1A Boys Regional: LC Rolls Over Seton Catholic

The Lynden Christian boys basketball team showed it doesn’t mind playing defense, but the Lyncs really enjoy unleashing their offense, which is what they did in defeating Seton Catholic, 74-52, in a Class 1A state regional on Saturday, March 1.

While both the third-seeded Lyncs and the sixth-seeded Cougars automatically advanced to the state tournament in the Yakima SunDome, Lynden Christian moves directly into quarterfinals and will play the winner of Wednesday’s Bellevue Christian-King’s matchup on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

This will be the 10th state appearance in a row for LC, and the Lyncs will be shooting for their ninth trophy and fourth state title over that time.

“It never gets old,” said Lynden Christian coach Tim Zylstra, whose squad improved to 22-2. “It’s one of my favorite times of the year.”

Saturday’s game matched the same two teams as last year’s regional, but it was no repeat performance. Last year, the veteran Lyncs easily defeated the young Cougars, 71-39. On Saturday, LC had four new starters from the team that took third at state, while Seton Catholic returned everyone from the squad that took sixth.

And it definitely was more competitive. In a physical first half, neither team managed to get much going offensively against the other’s defense and they went into the break tied at 23.

“I was very proud of the way the boys played defensively, “ said Zylstra. “Our boys are stepping it up, and they showed we can get it done defensively. We held them to only 23 points. Of course, we only scored 23.”

That would change quickly as the Lyncs offense got rolling. They scored 27 points in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth quarter, and the Cougars couldn’t keep up.

Zylstra said it was just a matter of time.

“We had open shots (in the first half); we just weren’t making them,” said the coach. “Percentages say if you keep shooting, they’ll eventually go in, and they did.”

It helps when the shooters are Lynden Christian’s big three on offense — seniors Gannon Dykstra and Luke Van Kooten, and sophomore Dawson Hintz.

Dykstra led the team with 23 points, 14 of them and both his 3-pointers coming in the second half. Van Kooten tossed in three of his five 3-pointers and 11 of his 21 points after intermission. And Hintz had all 19 of his points, including three 3s and another thunderous dunk, in the final two periods.

“We knew it would be a dogfight,” said Dykstra, the only returning starter, who also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. “But we were confident.”

Van Kooten helped the Lyncs dominate the boards with 12 rebounds, and junior Boyce Robertson and sophomore Kaden Veldman had 7 rebounds each. Senior Carter Ahlers led LC with 7 assists.

Besides collecting the win, the other good news for Lynden Christian was the return of sophomore guard Gunnar Dykstra, who saw action for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury three weeks ago. Of course, he only needed to look as far as big brother Gannon, who played despite a nagging ankle injury.

“I was going to play no matter what,” said the senior.

And now the two will get to play in Yakima along with younger sister Tyra Dykstra, a freshman on the LC girls team that also won Saturday and will play in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Seton Catholic dropped to 18-6 with the loss and will have to play a loser-out contest on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. against Cashmere. With a win, the Cougars would advance to the Thursday quarterfinals and the double-elimination part of the tournament.

Lynden Christian 74, Seton Catholic 52

Seton Catholic 8 15 21 13—52

Lynden Christian 12 11 27 24—74

Seton Catholic: Tyler Tran 3, Rico George 8, Lance Lee 12, Mason Glassmire 7, Robero Valdez, Kaiden Wilson 17, Brady Angelo 10.

Lynden Christian: Dawson Hintz 19, Gunnar Dykstra 4, Gannon Dykstra 23, Carter Ahlers, Eli Maberry, Boyce Robertson 2, Wyatt Kamphouse, Luke Van Kooten 21, Kaden Veldman 5.

CLASS 1A BOYS STATE REGIONALS

Friday, Feb. 28

#12 Bellevue Christian 61, #13 Fort Vancouver 48 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#2 Royal 65, #7 Meridian 47 (both to state tournament)

Saturday, March 1

#9 Chelan 70, #16 Tenino 52 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#15 Overlake 62, #10 Riverside 51 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#4 Zillah 69, #5 King’s 44 (both to state tournament)

#11 Cashmere 58, #14 La Center 47 (winner to state tournament, loser out)

#3 Lynden Christian 74, #6 Seton Catholic 57 (both to state tournament)

#1 Annie Wright 62, #8 Bear Creek 37 (both to state tournament)

CLASS 1A BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT