1A Boys State: Nooksack’s Historic Run Ends, 78-44

The Nooksack Valley boys basketball team was hoping to continues its historic run, but the Pioneers were run over by Seattle Christian in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament, 78-44, on Wedneday, March 4, in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

The Pioneers were seeking to become only the second 1A boys 16th seed to advance to the quarterfinals since the current seeding started in 2017. Unfortunately, it was not to be because the eighth-seeded Warriors were hot and Nooksack Valley was definitely not.

“It was a bad day to have a bad day,” said Nooksack Valley coach Jason Heutink, whose squad finished its season with an 11-15 record. “The ball literally didn’t bounce our way. Those days happen. You just hope they don’t happen here.”

“Here,” of course, was the round of 12 at the state tournament, when eight teams get a taste of the Yakima SunDome but four have their seasons end after one loss. But before examining what went wrong on Wednesday, it is worth reflecting on what went right this season for the Pioneers.

For coverage of all of our Whatcom teams’ state games, click on State Games.

Led by a group of six seniors — starters Jayden Anderson, Crew Bauman, Cole Coppinger, and Owen Wichers and reserves Brian Leyerly and Weston Silves — the Pioneers broke a 15-year drought by finishing second in the District 1 tournament and qualifying for the state tournament.

Then, despite a losing record, they upset ninth seed Fort Vancouver in regionals to become only the fourth 16th seed to advance to Yakima and only the second since King’s took sixth in 2018, the only time the tournament’s last seed has earned a trophy.

So while the team won’t be adding any hardware to the Nooksack Valley trophy case, this group of Pioneers did add to a state legacy that now includes 33 state appearances, 20 trophies, and two championships.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that they never quit,” said Heutink. “We play to the (final) whistle.”

There was no question about the Pioneers’ grit and determination on Wednesday afternoon. Right from the beginning, they knew it wasn’t going to be their day offensively as they went scoreless for almost four minutes before Anderson hit a 3-pointer.

But because their tenacious defense held the Warriors to only three points, the score was actually tied. Unfortunately, while the Warriors would eventually warm up, the Pioneers never did.

Seattle Christian went on a 10-0 run and while Nooksack would close to within five on a Wichers 3-pointer with 41 seconds left in the first quarter, that was as close as it would get.

The Warriors tossed in six 3-pointers in the first half, hit 46 percent of their shots and led by 17 at intermission. Nooksack, meanwhile, only shot 26 percent from the field and worse yet, was being outrebounded 28-10.

It only got worse in the second half as Seattle Christian shot 62 percent from the field and had its second highest scoring game of the season. Nooksack only managed to hit 29 percent and was outrebounded for the game, 49-22. The best run the Pioneers had was 6-0, and they would trail by as much as 37.

Wichers didn’t need to be the son of a head coach to explain the outcome: “They shot the ball well, and we didn’t,” he said.

The 6-foot-3 guard was the Pioneers’ main offensive threat, finishing with 17 points and two 3-pointers. Anderson added a pair of 3s and 8 points, Coppinger had 6 points, and sophomore reserve Treven Scheenstra had 5 points.

Leyerly came off the bench to lead Nooksack with 4 rebounds, and Bauman, Wichers, and junior Dane Ackerman had 3 rebounds each. Anderson would be awarded the team’s sportsmanship medallion for the game.

“Obviously I’m sad,” said Wichers. “The seniors were my whole life. This was our goal to get here. But even though we lost the game, we broke the drought.”

It is something that the Valley needed to see, according to Heutink.

“That’s one thing our fans and younger kids needed,” said the coach, who helped Nooksack to four state appearances and a state title in 2003 as a player. “It’s culture to build on, to soak this in. Our fifth-graders need to see it.”

Seattle Christian, which improved to 18-6, now advances to the quarterfinals and will take on Northwest Conference and District 1 champion Lynden Christian on Thursday at 2 p.m. Senior Sam Althoff led four Warriors in double figures with 20 points.

Seattle Christian 78, Nooksack Valley 44

Nooksack Valley 9 10 9 16—44

Seattle Christian 19 17 23 19—78

Nooksack Valley: Coppinger 6, Bauman, E. Anderson, L. Anderson, J. Anderson 8, Wichers 17, Leyerly 3, Martin 3, Scheenstra 5, Silves 2, Ackerman.

Seattle Christian: E. Collier 3, Johnson, Lombardo 2, Althoff 20, A. Collier, Nelson 10, Ward, G. Collier 14, O’Hare 16, Young, Alvis 5, Jones 8.

CLASS 1A BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT

At Yakima Valley SunDome

Wednesday, March 4

Royal 61, Overlake 33 (loser out)

Cheland 60, Cascade Christian 44 (loser out)

Bear Creek 44, Wapato 42 (loser out)

Seattle Christian 78, Seattle Christian 44 (loser out)