The Lynden Christian girls basketball team will continue its quest to win a third straight state title thanks to a 70-41 victory over Meridian in the Class 1A District 1 consolation final Tuesday night at Lynden High School.
The Lyncs will join district champion Nooksack Valley in the District 1/2 crossover series Saturday at King’s High School in Seattle.
LC will face the District 2 fourth-place finisher and the Pioneers will play the District 2 fifth-place finisher with the winners of those two games advancing to the state regionals on Feb. 24 or 25.
Meridian, however, had its season come to an end with the loss. Also finishing its season was Ferndale, which was eliminated by Everett in the Class 3A District 1 consolation bracket, 73-46.
The Lummi Nation girls lost their rematch with Orcas Island in the Class 1B District 1/2/3 quarterfinals, 59-35, but remain alive in the tournament. The Lady Blackhawks will take on Crescent in a loser-out game on Friday.
NEXT UP: The Class 2A girls are in the spotlight Wednesday as Squalicum takes on Archbishop Murphy at 5:30 p.m. and Sehome faces Anacortes at 7:15 p.m. in consolation action at Mount Vernon High School. The winners will play for a state berth on Friday and the losers will be done for the season. Catch all the playoff action at Whatcom Hoops.
Class 1A
Lynden Christian 70, Meridian 41
The Lyncs broke open a close game by outscoring the Trojans, 22-9, in the second quarter.
Sophomore Grace Hintz had nine of her game-high 20 points in the second period and senior Demi Dykstra had eight of her 19 points in the second quarter as Lynden Christian improved to 21-3.
Joining them in double figures were senior Daisy Poag, who had a pair of 3-pointers and 10 points, and freshman Ella Fritts, who had all 10 of her points in the third quarter when LC stretched its lead to 26 points.
For Meridian, seniors Avery Neal and Maris Baklund had 12 and 11 points, respectively, in their last game for the Trojans. Sophomore Brooklyn Fuller had 10 points and junior Malia McCauley had 8 points and two 3-pointers.
Meridian finished the year 8-14.
Lynden Christian 70, Meridian 41
Meridian 12 9 8 12—41
Lynden Christian 15 22 18 15—70
Meridian: Fuller 10, McCauley 8, Baklund 11, K. Neal, Bressler, A. Neal 12, Benson.
Lynden Christian: Hagen, De. Dykstra 19, Herwerden 4, Anderson, Fritts 10, Hintz 20, Fay, DeJong 3, Poag 10, Arnold 3, Shumate 1, Da. Dykstra.
DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Monday, Feb. 6
Play-in game
#5 Blaine 48, #4 Mount Baker 36 (loser out)
Wednesday, Feb. 8
Semifinals
#2 Lynden Christian 70, #3 Meridian 34
#1 Nooksack Valley 98, Blaine 21
Saturday, Feb. 11
At Lynden High
Consolation round
Meridian 54, Blaine 34 (loser out)
Championship game
Nooksack Valley 55, Lynden Christian 45 (winner first, to bi-district playoff)
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Consolation final
At Lynden High
Lynden Christian 70, Meridian 41 (winner to bi-district playoff, loser out)
BI-DISTRICT 1/2 PLAYOFF
Saturday, Feb. 18
At King’s High School
District 1 #1 Nooksack Valley (22-1) vs. District 2 #5, 1 p.m. (winner to state regionals, loser out)
District 1 #2 Lynden Christian vs. District 2 #4, 3 p.m. (winner to state regionals, loser out)
Class 1B
Orcas Island 59, Lummi Nation 35
Senior Raven Solomon had 17 points but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Lady Blackhawks lost to the Vikings for the second time in the playoffs.
Lummi Nation, which fell to 17-4, will play Crescent (8-9) in a loser-out contest on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Sound Christian Academy in Tacoma. The winner of that game will play the winner of Thursday’s Darrington-Evergreen Lutheran game for the tri-district’s fifth and final state berth on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Lummi Nation only managed 13 points through the first half and never got its offense going. Junior Hazel Haley added 10 points for the Blackhawks, and senior Aliesha Solomon had 6 points.
Lummi Nation beat Orcas Island during the regular season but lost to the Vikings in the District 1 tournament.
