The Mount Baker girls and the Meridian boys advanced to the Class 1A District 1 consolation finals by surviving loser-out games at Lynden High School on Friday, Feb. 20.
The Mounties needed overtime and Aurora George’s layup with two seconds left to hold off a determined Meridian comeback, 46-44, in the night’s opening game.
The boys teams didn’t need an extra period in the nightcap, but Meridian needed to hit their free throws down the stretch to finally overcome Blaine, 49-44.
With the victories, the Baker girls and Meridian boys will take on their Nooksack Valley counterparts on Saturday in the district’s consolation finals. The girls will start at 1 p.m. and the boys are up next at 2:50 p.m., both at Lynden’s Jake Maberry Gymnasium.
This year there are no crossover games, so Saturday’s two winners will join Lynden Christian’s district champion boys and girls in heading directly to the state regionals on Feb. 27 and 28.
Girls: By George, Mounties Edge Trojans In Overtime, 46-44
A back-and-forth defensive battle between two scrappy teams came down to one final scrappy play that gave Mount Baker not only the 46-44 overtime victory over Meridian but one final opportunity to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2017.
“We’ve never won this game,” said Tiffany Ramirez of the loser-out consolation game in the playoff format that started in 2022. “To do it in overtime … it’s amazing. I about cried. I didn’t know what to do.”
On the final play with the score tied at 44-all, Meridian had the ball with 11.1 seconds left and a chance to complete an incredible comeback. But on the inbounds pass at halfcourt, the Mounties’ tiny Maci Kammenga knocked the ball loose and it bounced into the hands of George.
The sophomore forward took a second to control it in the scramble, then raced downcourt and made the layup with two seconds left. By the time the Trojans retrieved the ball, the buzzer had sounded, and their season had suddenly ended.
“What I remember … Maci was able to get the ball, then I just went ahead and go for a layup,” said George, still in shock as she was being congratulated leaving the locker room. “It’s very exciting. Definitely the highlight (of her career).”
There were many heroes for both sides.
There was George, of course, who scored all five of Mount Baker’s points in overtime and finished with 7 points. All-star Rebeca Soares managed to have a game-high 13 points for the Mounties despite sitting out much of the game in foul trouble.
The most unexpected star was freshman Gabby Nutting, who had 9 points, seven of them in the second quarter when Baker rallied from a 14-3 first-quarter deficit by outscoring Meridian, 17-3, and taking control of the game. Senior Reace Brown added 6 points to the Baker cause.
But Mount Baker’s real MVP might have been junior Violet Fox, who had 8 points but more importantly was the ball-handler responsible for negating Meridian ferocious fullcourt, full-game pressure.
But the Trojans had their own heroes. After losing their double-digit, first-quarter lead, Meridian had to battle back the rest of the game and was still behind, 38-30, after Fox’s runner in the paint with 2:40 remaining in regulation. But as Ramirez said about the Trojans, “They don’t quit.”
Junior Sierra James hit a free throw and then, after missing two free throws, junior Eden Bernardy made four in a row. Then junior Amelia Koning was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 25 seconds left and made all three clutch free throws.
While Baker was only making three of eight free throws, senior Taya Benson made two for Meridian, and with eight seconds left, junior Maddy Swanson’s driving layup sent the game into OT.
“Even when we were down by 10, I knew we’d come back,” said Koning, who led the Trojans with 11 points. “We’re 100 percent effort … one of the hardest working teams out there. I’m really proud of my teammates.”
Meridian even scored first in the extra period on Bernardy’s drive. But while George made three of her four free throws, the Trojans could only make one of four, which left the game tied with a minute to go. Both teams had chances, but neither could make a shot … until George’s game-winner.
“They were tired but they dug deep,” Ramirez said of her Mounties, who improved to 6-15 (including five forfeits). “Obviously, it came down to the last-second play. This time, it went to us.”
For first-year Meridian coach Kayla Bernsen, the emotions were bittersweet.
“I’m extremely disappointed, but I couldn’t be more proud,” she said of her team’s great comeback. “It’s the story of our whole season. There’s not a team that works harder than these guys.”
She praised the leadership of Benson, the team’s lone senior, and Koning and Bernardy and then said, “I could name them all. They’d run through a brick wall for each other.”
Bernardy joined Koning in double figures with 10 points, James had 8 points, and Benson had 6. And while the Trojans’ season ended with an 8-15 mark, Bernsen was already looking forward to next season.
“We can feel disappointed (with the loss) but we can use it to fuel our fire for next year,” she said.
