The Lynden Christian boys basketball team used a familiar script to produce another winning performance as the Lyncs overwhelmed visiting Ferndale, 88-47, in their Northwest Conference contest on Saturday night, June 5.
Lynden Christian improved to 8-0 by going inside to 6-foot-4 senior Logan Dykstra and 6-5 junior Andrew Hommes, who towered over a Ferndale lineup with no one taller than 6-foot-2. Dykstra finished with 19 points and Hommes had 20.
“We definitely want to go inside first,” said first-year LC coach Tim Zylstra. “We wanted to establish that. And when we rebound, our transition gets going.”
The Lyncs’ ability to not only run but to run all 12 players in waves proved too much for a Ferndale squad playing its fifth game in eight days.
“The middle of the third quarter we ran out of gas,” said Ferndale coach Jason Owens, whose squad has now lost three straight after starting the season 6-0. “But no excuses. LC did what they do. They have 12 guys who shoot really well.”
The Golden Eagles used their physical play and grit to stay in the game until the Lyncs’ onslaught led to 26-9 edge in the final period.
Junior Luke Wells led Ferndale with 15 points, freshman Conner Walcker came off the bench to score 11, and sophomore Isaiah Carlson had 9 points. But the Golden Eagles were held to their lowest point total of the season and were only able to make two 3-pointers.
“It’s been a long week, and we’re really tired,” said Wells. “But we gave everything we had. It was fun to be part of a game like that.”
Lynden Christian, which came into the night averaging 84 points a game, countered with eight 3s. Senior Shale Whittern and junior William Colwell added 10 points each to the LC attack, and junior Jamison Hintz and 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“We have really good chemistry, and we’re playing hard, so it’s been a lot of fun,” said Dykstra, the only returning starter off last year’s Class 1A state runner-up. “It hurts (without the state playoffs) because we’ve been looking forward to state. But to go undefeated would be nice, too.”
A scheduling quirk gives the tired Golden Eagles a less-trying upcoming week with only one game and an opportunity to regroup.
“Now it’s time to reset and get back to the mindset we had when we were 6-0,” said Wells. “Hopefully, we can go out there and win four more.”
The Golden Eagles visit Sehome on Thursday before wrapping up the season with three games the following week.
Lynden Christian has five games remaining starting with two road games next week: at Sehome on Tuesday and at Seattle Academy for a non-league contest on Saturday.
