It’s one thing to run with the speedy Lynden Christian boys basketball team, and it’s another thing to run all game long as Chelan found out Saturday night, Feb. 28.
The second-seeded Lyncs never stopped racing up and down the court on the way to an 84-63 victory over the seventh-seeded Goats in the third game of a quadruple-header at Lynden High School.
The victory not only raised LC’s record to 24-1 but it put the Lyncs into Thursday’s 2 p.m. state quarterfinal in the Yakima Valley SunDome. They will face the winner of Wednesday’s loser-out game between Nooksack Valley and Seattle Christian.
“You always want to put yourself in the best position and that’s playing on Thursday,” said Lynden Christian coach Tim Zylstra, whose squad is looking to reach the title game for the fifth time in the past six state tournaments. “Everything is in front of us. We’ve just got to take care of business and look at the next round.”
For coverage of all of our Whatcom teams’ regional games, click on State Regionals.
The Lyncs took care of business on Saturday against a tough Chelan team that came into the game with a 22-4 record and an affinity for scoring a lot of points.
When asked if he thought the game would be high scoring, Zylstra said, “We were hoping we would be high scoring. We continued to try to speed things up. We felt we could wear them down. I was proud of the way we battled.”
The strategy worked for several reasons, including Lynden Christian’s depth and stamina. While the Lyncs averaged 21 points each quarter, the Goats couldn’t keep up. They scored 17 and 23 points in the first and third quarter on fresh legs, but only 11 and 12 points in the second and fourth periods on tired hoofs.
Watch for the Whatcom Hoops state preview on Sunday. For a look at each of our teams and tournament schedules, click on State Preview.
Two other reasons the strategy worked were named Dawson Hintz and Gunnar Dykstra. The juniors guards never seem to tire and went off for 31 and 24 points, respectively.
“We know it’s the playoffs and we can’t take anyone lightly,” said Hintz, who had half of Lynden Christian’s 10 3-pointers. “We knew we had to push the pace. We’ve got to rely on each other. Everyone is working hard for each other.”
The game had an usual start as Chelan took a 2-0 lead before the tipoff. In fact, there was no tipoff because LC was given a technical for dunking during warmups and the Goats hit both free throws and got the ball. Not that it mattered.
The game itself turned with two and a half minutes left in the second quarter. Holding a seven-point lead, the Lyncs got 3-pointers from Hintz, senior Hayden Herwerden, and junior Harvest Howell to go up by 16 at the half. The Goats managed to cut the margin to 10 in the third quarter but ran out of steam as LC used a 21-12 fourth period to pull away.
Eli Maberry added 9 points for the Lyncs and also was awarded the team’s sportsmanship medal for the game, fellow senior Boyce Robertson had 6 points, and Herwerden came off the bench to collect 5 points.
While Robertson was on the 2023 LC team that claimed the school’s first back-to-back state titles, he was the only freshman, something Hintz remembered.
“We’re ready for it (Yakima),” he said. “A lot of us have been there but a lot of us haven’t. Boyce won it as a freshman, but Eli and Hayden didn’t. So we said, ‘let’s get it for them.’”
Zylstra praised his all-state guard, who was coming off a two-game suspension that coincided with the Lyncs’ two wins in the District 1 tournament.
“He was happy to be out there,” said Zylstra. “He was really good tonight. He played his tail off. I’ve said it before: He’s electric and tough to stop.”
While the Lyncs get to rest an extra day, Chelan will still be going to the SunDome but will have to play a loser-out game on Wednesday against 10th-seeded Cascade Christian.
Lynden Christian 84, Chelan 63
Chelan 17 11 23 12—63
Lynden Christian 24 20 19 21—84
Chelan: Orestad 6, Armenta, Wagner 2, Richardson, Morgan, N. Hayes, F. Hayes 7, T. Faletto 9, Uttech 21, L. Faletto 18, Simmons, Sanderson.
Lynden Christian: Hintz 31, Dykstra 24, Howell 3, Maberry 9, Kamphouse, Ridnour, VanKooten, Robertson 6, Kooiman, Veldman 4, Herwerden 5, Vos 2.
CLASS 1A BOYS STATE REGIONALS
Friday, Feb. 27
Nooksack Valley 54, Fort Vancouver 45 (winner to state tournament, loser out)
Cascade Christian 60, King’s Way Christian 57 (winner to state tournament, loser out)
Wapato 63, Montesano 38 (winner to state tournament, loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 28
King’s 48, Royal 47 (both to state tournament)
Overlake 64, Elma 56 (winner to state tournament, loser out)
Lynden Christian 84, Chelan 63 (both to state tournament)
Zillah 64, Seattle Christian 55 (both to state tournament)
Annie Wright 47, Bear Creek 41 (both to state tournament)
