Merry Christmas to all our Whatcom Hoops prep basketball fans! And for a special present we have a week of exciting holiday tournaments coming up featuring 19 of our 22 squads, including three events hosted by our teams.
Eight of our teams are involved in the Lynden Christmas Classic hosted by Lynden Christian, the Trojan Storm Winter Classic hosted by Squalicum, and the Lynden Holiday Invite hosted by Lynden.
Because of the many weather-related cancelations last week, the Whatcom Hoops recaps for Week 4 will be combined with Week 5 next Sunday.
Eleven other Whatcom teams are participating in other holiday tournaments around the state.
Below is a list of all the games in the local tournaments, the games involving Whatcom squads in other tournaments, and schedules of the other regular-season non-tournament games.
Lynden Christmas Classic
The LYNDEN CHRISTMAS CLASSIC is an eight-team girls tournament hosted by Lynden Christian on Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 28-30. The bracket format will have the semifinals on Thursday and final round, including the championship game, on Friday.
The Lyncs and Ferndale will be joined by some of the top Class 2A (#4 Prosser, #6 White River), 3A (#3 Arlington) and 4A (#9 Eastlake) teams in the state. There’s even a Canadian team — Langley Christian, a B.C. provincial champion last year.
Wednesday, Dec. 28: Prosser vs. Arlington, 3 p.m.; Eastlake vs. Ferndale, 4:45 p.m.; White River vs. Langley Christian, 6:30 p.m.; Washougal vs. Lynden Christian, 8:15 p.m.
Thursday: Dec. 29: Prosser-Arlington loser vs. Eastlake-Ferndale loser, 3 p.m.; White River-Langley Christian loser vs. Washougal-Lynden Christian loser, 4:45 p.m. Prosser-Arlington winner vs. Eastlake-Ferndale winner 6:30 p.m.; White River-Langley Christian winner vs. Washougal-Lynden Christian winner, 8:15 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 30: consolation game, 12:45 p.m.; fourth-place game, 2:30 p.m.; third-place game, 4:15 p.m.; championship game, 6 p.m.
Admission: Adults $8 one day, $20 tournament pass; students, seniors, military personnel $5 and $12. LC students with valid ASB cards free.
Trojan Storm Winter Classic
The TROJAN STORM WINTER CLASSIC is an eight-team girls tournament hosted by Squalicum on Thursday and Friday.
Four local teams — Blaine, Meridian, Mount Baker and the Storm — are in the round-robin tourney. Joining them are Friday Harbor, Bellevue Christian, Lakewood, and Lincoln (Seattle), the No.9-ranked Class 3A squad.
Thursday, Dec. 29: Mount Baker vs. Blaine, 1 p.m.; Friday Harbor vs. Meridian, 3 p.m.; Bellevue Christian vs. Lakewood, 5 p.m.; Lincoln vs. Squalicum, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 30: Friday Harbor vs. Mount Baker, 1 p.m.; Lincoln (Seattle) vs. Meridian, 3 p.m.; Blaine vs. Lakewood, 5 p.m.; Bellevue Christian vs. Squalicum, 7 p.m.
Admission: Adults, students without ASB cards $6; students with ASB cards, seniors $5.
Lynden Holiday Invite
The LYNDEN HOLIDAY INVITE is a four-team girls tournament hosted by Lynden on Tuesday and Wednesday. Joining the Lions and Sehome in the round-robin format are perennial Class 2A powers WF West and Port Angeles.
Tuesday, Dec. 27: Sehome vs. WF West, 5:15 p.m.; Lynden vs. Port Angeles, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 28: Sehome vs. Port Angeles, 4:15 p.m; Lynden vs. WF West, 6 p.m.
Admission: Adults, students without ASB cards $6; students with ASB cards, seniors $5.
Other holiday tournaments
The Nooksack Valley girls are in the prestigious GP Top of the Peak tournament Holiday Girls Tournament at Glacier Peak High in Snohomish on Tuesday through Thursday.
The Pioneers will be tested right away on Tuesday when they face Piedmont High (Calif.), which just upset the No.1-ranked team in Northern California.
Also in the three-day bracket tournament are Emerald Ridge, Richland, Union, and Glacier Peak — all ranked in the top 11 Class 4A teams in the state.
The Lummi Nation girls and boys are in the Mount Vernon Christian Holiday Tournament on Wednesday. Both will play Mossyrock. The girls will play at 12:15 p.m. and the boys at 2 p.m.
Four of our boys teams — Nooksack Valley, Meridian, Sehome, and Lynden — are in the 24-team Wilbur-Ellis Sundome Shootout in Yakima, one of the biggest tournaments in the state.
On Thursday, it will be Nooksack Valley vs. Ridgefield, Meridian vs. Royal, Sehome vs. Prosser, and Lynden vs. Grandview. On Friday, it will be Nooksack Valley vs. Ellensburg, Lynden vs. Prosser, Meridian vs. Wapato, and Sehome vs. Grandview.
The Ferndale and Lynden Christian boys are in the Mountlake Terrace Holiday Tournament. The Golden Eagles take on Kentlake on Tuesday and Lake Stevens on Wednesday, while the Lyncs take on Mountlake Terrace on Tuesday and Glacier Peak on Wednesday.
The Squalicum boys are in the Tournament of Champions Holiday Classic at Franklin High in Seattle. The eight-team tournament is a one-day affair and the Storm will face Thunder Mountain of Juneau, Alaska, on Wednesday.
Boys non-tournament games
Tuesday, Dec. 27: Friday Harbor at Blaine
Thursday, Dec. 29: Bellingham at Mount Baker, Blaine vs. Cedarcrest at Everett Community College
Friday, Dec. 30: Marysville-Getchell at Bellingham
Saturday, Dec. 31: Mount Baker at Anacortes
Girls non-tournament games
Tuesday, Dec. 27: Friday Harbor at Blaine
Friday, Dec. 30: Marysville-Getchell at Bellingham, Meadowdale at Lynden
