hopes after last year’s 15-win season, the second best in school history. But with nine sophomores and a freshman, don’t dismiss Squalicum either.
“We want to get better, and it takes this type of game to get better,” said Loretta Murphy-Kangas, the team’s only senior and its leading scorer Thursday with 6 points. “We came out iffy (in the first quarter) but this will make us better. I have a feeling we can go further (than last season).”
Sophomores Lexi Robbins and Tiana Thompson had 5 and 4 points, respectively, but the Storm were missing two players to injury, including starter Addison Kettman. Still, Squalicum coach Jenalyn Brown isn’t one to make excuses.
“We’re a team struggling to get going in the first quarter,” she said. “We picked it up in the second half, but we can’t be treated as freshman cuties any more.” When asked what the team learned Thursday night, she said, “That getting demolished by the state champs doesn’t feel good.”
The Storm are back in action Tuesday when they host Meridian. Lynden will get its biggest test of the young season when it hosts undefeated Class 4A power Tahoma in a non-league on Saturday.
Lynden 64, Squalicum 21
Squalicum 5 14 0 2—21
Lynden 21 20 15 8—64
Squalicum: Murphy-Kangas 6, Singh-Sanchez, Paz 3, Perez 3, Thompson 4, Kiesau, Robbins 5, Harper.
Lynden: Bowler, Hermanutz 9, Nyhoff 4, Newcomb 6, Slayton, R. Stephan 2, I. Stephan, Anderson, York 12, Parcher 18, Mills 13.
Lynden’s big men were too much for the Storm.
Lynden Boys Use Size To Notch Big Win, 52-34
With a starting lineup that includes four players between 6-foot-5 and 6-7 — all taller than Squalicum’s tallest player — there was no question the Lions would be able to score on offense. What was a surprise was how they dominated an explosive Storm squad on defense.
The Lions gave up five points in the first two minutes of the game but then held Squalicum scoreless for nearly eight minutes to take a 19-5 lead. They would hold the Storm to single digits in each of the first three quarters.
Squalicum fought back, however, to cut the margin to 12 early in the fourth quarter. But Lynden junior Spencer Adams hit a 3-pointer and senior Brant Heppner finished a three-point play that helped build the lead back to 21.
“Their defense is very good,” said first-year Squalicum coach David Dunham, whose team had been averaging 62 points a game. “It’s difficult to find gaps to attack. We have a new system, new coaches. But I see a lot of promising things for us that will click at one point. And when they do, we’ll be tough.”
The three-time defending Class 2A state champion Lions, of course, are tough right now, although they want everyone to know this is a new team that hasn’t earned any state trophies yet. And Thursday’s game was a good test for them too.
“It was a big game for us,” said Heppner, who has been a part of all three championship teams. “We knew they’d pressure us. We just had to stay poised and make smart passes.”
When asked what he saw as the identity of this Lynden squad, he said, “We’re going to fight and won’t back down. We’re going to go hard for 32 minutes.”
No one worked harder than Lynden senior Jack Stapleton, who continues to battles shin and Achilles heel pain. It is so bad that he often missed practices and has even sat out games. But he sure didn’t sit out Thursday night.
He scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds, which are the norm for the 6-7 post. But he also was the main defender on Squalicum standout Marcus Nixon and with help from the other Lions held the Storm’s leading scorer to 7 points, all in the fourth quarter when the game was no longer in doubt.
“Jack’s defense is what stood out,” said Lynden coach Brian Roper in praising the entire team’s effort. “Offense is like the stock market; it goes up and down. But defense is a sound investment.”
It showed on the boards where the taller Lions dominated, 45-14. They were especially effective on the offensive glass, gathering 14 offensive rebounds and preventing the Storm from getting any.
“Our identity is to be the best rebounding team in the state,” said Roper. “That was a big factor in us dominating the glass. They weren’t able to get second shots and we were.”
The Lions’ inside strength and willingness to share the ball showed in the balanced scoring and their 13 assists.
Heppner led Lynden with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks; Stapleton added his 10 points and even led the team with 6 assists; Adams had 8 points, a pair of 3-pointers, and 5 rebounds; junior Malachi Bowman came off the bench to score 7 points and 6 rebounds; and junior Ty Jorgenson had 6 points and 6 rebounds.
Sophomore Hunter Calloway led Squalicum with 11 points and 3 assists, Nixon had 7 points, and senior Jaxon Hofer had 6 points on a pair of 3s. But points and rebounds were hard to come by for the Storm, who were without ill Laki Fagaautau, a 6-4 high energy guy who Calloway called the team’s Dennis Rodman.
“Everybody was ready, but we missed some shots we usually make,” Calloway said of Squalicum’s slow start. “If we’d just made those, it would have been different. But getting to state is still our goal. We just have to lock in, and we can do that.”
The Storm will get their chance to bounce back on Tuesday when they host Meridian. The Lions are back in action on Monday, when Lakewood ventures into the Lions’ den.
Lynden 52, Squalicum 34
Squalicum 5 9 8 12—34
Lynden 16 13 8 15—52
Squalicum: Watt, Soulier 3, Nichols 5, Calloway 11, Nixon 7, Smith 2, Knowlton, Hoffmann, Hofer 6, McAlister, Blake Elston.
Lynden: Navarre, Bedlington 1, Price, Bowman 7, Ellis, Mar. Koenen, Mal. Koenen 2, Broersma, Stapleton 10, Jorgenson, 6, Heppner 18, Adams 8, Smith.
