In the Class 2A and 3A District 1 boys tournaments involving Whatcom teams on Wednesday, Feb. 11, the favorites won as expected, but it wasn’t always easy.
Top seed Lynden and third seed Sehome did their jobs with convincing 2A quarterfinal victories. The Lions used a second-half burst to knock off Bellingham, 87-61, and the Mariners took down Archbishop Murphy, 73-56.
The winners now move on to Friday’s semifinals, where Sehome will take on Anacortes at 5:30 p.m. and Lynden will battle Lakewood at 7:30 p.m., both at Mount Vernon High School. The semifinal winners will not only play for the district championship on Feb. 19 but will earn state berths.
Bellingham and Squalicum, which lost to heavily favored Anacortes, 62-59, in overtime on Wednesday, fell into the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will play loser-out contests on the road on Friday at 7 p.m. The Storm will face Archbishop Murphy, and the Bayhawks will meet Burlington-Edison.
Meanwhile, in the 3A tournament’s first round on Wednesday, Ferndale staged an incredible comeback only to come up short at Meadowdale, 60-57, in a loser-out contest.
Lynden Shoots Down Bayhawks In Second Half, 87-61
The underdog Bayhawks, who came in as the eighth seed with a losing record, stuck close to the Lions through the first half, only trailing by six points. But when Bellingham’s offense slowed up after intermission, Lynden’s only revved up as the Lions put up 46 points in the second half on the way to an 87-61 victory.
Leading the Lions, who improved to 16-6, were their “big” two — 6-foot-6 Spencer Adams and 6-7 Ty Jorgenson. Adams had 22 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds. Jorgenson finished with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
The two seniors got a lot of help as junior guards Gordy Bedlington and Malachi Koenen had 11 points and three 3-pointers each. Bedlington also had 5 assists, and Koenen had 3 steals. Senior Brody Price added 6 points and 4 assists, and sophomore Jayden Navarre had 5 points for the Lions.
“Lynden is tough,” said Bellingham coach Brad McKay, whose team fell to 9-13. “I thought our boys tried their best, but there was just too much talent in green.”
Bellingham countered with their own talented senior — Joe Harward, who slashed his way to 38 points on 16-of-20 shooting from the field. He also had a team-high 4 rebounds.
But while the Lions’ defense couldn’t stop the 6-4 jumping jack, they stopped almost everyone else as sophomore Emmett Vanhouten with 9 points on a trio of 3s was the only other Bayhawk to score more than four points.
Junior Calvin Van Hofwegen had a team-high 5 assists, and Vanhouten and senior Cyrus Campos had 4 assists each.
Lynden 87, Bellingham 61
Bellingham 17 18 13 13—61
Lynden 19 22 24 22—87
Bellingham: Wright 2, Loveland, Vitum-Harris, Vanhouten 9, Campos 3, Harward 38, Hals, Johnson 2, McGerr 3, Phillips, Van Hofwegen 4, Medina.
Lynden: Navarre 5, Bedlington 11, Price 6, Ellis 2, Mar. Koenen 2, Mal. Koenen 11, Broersma, Smith 4, Jorgenson 21, Adams 22, Weg.
Sehome’s Late Run Downs Archbishop Murphy, 73-56
After Sehome had rallied from seven points down in the first half and managed to tie the game heading into the final period, a tight and exciting fourth quarter seemed in store. That is until the Mariners put it all together in the last eight minutes to overpower Archbishop Murphy, 73-56.
Senior Carter Duckworth started the quarter innocently enough with a left-handed drive that gave Sehome a 52-50 lead. But when senior Xavier Kelley put in an offensive rebound with 3:10 left, the Mariners had completed a 17-0 run that put them in the district semifinals, one win away from a state berth.
Kelley would finish with a game-high 24 points, including nine in the fourth period. Senior Cole Turrell had 15 points; senior Nolan Wright had 13 points, eight of them in the final quarter; Duckworth had 12 points; and junior Quincy Tanovan added 6 points.
In addition to outscoring Archbishop Murphy in the fourth quarter, 23-6, the Mariners hit all seven of their free throws in the period. For the game, Sehome was 11 for 11 from the line with Wright and Kelley making four each. Kelley also had two of the team’s four 3-pointers.
Sehome, which improved to 15-6, would end up holding the Wildcats scoreless until 2:22 was left in the game and dropped the Wildcats to 11-10 on the year.
Sehome 73, Archbishop Murphy 56
Archbishop Murphy 21 17 12 6—56
Sehome 18 17 15 23—73
Archbishop Murphy: Hagen 22, Sievers 8, Sears 3, Wilson 4, Manning 3, Bonoarchuk 16.
Sehome: Wright 13, Jackson 5, Tanovan 6, Fagaautau, Kelley 24, Miller 5, Duckworth 12, Turrell 15.
Squalicum Almost Pulls Off Shocker Before Losing, 62-59
Squalicum almost pulled off the biggest 2A district upset in many a year, taking second-seeded Anacortes to overtime before falling, 62-59. The Storm came into the game at No.31 in the state RPI rankings, while Anacortes was ranked sixth and had a 10-point victory over Squalicum earlier in the season.
