You don’t want to come late to a Lummi Nation boys basketball game … especially if they’ve been snowed in for 12 days … and really especially if a berth in the Class 1B state tournament is at stake.
Unleashing their pressing defense and devastating fastbreak right from the tipoff, the Blackhawks jumped all over Evergreen Lutheran to take the Tri-District 1/2/3 quarterfinal game, 63-31, Thursday evening at Mount Vernon Christian High School.
Its 19th straight victory puts Lummi Nation (21-1) into the tri-district semifinals Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s Lopez-Concordia Christian Academy quarterfinal. The time and site are yet to be determined.
More importantly, the Blackhawks punched their return ticket to Spokane after missing the 1B state tourney last year.
“Our ultimate goal was to get to state,” said junior point guard Caleb Revey, who along with seniors Jermaine Toby and Justin Mahle are the only Blackhawks who played on Lummi’s last state team, which took second in 2017. “It’s big, it’s going to be exciting. That’s what I live for.”
Revel continued his outstanding season by tossing in a game-high 20 points Thursday night. But everyone got into the action, including freshman guard Duncan Toby who had a dozen points and freshman center Tyran Lane, who added 10.
“Caleb is our leader and he’s always ready to play; he’s a gamer,” said Lummi coach Jerome Toby. “But everyone was ready to play tonight.”
For more game details and pictures, and updates on how our Whatcom County teams are doing in the 1A, 2A and 3A tournaments, be sure keep checking www.whatcomhoops.com.
The Blackhawks jumped out to a 12-1 lead in the first two minutes and led by 19 at the end of the first quarter. Evergreen Lutheran of Tacoma (15-9) never got within 15 after that.
“It was fun,” said coach Toby. “We hadn’t played in so long .. you could tell they were anxious (to play). The energy and effort was there. We wanted to play fast and create havoc on the defensive end. That let us get into our transition.”
The Lummi Nation boys, who won the District 1 championship on Feb. 2, will not be playing for the tri-district championship, however. Because of the past week’s weather postponements, the boys consolation final and championship final will not be played.
All four semifinal teams will have already qualified for state, and state tournament seeding will be done by the state’s RPI rating system not by the tri-district finish. The Blackhawks currently are the second-ranked 1B team in the state’s RPI ratings system behind Sunnyside Christian.
Lummi Nation 63, Evergreen Lutheran 31
Evergreen Lutheran 5 10 8 8 — 31
Lummi Nation 24 9 13 17 — 63
Evergreen Lutheran: H. Stock, N. Wiles 2, B. Rittierodt 12, L. Peterseon 2, I. Wendland, B. Schwartz, G. Werkhoven 3, E. Grey 4, N. Rittierodt 2, N. LaBorde, T. Plocher, J. Slater 6.
Lummi Nation: Miguel Ortez, Caleb Revey 20, William Hetland, Duncan Toby 12, Justin Mahle 5, Jermaine Toby 6, Ja’ie Leighton 6, Tristian Revey 4, Tyran Lane 10, Moses Seymour.
CLASS 1B TRI-DISTRICT 1/2/3 BOYS TOURNAMENT
Play-in games (Wednesday)
Evergreen Christian 55, Fellowship Christian 48 (loser out)
Cedar Park Christian (Mountlake Terrace) 57, Tacoma Baptist 46 (loser out)
Play-in game (Thursday)
Lopez 47, Crescent 42 (loser out)
Rainier Christian (16-6) at Tulalip Heritage (18-3) (loser out)
Quarterfinals (Thursday)
Lummi Nation 63, Evergreen Lutheran 31
Muckleshoot Tribal School 52, Cedar Park Christian (MLT) 41
Quarterfinals (Friday)
Lopez (8-12) vs. Concordia Christian Academy (15-8) at Tacoma Baptist, 7 p.m.
Rainier Christian-Tulalip Heritage winner vs. Neah Bay (14-6) at Port Angeles HS, 6:45 p.m.
Consolation round (Saturday)
Evergreen Christian (15-9) vs. loser of Lopez-Concordia Christian Academy at site to be determined (winner to state, loser out)
Cedar Park Christian (MLT) (13-9) vs. loser of Neah Bay and Rainier Christian-Tulalip Heritage winner at site to be determined (winner to state, loser out)
Semifinals (Saturday)
Lummi Nation (21-1) vs. winner of Lopez-Concordia Christian Academy at site to be determined (both to state)
Muckleshoot Tribal School (20-3) vs. winner of Neah Bay and Rainier Christian-Tulalip Heritage winner at site to be determined (both to state)
Consolation final and championship final canceled
(Full schedules and brackets 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.
