After its eight-game winning streak was broken less than 24 hours prior, the Nooksack Valley girls basketball team returned to its home court with a vengeance and beat the Sehome Mariners, 56-48, on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 25.
With six different players scoring and everyone playing strong defense, the Pioneers jumped to an early eight-point lead and led 29-14 at the half. Jenna Compton, who led the Pioneers with 24 points, said their win was due in part to the frustration they felt the night before in a loss to Lynden.
“We had a hard loss last night, so we all just came in really ready for today,” said the junior forward. “We were just encouraging each other a lot. … We were down at first, but then we were like, ‘It’s a new day. We’re going to forget about it and just move on.’”
For highlights of all of Week 8’s boys and girls games, updated standings and a look ahead to this week’s games, check out Sunday night’s recaps at WhatcomHoops.com.
Junior guard Maya Galley and freshman guard Hallie Kamphouse added 8 points each to the Pioneers’ attack, and the team’s lone senior, Kora Larson, had 6 points.
“It’s hard to come back and play not even 24 hours later, so we just wanted to come out and try to have good energy and execute, and I thought we did that for the most part,” said Nooksack Valley coach Shane Wichers, whose team improved to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in the Northwest Conference.
“(But) Sehome’s a good team. (They) had a great comeback.”
With 6-foot-2 junior post Aspen Garrison grabbing rebounds and junior guard Kaylee Wilson draining two big 3-pointers, Sehome found its rhythm in the third quarter and put up 21 points to power its way back into the game.
Thanks to a series of back-to-back steals and a string of foul shots from sophomore wing Ava Lunny, the Mariners cut the margin to single digits in the fourth quarter but were held off by Nooksack Valley’s aggressive defense.
Garrison and Lunny finished with 12 points each, and Wilson added 11 points, including all three of the Mariners’ 3-pointers.
“We would like to win, obviously, but (Nooksack Valley) is a really good team, and it was great to see the (Mariners’) comeback after a tough first half,” said Sehome coach Anye Turner, whose team fell to 10-5 overall and 5-3 in the NWC.
“I think some kids played really hard tonight and … it was great to see that effort and execution.”
The Pioneers next take on Lynden Christian for their third home game in a row on Monday, Jan. 27, at 7:15 p.m. The Mariners host Burlington-Edison on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7:15 p.m.
