1A Girls: LC Takes District Title, Meridian Moves On

The Lynden Christian and Meridian girls basketball teams used the same formula — defense and depth — to notch impressive victories in the Class 1A district tournament Saturday afternoon, Feb. 15.

For the Lyncs, a lot of D & D produced a 59-30 victory over Nooksack Valley, giving Lynden Christian the District 1 championship and a berth in the District 1/2 crossover series next Saturday.

For the Trojans, the D & D gave them a 45-27 win over Mount Baker in a consolation contest that kept them alive and ended the Mounties’ season.

Meridian will now square off with Nooksack Valley on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the consolation final at Lynden High School. The winner of that game joins LC in the District 1/2 crossover series while the loser is eliminated.

In the crossover games, Lynden Christian will play the District 2 fifth-place finisher and the Meridian-Nooksack winner will play the District 2 No.4 team with the winners advancing to the state regionals and the losers’ seasons ending. The crossover games will be at King’s High School.

Your 2025 Class 1A District 1 champion Lynden Christian girls

Lyncs Use Defense, Depth To Dominate Nooksack, 59-30

After watching the Pioneers take the past three district titles — and the past two Class 1A state titles — Lynden Christian took the trophy back by using an 11-girl rotation and an aggressive man-to-man defense to limit the Pioneers to their lowest scoring output of the season.

With the victory, Lynden Christian improved to 19-3 and should be the top-ranked 1A team.

“LC played great defense on us and their depth is problematic,” said Nooksack coach Shane Wichers, whose 10th-ranked squad fell to 14-8 on the season. “They can stretch the floor, and they’re physical and strong. We couldn’t hit a shot in the first half, and they got easy baskets. ”

After Lynden Christian scored the first nine points of the game, the Pioneers fought back to within 11-7, but that was as close as they would get.

From the final two minutes of the first quarter to the last two minutes of the second quarter, the Lyncs went on a 17-2 run and would go into halftime with an insurmountable 19-point lead.

LC showed its depth on offense as eight different Lyncs scored between two and six points in the decisive first half. For the game, junior Ella Fritts led the balanced offense with 12 points, junior Isabela Hernandez had 8 points, and senior Allison Shumate had 6 points.

But it was the bench scoring that was most critical. Senior Alisa Scott had 10 points and a pair of 3-pointers, freshman Tyra Dykstra had 7 points, and junior Sam Van Loo had 6 points.

When it came to the other “D,” 10 different Lyncs got to play in-your-face defense. Special credit needs to go to Shumate and senior Danya Dykstra on Nooksack Valley’s best inside player, senior Grace DeHoog, and sophomore Ellie Pierce and junior Kayla Yun on the Pioneers’ other top scorer, senior guard Kate Shintaffer.

“Coach likes to talk about the hammer and the nail, and how you do a lot better being the hammer,” said Pierce, who started the season on the junior varsity but who recently moved into the starting varsity lineup. Oh yeah, and she had 7 points on Saturday.

Although his team’s skill and physical play are certainly characteristic of LC’s long-time girls basketball culture, Lyncs coach Brady Bomber pointed to something else: sacrifice.

“Every group has a decision to make: Are they willing to sacrifice what’s best for them to help the team?” said Bomber, who has taken teams to the past eight state tournaments, winning it all four times. “This group has been willing to do what we ask even if it’s not best for them individually. That all 11 can contribute helps us be the best version of ourselves.”

Bomber even praised the three varsity players who are injured and won’t be playing the rest of the season.

“Everyone has to be able to sacrifice … even the three girls who are hurt and willing to do it on the bench and at practice,” he said. “That builds your locker room.”

Now there’s a week of rest for the Lyncs as they wait for the District 2 tournament to finish so they know who they’ll be playing in Saturday’s crossover game. Although anything is possible in sports, the Whatcom teams have never lost either a boys or girls game to District 2 since the current crossover set-up has been in place.

Which means a state berth may soon be in store for the Lyncs.