Orcas Island 57, Lummi Nation 35
Lummi Nation 3 10 14 8—35
Orcas Island 7 18 18 16—59
Lummi Nation: H. Haley 10, M. Morris, A. Solomon 6, R. Solomon 17, James 2, Kapuni-Lopez, Jones, K. Morris, Lawrence, Williams, Toby, J. Haley.
Orcas Island: Rios, Carter 8, Knapp, Malo, Spinner 4, Mahony-Jauregui 21, Ashcroft 26.
TRI-DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Feb. 11
Play-in games
#6 Crosspoint 55, #11 Puget Sound Adventist 14 (loser out)
#7 Darrington 59, #10 Northwest Yeshiva 24 (loser out)
#5 Lummi Nation 44, #12 Pope John Paul II 30 (loser out)
#9 Crescent 43, #8 Sound Christian Academy 34 (loser out)
Tuesday, Feb. 14
First round
Crosspoint 40, #3 Evergreen Lutheran 39
#2 Mount Vernon Christian 59, Darrington 10
#4 Orcas Island 59, Lummi Nation 35
#1 Neah Bay 77, Crescent 17
Friday, Feb. 17
Consolation round
Darrington (12-10) at Evergreen Lutheran (13-3) (loser out)
Lummi Nation (17-4) vs. Crescent (8-9) at Sound Christian Academy, 3:30 p.m.(loser out)
Semifinals
Crosspoint (15-7) at Mount Vernon Christian (20-3), 3 p.m.
Orcas Island (11-10) vs. Neah Bay (17-1) at Mount Vernon Christian, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 19
At Mount Vernon Christian
Consolation winners (winner fifth, to state regionals, loser out), 11:30 a.m.
Semifinal losers (winner third, loser fourth, both to state regionals), 2:45 p.m.
Semifinal winners (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals), 6 p.m.
Class 3A
Everett 73, Ferndale 48
The seventh-seeded Golden Eagles ran into another top-ranked team Tuesday and lost on the road to the third-seeded Seagulls. Ferndale lost to second-seeded Stanwood on Friday.
Senior Cailyn Kessen led Ferndale with 14 points and four 3-pointers. Senior Madisyn Butenschoen had 8 points, and junior Maleah Singson and freshman Jillea Fox had 6 points each.
The loss ended Ferndale’s season at 12-11 and was the last game for seniors Butenschoen, Kessen, Ashley Lang, and Ellie Ochoa.
“Our seniors finished strong, together on the court and contributing till the end,” said Ferndale coach Terri Yost, who took over when this class was freshmen. “They have led our program well both on and off the court. They left their mark, and now we begin to build for next season.”
Everett 73, Ferndale 48
Ferndale 8 10 8 22—48
Everett. 18 19 27 9—73
Ferndale: Kessen 14, Fox 6, Ochoa 2, Mad. Butenschoen 8, Lang 3, Mal. Butenschoen 4, Washington 3, Singson 6, White 2, Stanley.
Everett: Espinoza, Akir. Shaw, Wugumgeg 26, Akil. Shaw, Thompson 3, A. Washington 19, M. Washington 12, Lawless 6, Hoekendorf, Wacker 3, Parrish 4.
DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, Feb. 8
First round
#6 Snohomish 50, #11 Oak Harbor 27 (loser out)
#7 Ferndale 33, #10 Shorewood 23 (loser out)
#5 Meadowdale 43, #12 Shorecrest 27 (loser out)
#9 Monroe 56, #8 Mountlake Terrace 51 (loser out)
Friday, Feb. 10
Quarterfinals
Snohomish 64, #3 Everett 59
#2 Stanwood 80, Ferndale 44
#4 Lynnwood 68, Meadowdale 66
#1 Arlington 75, Monroe 51
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Consolation games
Everett 73, Ferndale 48 (loser out)
Meadowdale 73, Monroe 51 (loser out)
Semifinals
At Marysville-Pilchuck
Stanwood 47, Snohomish 34, 5 p.m.
Arlington 61, Lynnwood 42, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 16
Consolation semifinals
At Everett Community College
Lynnwood (15-6) vs. Everett (15-7), 5 p.m. (winner third, to state regionals)
Snohomish (15-8) vs. Meadowdale (17-6), 7 p.m. (winner third, to state regionals)
Saturday, Feb. 18
At Everett Community College
Consolation final
Consolation semifinal losers, 2 p.m. (winner fifth, to state regional, loser out)
Championship game
Stanwood (19-3) vs. Arlington (19-2), 6 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
