The Nooksack Valley girls and the Meridian boys came up with big victories Thursday night at the Class 1A Bi-District 1/2 tournaments to keep their seasons alive … and set up winner-take-all games Friday night for berths in their respective state tournaments.
For updates on how our Whatcom County teams are doing in the 1B, 1A, 2A, and 3A tournaments, be sure to keep checking www.whatcomhoops.com.
Pioneer Girls Rout Bush, Set Up Showdown With Meridian
Nooksack Valley’s lone senior, Jenna Tinkley, hit three 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points Thursday as the visiting Pioneers thrashed Bush School of Seattle, 52-32.
Jenna Compton continued her stellar play in the playoffs with 10 points, and Kora Larsen added eight for Nooksack Valley (16-8).
But it was the Pioneers’ defense against the Bush School (14-7), the third seed from District 2, that made the difference in the loser-out contest as Nooksack held the Blazers to four points in the second quarter and five in the final period.
For its reward, Nooksack Valley will now travel to Laurel to take on Northwest Conference rival Meridian (17-5), which lost 57-41 to Lynden Christian in Wednesday’s District 1 championship game. A month ago, the Pioneers handed the Trojans a 55-51 loss.
The Nooksack Valley-Meridian winner will earn a berth in the state regionals, which are played Feb. 22 and 23. The loser’s season will be over.
Nooksack Valley 52, Bush School 32
Nooksack Valley 13 14 15 10 — 52
Bush 12 4 11 5 — 32
Nooksack Valley: Kora Larsen 8, Tehya Moore 5, Maya Galley 4, Vanessa Galindo, McKenna Wichers 6, Lexi Strong, Jenna Tenkley 19, Jenna Compton 10, Kaity Paz, Aubree Bird.
Bush School: Anne Fitzgerald 1, Anya Hasija, Eva Supanc, Isabel Russk, Sara Pollack-Toro, Sosna Biniam, Aniyah Grant 7, Ariana Christakis 7, Grace Hove 3, Abby Parrish 14.
CLASS 1A BI-DISTRICT 1/2 GIRLS TOURNAMENT
First round (Thursday)
Nooksack Valley 52, Bush 32 (loser out)
King’s 56, University Prep 16 (loser out)
Second round (Friday)
Nooksack Valley (16-8) at Meridian (17-5), 7 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)
King’s (19-5) at Seattle Academy (14-5), 6 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)
Championship (Saturday)
Lynden Christian (19-3) vs. Overlake (17-3) at King’s, 7:30 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state)
(Full schedule and bracket at nwcathletics.com)
Meridian Boys Take Care Of Eastside Prep, Overlake Next
The Trojans enjoyed another home playoff game by downing out Eastside Prep of Kirkland, 72-50, in Thursday’s bi-district loser-out contest that was closer than the score indicated.
Meridian (10-13) now finds itself one game away from reaching the state tournament.
Standing in the Trojans’ way is Overlake (14-6), the second-seed from District 2. Meridian will have to travel to Redmond for Friday’s 6 p.m. game with the winner qualifying for the state regionals and the loser preparing for spring sports.
Thursday was a roller coaster ride for the Trojans, who used their defense to take a 32-20 lead at the half. But the Eagles (7-11) fought back to take a 42-40 lead, before Meridian closed the game with a 23-8 run to end the Eagles’ season.
Jackson Short and Ryan Johnson finished with 22 and 19 points, respectively, to lead Meridian, which also forced 31 turnovers in the game.
CLASS 1A BI-DISTRICT 1/2 BOYS TOURNAMENT
First round (Thursday)
Bear Creek 59, Cedar Park Christian (Bothell) 56 (loser out)
Meridian 72, Eastside Prep 50 (loser out)
Second round (Friday)
Bear Creek (15-6) at King’s (17-5), 7 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)
Meridian (10-13) at Overlake (14-6), 6 p.m. (winner to state, loser out)
Championship (Saturday)
Lynden Christian (22-0) vs. Seattle Academy (18-2) at King’s, 5 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state)
(Full schedule and bracket at nwcathletics.com)
Jim Carberry is a former Bellingham Herald sports editor and author of several books on Whatcom County prep basketball. Follow him on Twitter @whatcomhoops and visit the Whatcom Hoops Facebook page.