Mount Baker 46, Meridian 44
Meridian 14 3 7 17 3—44
Mount Baker 5 17 10 9 5—46
Meridian: Krumdiak, Koning 11, Bernardy 10, Storgaard, Swanson 5, James 8, Cline-Malarz 4, Gibbs, Benson 6.
Mount Baker: Kammenga, Brown 6, Soares 13, V. Fox 8, Powell, Abitia 3, Harkness, George 7, Nutting 9.
CLASS 1A GIRLS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Play-in game
Meridian 44, Blaine 34 (loser out)
Friday, Feb. 13
Semifinals
Lynden Christian 66, Meridian 28
Nooksack Valley 56, Mount Baker 47
Tuesday, Feb. 17
At Lynden High
Championship game
Lynden Christian 58, Nooksack Valley 27 (winner first, to state regionals)
Friday, Feb. 20
At Lynden High
Consolation game
Mount Baker 46, Meridian 44 OT (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 21
At Lynden High School
Consolation final
Nooksack Valley vs. Mount Baker, 1 p.m. (winner second, to state regionals, loser out)
Boys: Meridian Holds Off Borderites For 49-42 Win
The Trojans watched their 16-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle to five with 37 seconds left but that was as close as Blaine would come as Meridian advanced to the District 1 consolation finals again with a 49-42 victory.
The Trojans will looking to qualify for their third straight state tournament when they meet a familiar foe Saturday afternoon.
Meridian not only played Nooksack Valley in the consolation finals the past two years, winning both, but the two teams split this year’s games — the Trojans winning the regular-season contest and the Pioneers taking the district semifinals last Friday.
“It means we get to play another day,” said Meridian coach Shane Stacy, when asked how he felt after Friday’s win, which raised the Trojans’ record to 7-15. “Pretty good for team that started 0-6.”
And for a team that had lost eight of its previous nine coming into Friday. But such is the plight of being a 1A team in a league with strong 2A teams that schedules tough non-league games. The same holds true for Blaine.
“He’s done an unbelievable job with them,” Stacy said of Borderites coach Chas Kok, whose team fell to 5-19. “To be a 1A team that gets pummeled day-in and day-out and get them to believe … look at what they’ve done .”
On Friday, the difference proved to be Meridian’s pressure defense, which limited Blaine to 13 first-half points. With a four- and sometimes five-guard lineup, the quick-handed Trojans pressed their way to a 16-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
Although Blaine’s patient, disciplined offense didn’t seem made for a big comeback, the Borderites did just that, scoring 19 points in the final period and closing the gap to five with 37 seconds left before Meridian junior Pierce Brzozowski and sophomore Emmett Ashmore hit one free throw each to ice the game.
“We knew early on it would be a bit chaotic,” said Kok of Meridian’s style of play. “But toward the end, we got back to being our basketball team. We got a ton better (over the season). Their buy-in got more and more.”
Brzozowski would lead the Trojans with 18 points and two 3-pointers in the defensive struggle. Junior Gabe Galbraith had 10 points and another pair of 3s, senior Daniel Larsen had 8 points, and junior Trey Alexander had 7 points.
Blaine countered with Peyton Bouma, who has been a standout since returning mid-season from a football injury. The junior had 18 points, including 13 points and both of Blaine’s 3-pointers in the fourth-quarter rally.
Senior Landon Melton added 10 points and junior Dawson Dohner had 6 points for the Borderites, who will lose four seniors to graduation — Melton, Kai Kerwin, Daniel Banks, and Milo Dahl.
For the Trojans, the season goes on — at least for one more day.
“It’s a one-game season,” said Brzozowski.
Meridian 49, Blaine 42
Blaine 6 7 10 19—42
Meridian 9 13 15 12—49
Blaine: Kerwin 4, Banks 2, Dahl, Dohner 6, L. Brown 2, Melton 10, P. Bouma 18, G. Dickson.
Meridian: Harris 2, Webster, Alexander 7, Blankenburg, Galbraith 10, Ashmore 4, P. Brzozowski 18, Larsen 8, Burgess.
CLASS 1A BOYS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Play-in game
Blaine 60, Mount Baker 43 (loser out)
Friday, Feb. 13
Semifinals
Lynden Christian 66, Blaine 54
Nooksack Valley 65, Meridian 61
Tuesday, Feb. 17
At Lynden High
Championship game
Lynden Christian 76, Nooksack Valley 58 (winner first, to state regionals)
Friday, Feb. 20
At Lynden High
Meridian 49, Blaine 42 (loser out)
Saturday, Feb. 21
At Lynden High School
Consolation final
Nooksack Valley vs. Meridian, 2:50 p.m. (winner second, to state regionals, loser out)
