2A Boys State: Cold Shooting Ends Lynden’s Season, 46-36

A challenging season for the Lynden boys basketball team came to an end when the Lions met a challenge they couldn’t overcome.

Lynden’s offense went as cold as snowy Snoqualmie Pass in the second half of the Lions’ 46-36 loss to Renton in the loser-out opening round of the Class 2A state tournament Wednesday night, March 4, in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“You don’t always have a storybook season,” said Lynden coach Brian Roper, whose ninth-seeded Lions finished with an 18-9 record.

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

The end of the season also meant the end of the high school careers for Lynden’s five seniors — Spencer Adams, Charlie Broersma, James Ellis, Ty Jorgenson, and Brody Price — who started their careers together as freshmen on the Lions C team.

“I’ll remember the struggles we’ve gone through together all four years,” said Jorgenson. “We all played together growing up. We’re really close. The first people I hugged (after the game) were the seniors.”

It was an emotional ending in part because it came after one of the team’s most disappointing performances of the season.

After battling through injuries to come through the tough Northwest Conference and earn a state berth by taking second in the District 1 tournament, the Lions saw their shooting freeze up Wednesday night, especially after halftime, against the athletic and physical Red Hawks.

After a defensive struggle in the first half that ended in a 24-24 tie, Lynden only managed four points in the third quarter. Fortunately for the Lions, their defense was up to the task and held eighth-seeded Renton to nine points and only trailed by five going into the fourth quarter.

But when it looked like things couldn’t get worse, they did. The Lions didn’t score until almost midway through the period on Adams’s 3-pointer and they wouldn’t score again until there were only 31 seconds left in the game when Malachi Koenen banked in a 3.

By then the Lions were forced to foul and Renton kept making free throws — they made 14 to Lynden’s five for the game — and when Adams scored on a layup with six seconds left to finish the scoring, there was nothing left of Lynden’s season.

“I felt like there was a rebounding ring on the hoop,” said Roper. “When the game was close, we couldn’t get a break or a call that would change the momentum on the offensive end.”

Adams and Koenen would finish with 11 points each with Koenen hitting three of Lynden’s five 3-pointers and Adams pulling down a team-high 9 rebounds. Jorgenson had 8 points and 8 rebounds, but no other Lion had more than three points.

And while stats don’t always tell the story, you can certainly tell who won by the shooting percentages. Lynden made 26.5 percent from the field including a freezing 18.5 percent in the second half as the Lions only scored 12 points after halftime and finished with their lowest point total of the season.

Renton, meanwhile, made 35 percent of its field goals and a much-warmer 44 percent after intermission. The Red Hawks, who improved to 14-12, will go on to the quarterfinals to play undefeated R.A. Long on Thursday.

Still, Roper had only praise for his team and especially his seniors.

“The five seniors are great men,” he said. “I appreciated all of them. I was proud of our guys. The most disappointing thing is we wanted five more days with these guys.”

Jorgenson didn’t even need that many.

“It doesn’t feel real,” he said just before leaving the locker room to meet with the Lynden faithful waiting to comfort the team after the game. “I wish I could have one more game.”

Renton 46, Lynden 36

Lynden 13 11 4 8—36

Renton 12 12 9 13—46

Lynden: Navarre 3, Bedlington, Price, Ellis 2, Mar. Koenen, Mal. Koenen 11, Broersma, Whitney, Jorgenson 9, Adams 11.

Renton: Holyfield 2, Luok 17, Elegan 3, Omar 5, Ervin, White-Kelley 7, Taylor 10, Abdi 2, Mullen.

CLASS 2A BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT

At Yakima Valley SunDome

Wednesday, March 4

Columbia River 67, Selah 63 (loser out)

Grandview 74, Foster 71 OT (loser out)

Tumwater 47, West Valley (Spokane) 39 (loser out)

Renton 46, Lynden 36 (loser out)