And quicker than they’d have wanted, it was over.
The Lummi Nation boys basketball team, which despite its youth and inexperience had put together one of the best seasons in school history, suddenly found that season over with a 56-40 loss to Riverside Christian in the first round of the Class 1B state tournament Wednesday afternoon in Spokane.
The loss, Lummi Nation’s second in a row, came after winning 22 of its first 23 games, including 20 in a row. But last Saturday’s defeat in regionals dropped the third-seeded Blackhawks into Wednesday’s loser-out round and made their stay in Spokane way too short.
For updates on how our Whatcom County teams are doing in the 1A, and 2A state tournaments, be sure to keep checking www.whatcomhoops.com.
Still, considering only one player — junior guard Caleb Revey — had seen much playing time in a state tournament before, and considering the squad has only two seniors — Jeremaine Toby and Justin Mahle — the 22-3 season was quite an accomplishment.
On Wednesday, the Blackhawks’ shooting was as cold as the Eastern Washington weather, especially from the 3-point line where Lummi Nation was two of 17.
Riverside Christian, meanwhile, hit six of its 12 3-pointers, which accounted for the biggest difference in the game.
The 11th-seeded Crusaders put the game away with a 22-point third quarter, while holding Lummi Nation to its lowest point total of the season.
Point guard Duncan Toby, one of two freshman starters, had both 3-pointers for the Blackhawks and led the team with 12 points and three steals.
Revey finished an outstanding season with 10 points and three assists; center Tyran Lane, the other freshman starter, had eight points; and sophomore forward Ja’ie Leighton had an all-around good game with six points, a team-high six rebounds and three of the team’s five blocked shots.
Reagan Haas, a 5-11 shooting guard, had 16 points to lead Riverside Christian, which improved to 17-5 and moves on to a quarterfinal matchup Thursday with Muckleshoot Tribal School. Junior forward Levi Rivera added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Crusaders of Yakima.
Riverside Christian 56, Lummi Nation 40
Riverside Christian 13 14 22 7 — 56
Lummi Nation 12 10 9 9 — 40
Riverside Christian: Reagan Haas 16, Noah McKee 2, Alec Bazaldua, Levi Rivera 14, Diallo Nolan-Thompson 4, Isaac Pommer, Austin Belknap, Noah Bradford 3, Ryan Myers 6, Sam Allen, Justin Vickers 11.
Lummi Nation: Caleb Revey 10, Duncan Toby 12, William Hetland 3, Justin Mahle, Jeremaine Toby, Ja’ie Leighton 6, Tristian Revey 1, Tyran Lane 8, Miguel Ortez, Moses Seymour.
Shooting: FG—RC 19-37 51.4, LN 16-47 34.0; FT— RC 12-19 63.2, LN 6-15 40.0; 3 PT—RC 6-12 50.0 (Haas 1, Rivera 3, Bradford 1, Myers 1), LN 2-17 11.8 (D. Toby 2). Rebounds: RC 36 (Rivera 9), LN 22 (Leighton 6). Fouls: RC 15, LN 16. Assists: RC 8 (Rivera 2, Myers 2), LN 6 (Revey 3). Turnovers: RC 20, LN 10. Blocks: RC 0, LN 5 (Leighton 3). Steals: RC 8 (Haas 3), LN 10 (Revey 3, D. Toby 3).
CLASS 1B BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT
(With RPI seedings)
Regionals (Friday, Feb. 22)
#11 Riverside Christian 54, #14 Taholah 52
#7 Almira-Coulee-Hartline 60, #2 Odessa-Harrington 52
Regionals (Saturday, Feb. 23)
#6 Yakama Nation Tribal School 57, #3 Lummi Nation 48
#9 Garfield-Palouse 69, #16 Lopez 38(loser out)
#1 Sunnyside Christian 57, #8 Naselle 39
#5 Muckleshoot Tribal 76, #4 Tulalip Heritage 65
#10 Neah Bay 80, #15 Pateros 58 (loser out)
#12 Oakesdale 51, #13 Concordia Christian Academy 41 (loser out)
At Spokane Arena
State play-in games (Wednesday, Feb. 27)
Riverside Christian 56, Lummi Nation 40 (loser out)
Odessa 81, Neah Bay 73 (loser out)
Tulalip Heritage (20-5) vs. Oakesdale (17-7), 7:15 p.m. (loser out)
Naselle (17-6) vs. Garfield-Palouse (17-8), 9 p.m. (loser out)
Quarterfinals (Thursday, Feb. 28)
Muckleshoot Tribal School (23-3) vs. Riverside Christian (17-5), 3:45 p.m.
Sunnyside Christian (23-1) vs. Odessa (23-2), 5:30 p.m.
Yakama Nation Tribal (17-8) vs. winner of Tulalip Heritage vs. Oakesdale, 7:15 p.m.
Almira-Coulee-Hartline (19-4) vs. winner of Naselle vs. Garfield-Palouse, 9 p.m.
Consolation semifinals (Friday, March 1)
12:15 p.m. (loser out)
2 p.m. (loser out)
Semifinals (Friday, March 1)
7:15 p.m.
9 p.m.
Fourth-sixth place game (Saturday, March 2)
9:30 a.m. (winner fourth, loser sixth)
Consolation final (Saturday, March 2)
1 p.m. (winner third, loser fifth)
Championship game (Saturday, March 2)
5 p.m. (winner first, loser second)
(Full schedule and bracket at nwbathletics.com)
Jim Carberry is a former Bellingham Herald sports editor and author of several books on Whatcom County prep basketball. Follow him on Twitter @whatcomhoops and visit the Whatcom Hoops Facebook page.
