Sure, holiday basketball tournaments are supposed to be fun, but for Whatcom teams there’s another, not-so-hidden agenda.
“It’s like state,” said Lynden Christian girls coach Brady Bomber, whose team is again hosting the eight-team, three-day Lynden Christmas Classic. “There are teams with different styles, short turnarounds, and every team feels like they can go to state.”
The Lynden Christian and Lynden girls are certainly among those. In Thursday’s opening round of the Classic, the Lyncs beat Brookswood Secondary (B.C), 47-42, and the Lions mauled Meadowdale, 69-51.
In the other local tournament — the Trojan Storm Classic at Meridian — the host Trojans weren’t very hospitable. The Meridian girls stopped Sultan, 45-35, and the Meridian boys clobbered Seattle Christian, 67-44. The Bellingham boys weren’t as fortunate, losing a close one to Overlake, 57-53.
The Nooksack Valley girls were the only other Whatcom squad in a three-day tournament. The Pioneers battled to the end but fell to River Ridge, 50-42, in the T-Town Throwdown at Silas High in Tacoma.
Those tournaments continue Friday and Saturday, and five other Whatcom teams will begin play in other two-day holiday tourneys on Friday.
Here’s a look at Thursday’s games:
Lynden Christmas Classic
LC girls finish off Brookswood, 47-42
In a game of streaks, the Lyncs (7-0) had the last one to knock off Brookswood Seconday of Langley, B.C.
The Lyncs were down by seven in the first quarter but used a 16-3 run to take a 10-point lead at intermission on junior Ella Fritts’s fastbreak bucket just before the halftime buzzer.
But Brookswood isn’t the second-ranked 4A school in British Columbia for nothing as the Bobcats clawed back to within one with two minutes left in the third quarter. LC then went on an 8-1 run and looked in command, but the Bobcats again came back to tie it at 42-all with just over two minutes to play.
“It was definitely a game of runs,” said Fritts, who led Lynden Christian with 17 points and 6 rebounds. “We’re gaining momentum, up by 10, and then it (the lead) is gone.”
It was crunch time, just what LC wanted.
“We didn’t want a cake walk,” said Fritts. “You play three games in a row, and you play when you have nothing left in the tank.”
On Thursday, LC had more in the tank at the end. Senior Danya Dykstra hit her third 3-pointer of the game from the top of the key with 2:05 left, Fritts hit a turnaround jumper with 1:42 left, and the Lyncs defense shut out the Bobcats the rest of the way to secure the victory.
“I was really proud of the way we closed the game,” said Bomber, who was able to give valuable minutes to 10 of his players. “Our strength is our depth. And win or lose … this was a good test for us.”
Besides Fritts and Dykstra, who had 10 points, there wasn’t a lot of scoring. Junior Estela Hernandez had 7 points and 4 assists but no other Lync had more than five points.
All the Lyncs, however, played great defense and it wore down the Bobcats. Give special credit to Hernandez, senior Alisa Scott, and especially tiny sophomore Ellie Pierce who chased Brookswood star Jordyn Nohr all game long.
One of the top players in the province already as a sophomore, Nohr had 22 points despite being constantly hounded by the trio of Lyncs. However, only two of her points came in the decisive fourth quarter.
“Ella’s leadership has really shined this year, especially with all we ask her to do” said Bomber of the team’s point guard and leading scorer. “But tonight, others stepped up too. They did things that didn’t show up in the box score.”
Lynden Christian will now play White River (6-1) in the semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The Hornets stung Snohomish on Thursday, 65-60. The tournament will continue on Saturday with three consolation games and the championship game at 3:15 p.m.
Lynden Christian 47, Brookswood 42
Brookswood 15 3 13 11—42
Lynden Christian 12 16 11 8—47
Brookswood: Nohr 22, Hunt, Hutton, Vande Ven 4, M. Pogue 2, C. Taylor 3, F. Taylor 5, Phillips 6.
Lynden Christian: D. Dykstra 10, T. Dykstra 3, Hernandez 7, Fritts 17, Scott, Shumate 5, Yun, Van Loo 3, Pierce 2, Eshuis.
Parcher pushes Lynden girls past Meadowdale, 69-51
Facing one of the top Class 3A teams in the state, Lynden coach Rob Adams expected a tough game. He also expected a big game out of sophomore Finley Parcher, who just missed the tournament scoring record by collecting 30 points as the Lions (8-0) stunned the Mavericks (5-2).
Parcher was dominant throughout the game, scoring at least six points each quarter and finishing just four points shy of the mark held by former Arlington star Jenna Villa, who now plays for Washington State. Parcher also had two 3-pointers, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and was 6 of 8 from the line.