But on Wednesday, the Storm stood toe-to-toe with the Seahawks, leading after the first and second quarters and then, after losing the lead, battling back to send the game into overtime thanks to two big buckets late in regulation by junior post Orion Granberg-Kiddle.
However, the Storm could only come up with six points in overtime, while the Seahawks hit three free throws and three buckets to take a three-point lead. Squalicum had three chances to tie in the final seconds, but couldn’t send it into a second overtime and had to settle for a “near-upset.”
Granberg-Kiddle had 16 points and shared team-high honors with junior Blake Elston, who had four 3-pointers and had eight of his 16 points in the fourth-quarter rally. Another junior, Hunter Calloway, finished with 13 points.
Senior Ansen Asbjornsen added 9 points for the Storm, but it was his defense on Anacortes’s all-league guard Micah Dickison that gave Squalicum a chance. Thanks to taking three charges, Asbjornsen forced Dickison to play with foul trouble most of the game and eventually foul out with only 10 points.
The loss dropped Squalicum to 9-11 on the year, while Anacortes improved to 18-4.
Anacortes 62, Squalicum 59
Squalicum 12 13 10 18 6—59
Anacortes 8 14 14 17 9—62
Squalicum: Knowlton 5, Calloway 13, Tetrick, Elston 16, Col. Le, Granberg-Kiddle 16, Shimkus, Asbjornsen 9.
Anacortes: Houston, S. Roberts 17, G. Willoughby 6, L. Roberts 22, Moore 3, Harrington 1, Morgenthaler 3, Dickison 10.
CLASS 2A BOYS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Monday, Feb. 9
Play-in game
Bellingham 66, Marysville-Pilchuck 59 (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 11
Quarterfinals
Lynden 87, Bellingham 61
Anacortes 62, Squalicum 59
Sehome 73, Archbishop Murphy 56
Lakewood 68, Burlington-Edison 56
Friday, Feb. 13
Consolation games
Squalicum at Archbishop Murphy, 7 p.m. (loser out)
Bellingham at Burlington-Edison, 7 p.m. (loser out)
Semifinals
At Mount Vernon
Sehome vs. Anacortes, 5:30 p.m.
Lynden vs. Lakewood, 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 16
At Mount Vernon
Consolation game, 5:30 p.m. (loser out)
Consolation game, 7:30 p.m. (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 18
At Mount Vernon
Consolation game, 7:30 p.m. (winner to District 1/5 crossover, loser out)
Thursday, Feb. 19
At Mount Vernon
Championship game, 7:30 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
Ferndale Rally Comes Up Short In 3A Play-In Game, 60-57
After falling behind by 19 in the second quarter, the 10th-seeded Ferndale boys could have easily quit in their play-in game at seventh-seeded Meadowdale. But despite their losing record, the Golden Eagles weren’t quitters as they battled back to tie the game before coming up short in the final minute, 60-57.
Ferndale’s comeback started in the second period, when the Golden Eagles cut the margin to 12 at the half. They got the deficit down to single digits in the fourth quarter, finally tying the game at 56.
After a Mavericks basket with 30 seconds left, sophomore Houston Wills hit a free throw to cut the margin to one. Meadowdale hit two free throws and after a time out, Ferndale got a wide open 3-point shot just before the buzzer — but it went in and out, and the Golden Eagles were out of the tournament.
“The guys fought hard, and Meadowdale shot the ball very well,” said Ferndale coach Luke DuChesne.
Sophomore Tracen Pazaski made his mark with 24 points and three 3-pointers, Wills had 12 points, senior Mantaj Singh had 10 points, and junior Blake Singson had 6 points on a pair of 3s.
The loss left Ferndale with an 8-13 record and was the final game for seniors Singh, Cooper Vincent, Nolan Bleak, and Kaveer Dhillon.
Meadowdale (17-6) will go on to play second-seeded Monroe in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday.
Meadowdale 60, Ferndale 57
Ferndale 13 13 17 14—57
Meadowdale 21 17 13 9—60
Ferndale: Singh 10, Pazaski 24, Wills 12, Vincent 2, Munson, Singson 6, Dhillon 3, Boleak.
Meadowdale: Million 13, Jones, Motley 6, Botley 10, Lee 18, Greene, Elliott, Ezeonwuka 13.
CLASS 3A BOYS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, Feb. 11
First round
Meadowdale 60, Ferndale 57 (loser out)
Sedro-Woolley 71, Stanwood 58 (loser out)
Everett 57, Lynnwood 48 (loser out)
Mount Vernon 69, Shorecrest 59 (loser out)
Friday, Feb. 13
Quarterfinals
Mount Vernon at #1 Edmonds-Woodway, 7 p.m.
Meadowdale at #2 Monroe, 7 p.m.
Everett at #3 Snohomish, 7 p.m.
Sedro-Woolley at #4 Shorewood, 7 p.m.
