1A Boys State: LC To Play For Title After Beating Royal

After riding what he called a rollercoaster, Lynden Christian boys basketball coach Tim Zylstra had one thing to say to all the fans who watched the Lyncs battle Royal in a Class 1A state semifinal Friday night in the Yakima SunDome.

“We gave the fans their money’s worth,” he said after LC defeated the Knights, 56-49, in a wild, back-and-forth affair.

With the win, Lynden Christian punched its ticket for an even more exciting ride: the state championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. against top-ranked Annie Wright. The Tacoma school made sure there would be a new team holding up the gold ball by defeating defending champion Zillah in the other semifinal.

But while everyone figured heavy favorite Annie Wright would be in the title game, the real question would be who would survive the other bracket with second-seeded Royal coming in with only one loss and third-seeded Lynden Christian coming in with only two losses and its championship pedigree?

Both were athletic and physical and neither was used to losing. So they battled evenly after one quarter before the rollercoaster ride began.

The Lyncs took a 10-point lead at the half thanks mainly — actually, almost entirely — to sophomore Dawson Hintz, who had 24 of Lynden Christian’s 30 points. He drove to the hoop, hit three 3-pointers, and made all three free throws.

“Dawson caught fire,” said Zylstra. “He can be electric. But the whole team had to pull together to win this.”

Then in the third quarter, it was the Knights who caught fire. After only scoring five points in the second quarter, they hit four straight 3-pointers to start the second half, and a 15-2 run quickly erased the 10-point deficit.

Then it was LC’s turn. After a quiet six-point first half, senior Gannon Dykstra took charge in the fourth quarter, driving to the basket and getting open on set plays. When he didn’t score, he was fouled and with LC clinging to a 50-49 lead with three minutes to go, he made three of four free throws to make it a two-possession game.

“We executed down the stretch,” Zylstra said of halfcourt sets and out-of-bounds plays that worked in the fourth quarter.

When the Knights couldn’t score in the final three minutes, sophomore Kaden Veldman drove in for two more Lyncs points with 22 seconds left and Dykstra sank a free throw before missing the second on purpose with five seconds remaining to finish off the scoring and finish off the Knights.

Hintz would end up with 33 points, hitting 13 of his 19 field goal attempts and four 3-pointers. The 6-foot guard also had 9 rebounds as LC managed to outrebound the physical Knights, 45-33.

Dykstra had 14 points and 6 rebounds, Veldman had 6 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Luke Van Kooten, who was awarded the team’s sportsmanship medallion for the game, had 7 rebounds and a team-high 4 assists for the Lyncs.

For Hintz, getting to the state championship game seems to be a family heritage with his older brother and sister both having won state titles with the Lyncs.

“This means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been watching (state tournaments) since second grade. Our goal was to get to the final. This is one of the happiest days of my life.”

Win or lose on Saturday, Zylstra praised what the team already has accomplished. With almost no varsity experience coming into the season, they have won 24 of 26 games, placed second in the rugged Northwest Conference, and won five playoff games in impressive fashion.

“This is pretty special for the (Lynden Christian) culture,” he said. “We only had one returning starter (Dykstra), really all new kids, but we got good leadership from our seniors to show the younger players that this is our standard.”

And now they can add state finalist to their resume, although at least one Lync didn’t want to be satisfied with that.

“I want to enjoy this,” he said of the family, friends, and fans who mobbed him and his teammates after the game. “But I’m already focused on tomorrow.”

Lynden Christian 56, Royal 49

Lynden Christian 14 16 9 17—56

Royal 15 5 22 7—49

Lynden Christian: Dawson Hintz 33, Gunnar Dykstra 3, Gannon Dykstra 14, Carter Ahlers, Boyce Robertson, Luke Van Kooten, Kaden Veldman 6.

Royal: Ezra Jenks 2, Santana Luna, Dax Jenks 6, Lance Allred 8, Fischer Livingston 6, Trent Jensen 3, Jackson Larsen 13, Manny Ruvalcaba 1, Grant Wardenaar 10.

CLASS 1A BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT

At Yakima SunDome

Wednesday, March 5

Seton Catholic 68, Cashmere 61 (loser out)

Meridian 65, Overlake 52 (loser out)

King’s 69, Bellevue Christian 67 (loser out)

Chelan 69, Bear Creek 51 (loser out)

Thursday, March 6

Zillah 61, Seton Catholic 59

Annie Wright 53, Meridian 22

Lynden Christian 69, King’s 44

Royal 67, Chelan 46