“She’s pretty good,” Adams said with a smile.
But this night, Adams was just as pleased with the rest of the team. All 12 players got in the game and 11 played significant minutes in at least two quarters.
“We look forward to this Christmas tournament, to play really good competition,” said Adams, whose Lions are the defending Class 2A state champions and the defending Christmas Classic champions. “This is part of the journey where we learn about ourselves. And we learned our bench players have come a long ways. They all played well. I was very encouraged.”
Junior Payton Mills and sophomore Lexi Hermanutz joined Parcher in double figures with Mills adding 15 points, a pair of 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds, and Hermanutz driving to the basket for 10 points in addition to gathering 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists.
Mills said she loved Christmas tournaments and the competition it brings for the Lions.
“We’re excited to play good teams and get after it,” she said. As for the team’s overall performance, she also praised the team’s bench.
“They’re important,” she said. “We need all the other players. And tonight was a night they did good.”
Lynden also moves into the tournament semifinals and will play Issaquah (8-1) on Friday at 7:15 p.m. The Class 4A Eagles defeated Emerald Ridge on Thursday, 71-63.
Lynden 69, Meadowdale 51
Meadowdale 14 11 13 13—51
Lynden 19 22 12 16—69
Meadowdale: Fleishman, Dotter 6, Richards, Sonko 4, Brockmeyer 11, Zardis 5, Powell, Roussin 10, Medina 11, Lucas 4.
Lynden: Bowler 3, Hermanutz 10, Nyhoff 1, Newcomb, Slayton, R. Stephan 4, I. Stephan, York 4, Anderson 2, Parcher 30, Basart, Mills 15.
Trojan Storm Classic
Meridian boys pull away from Seattle Christian, 67-44
It took a half for the Trojans (6-1) to get going, but once they did, they easily outdistanced the Warriors (3-4).
Senior Talon Jenkins had 19 points and three 3-pointers to lead Meridian. He had 10 of his points and two 3s in the first quarter, which ended tied at 19. But the Trojans only gave up 25 points the rest of the way and nearly doubled Seattle Christian with 48 points in the last three periods.
Senior Jaeger Fyfe had 15 points, a pair of 3-pointers, and went 5 for 5 from the line for the Trojans. Senior James Hedahl and junior Matthew Blankenburg had 9 points each, with Blankenburg’s points coming on three 3s, and senior Canyon James added 6 points.
Meridian will face Tonasket (6-3) on Friday at 6 p.m. in the school’s north gym. The Tigers trounced Sultan, 67-44, on Thursday.
Bellingham boys fall to Overlake, 57-53
The Bayhawks (4-3) played the Owls (5-1) even through three quarters but were outscored, 18-14, in the fourth period.
Senior Kincade VanHouten and junior Joe Harward had 13 points each for Bellingham with VanHouten adding 14 rebounds, and Harward collecting 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals.
Senior Harmon Wienkers and sophomore Calvin Van Hofwegen had 8 points each, with Wienkers sinking a pair of 3-pointers, and senior Gabe Van Hofwegen added 7 points.
The Bayhawks hurt themselves at the line where they only made eight of 22 free throws.
Bellingham will take on Seattle Christian Friday at 4 p.m. in consolation action in Meridian’s south gym. The Warriors lost to Meridian, 67-44, on Thursday.
Freshman leads Meridian girls over Sultan, 45-35
Ten different Trojans scored with freshman Melanie Short leading the way as Meridian (6-1) dominated the Turks (5-4).
Short had 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first half and finished with 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Junior Kinsley Neal added 6 points on a pair of 3-pointers, senior Brooklyn Fuller had 5 points, and sophomore Maddy Swanson had 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Trojans take on Northwest Conference rival Lakewood (3-3) on Friday at 4 p.m. in the north gym. The Cougars beat Curtis, 45-37, on Thursday.
T-Town Throwdown
Nooksack Valley girls can’t stay with River Ridge, 50-42
The Pioneers (5-2) jumped to a six-point lead after the first quarter but couldn’t hold off River Ridge (6-2). Only down by three going into the fourth period, the Pioneers only scored seven points the rest of the way against the Class 4A Hawks.
Senior Kate Shintaffer had a team-high 15 points, including all 10 of Nooksack Valley’s points in the third quarter, and 10 rebounds. Junior Grace DeHoog had 14 points, 10 of them in the first quarter when Nooksack took its early lead, and 11 rebounds. Junior Chayleigh Davis added 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
Nooksack Valley continues in consolation play against host Silas (5-4) on Friday at 12:30 p.m. Silas lost to Toppenish on Thursday, 61-20.
