When a team is on pace to score 100 points in a game, it’s not often that its defense is the difference, but it sure was when the Lynden Christian boys basketball team took down visiting Burlington-Edison, 87-68, on Friday night, Jan. 3.
The victory kept the Lyncs atop the Northwest Conference standings with a 5-0 mark and a 10-1 record overall. Burlington-Edison fell to 3-2 in league and 8-2 overall.
But it wasn’t easy. After putting up 53 points in the first half, the Lyncs watched their 19-point halftime lead melt to eight by the end of the third quarter.
“That’s the Northwest Conference; we’re in league now,” said LC coach Tim Zylstra of Burlington’s rally. “But we finally got some stops. This was good for us.”
Just when it looked like the Tigers were threatening to pull off the comeback, LC’s defense held Burlington to two points for the first five minutes of the final period. Meanwhile, the Lynden Christian offense never slowed down as the Lyncs put up 19 points to push the lead back to 25 and secure the win.
“They were 8-1, and we knew about their size,” said LC senior Gannon Dykstra of Burlington’s 6-foot-8 and 6-6 leading scorers. “Offensively, we knew we’d do fine. But we usually don’t give up this many points. At the start of the fourth quarter, we took it (defense) to heart.”
The Lyncs’ fast pace wore down the larger Tigers and LC’s fast hands made every Burlington possession difficult especially in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Dawson Hintz’s fastbreak, one-handed dunk put an exclamation point on LC’s 19-2 run.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for a long time,” said Hintz, who was technically playing his first “home” game after missing seven games with a torn MCL. “It’s fun to be back.”
Hintz’s return sure was fun for his teammates and the LC fans. Earlier in the second period, the 6-foot guard had another dunk, and his drive over Burlington’s 6-8 Timophey Feskov was partially blocked but still fell through the hoop at the halftime buzzer even as Hintz crashed to the floor.
“He is explosive,” said Zylstra. “He’s always around the ball, and he plays good defense.”
Hintz’s 14 points, two 3-pointers, and 4 assists were just part of a Lynden Christian blitz that saw the smaller Lyncs hit 13 3-pointers and score 87 points, 30 more than Burlington’s defense had been giving up per game.
Leading the LC attack as usual was Dykstra, who finished with 33 points and four 3-pointers. He also just missing a triple-double with 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and added 3 steals just for good measure.
Sophomore Gunnar Dykstra added 15 points, three 3s, and 5 assists. Senior Luke Van Kooten had 11 points, a pair of 3s, and 6 rebounds. Sophomore Kaden Veldman battled inside for 6 points and 6 rebounds despite being in foul trouble much of the game. And senior Carter Ahlers had 6 points, including a 3-pointer that just beat the first-quarter buzzer.
The Tigers were led by Feskov with 21 points and 6-foot-6 Logan Heigert with 18 points. But the big boys from Burlington couldn’t stop the little guys from LC in the first of several important NWC games for the Lyncs.
“We’re on top of the standings,” said Hintz. “Our goal is to win state. But we’ve still got a lot of work to get there.”
Lynden Christian will get another test on Monday when the Lyncs travel to Meridian in a battle of the top two Class 1A teams in the NWC. Burlington’s next game is at Anacortes on Tuesday.
Lynden Christian 87, Burlington-Edison 68
Burlington-Edison 16 18 26 8—68
Lynden Christian 28 25 15 19—87
Burlington-Edison: Whitlock 6, Heigert 18, Belisle 4, Thornhill, Arendse 7, Cook 2, Booth, Feskov 21, Betz 10, Buchanan.
Lynden Christian: Hintz 14, Gu. Dykstra 15, Ahlers 6, Maberry 2, Robertson, Howell, Ga. Dykstra 33, Van Kooten 11, Veldman 6, Kooiman.