“It feels good to know we have another opportunity to go to state,” said Pierce, who has attended state tournaments as a fan since middle school. “I’m super nervous/excited. It’ll be a great experience.”

DeHoog would lead Nooksack Valley with 10 points, all coming in the second half. Junior Chayleigh Davis added 6 points, and Shintaffer had 5 as only six Pioneers scored.

“They’re very deep,” said DeHoog, one of four returnees from last year’s state championship team. “It’s hard when we’re not going to get a (rest) break, and they’ll run 100 miles per hour.”

Still, considering half of the young Pioneers had never played in a district championship game, DeHoog wasn’t too disappointed.

“We didn’t think we could be back here,” DeHoog said of the district final. “We have such a young team … it’s neat seeing how much confidence they’ve gained.”

Nooksack Valley now has a two-day turnaround before facing Meridian, a team with which they split two earlier games, for the possibility of returning to state.

“We didn’t play our best (against LC), and now we’ve got to play in two more days,” said Wichers. As for playing the Trojans again, “You hope you do your good stuff better than they do their good stuff.”

Lynden Christian 59, Nooksack Valley 30

Nooksack Valley 7 2 15 6—30

Lynden Christian 13 15 17 14—59

Nooksack Valley: Flores, Shintaffer 5, Bartl 3, Davis 6, Duque, Biondolillo 3, Harmon, Burke 3, DeHoog 10.

Lynden Christian: D. Dykstra 3, T. Dykstra 7, Tolsma, Hernandez 8, Fritts 12, Scott 10, Shumate 6, Van Loo 6, Yun, Pierce 7, Eshuis.

The Trojans are happy to be moving on.

Meridian’s 45-27 Win Ends Mount Baker’s Season

The Trojans bounced by from Wednesday’s stunning loss to Nooksack Valley by using their own version of defense and depth to end Mount Baker’s season.

“This was great; we needed to get our confidence back,” said Meridian coach Bree Joy, whose team improved to 15-7 on the season. “Our defense feeds our offense, and if we play together and stay together, things will go well.”

Things certainly went well on Saturday. By limiting the Mounties to 10 first-half points, Meridian took a 16-point halftime lead and never let the Mount Baker get closer in the physical consolation contest.

“Meridian’s a team that has grit,” said Mount Baker coach Tiffany Ramirez, whose squad finished its season at 7-18. “They get after it every second, every possession. We’re still learning to play with grit, with that intensity for 32 minutes. But we’re getting there.”

Sophomore Rebeca Soares had 15 points for Mount Baker, and the team’s lone senior, Faith Wilson, had 4 points, but no other Mountie had more than two.

The Trojans, on the other hand, used their depth to overwhelm the Mounties. Senior Brooklyn Fuller showed why she is the team’s inspirational leader by scoring a team-high 11 points despite playing with a fever.

Freshman Melanie Short continued her scoring spree with 12 points, sophomore Maddy Swanson had 9 points, sophomore Eden Bernardy had 7 points, and senior Sofia Brooks had 6 points.

“We definitely expected a battle,” said Bernardy, who played most of the game with a bloody nose thanks to an errant elbow. “It’s playoff basketball. I’m proud of the team. We’ve come a long way.”

With only two seniors, the Trojans are trying to return to state for the first time since 2020 when they completed a string of four straight state appearances.

“They’re excited and probably nervous,” said Joy of being two victories away from state. “But they know it’s achievable.”

Meridian 45, Mount Baker 27

Mount Baker 5 5 11 6—27

Meridian 9 17 17 2—45

Mount Baker: Reeves, Brown, Soares 15, Wilson 4, Powell 2, Abitia 2, George 2, Frierott 2, Johnson.

Meridian: Fuller 11, Neal, Bernardy 7, Storgaard, Swanson 9, Brooks 6, Short 12, James Cline-Malarz, Benson.

CLASS 1A GIRLS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT

Saturday, Feb. 15

At Lynden High

Consolation round

Meridian 45, Mount Baker 27 (loser out)

Championship game