Early-season non-league games are supposed to be great warmups for conference play, but for the Lynden Christian boys and girls, Saturday night’s home doubleheader felt more like playoff basketball.
Facing familiar and highly rated opponents, the Lyncs pulled off two stunning victories in the final minutes — the LC boys finally shaking off Lummi Nation, 70-60, and the LC girls coming from way behind to knock off Archbishop Murphy, 50-47.
“This was good for the whole community and county,” said Lynden Christian boys coach Tim Zylstra, who noted the effects of the recent flooding on the Lummi Reservation. “Tragedies happen and this (basketball) puts that in perspective. It was good for all of us.”
Lummi Nation boys coach Jerome Toby Sr. agreed, expressing gratefulness for getting the two storied programs together on the court for the first time.
“The atmosphere was awesome,” said Toby of the full gym. “It was electric in there. To play this caliber team brings out the best in us. Credit them and their program.”
The victory raised Lynden Christian’s record to 3-1, while Lummi Nation dropped to 2-1-1. (Yes, the Blackhawks had a tie thanks to a power outage last week against another Northwest Conference contender, Lakewood.)
Meanwhile, the Lynden Christian girls improved to 4-0 while Archbishop Murphy dropped to 3-2, its other loss a two-point defeat to Class 4A state power Woodinville.
Boys: Lyncs’ Strong Finish Stymies Lummi Nation, 70-60
Lummi Nation, the defending Class 1B state champion, showed right away that the smaller school deserved to be on the same court as the Class 1A state runner-up Lyncs, taking a 10-point lead early in the second quarter.
“I was a little bit nervous playing here, they’re such a winning program,” said Lummi Nation senior Jerome Toby Jr. “But after the first couple of minutes, we believed we belonged out there.”
While the Blackhawks’ run-and-fun style of fastbreak offense and pressure defense has overwhelmed the Northwest 1B League for years, Lynden Christian was equally quick and willing to run with Lummi Nation.
“It was so much fun,” said Lynden Christian junior Dawson Hintz. “I’d rather play competitive games than blowouts. This will help us get to the state championship.”
Not surprising with two running teams, the contest itself was a game of runs. Lummi had a 10-0 run, then LC tied it was a 10-0 run of its own midway through the second quarter.
Then the lead bounced back and forth or the game was tied through the rest of the first half, all the way through the third quarter, and through most of the fourth period — until Lynden Christian’s final run.
Toby’s 3-pointer brought Lummi Nation to within 60-58 with 2:37 left and it looked like another last-second thrilling finish was in store for the fans. (See the girls game below.) But Hintz made sure that wouldn’t happen.
The all-league guard hit two free throws, a fastbreak layup, a steal and two-handed dunk, and, after fellow junior Kaden Veldman’s two free throws, another layup. That’s eight points in a 10-0 LC run that took just over one minute and gave the Lyncs the victory.
“When he’s in the open court, he’s electric,” Zylstra said of Hintz, who finished with a game-high 29 points and three 3-pointers. “He plays his heart out.”
Joining Dawson in double figures for Lynden Christian were Veldman, who had 15 points despite battling a foot injury and foul trouble, and another junior, Gunnar Dykstra, who had 14 points and a pair of 3-pointers. Junior Harvest Howell added 7 points, but it was not his offense that earned praise.
The 5-foot-11 guard had the task of guarding Toby, the 5-foot-8 lightning-quick point guard who was the 1B player of the year last season. Howell couldn’t stop Toby — nobody has for four years — but he did manage to slow the Blackhawks’ leader and hold him to “only” 18 points. Which is saying something.
“Without Harvest, we’d have been in trouble,” said Hintz, who has played against Toby since elementary school. “I have a ton of respect for them (the Blackhawks).”
Zylstra agreed. “Harvest played against one of the best point guards in the county. They’re a good team. It was a good test for us. We’re happy to come out with a win.”
Even in the loss, Lummi Nation showed why it is the class of the Class 1B. In addition to Toby’s normal outstanding game, the Blackhawks got 12 points and a pair of 3s from junior Landon LaFontaine, 11 points from senior Chayce Waite-Kellar, 9 points from junior Dyson Edwards, and 6 from junior Deandre James.
“I was proud of our effort, to come in and be tied and have a chance to win,” said coach Toby. “To play this caliber team brings out the best in us. Credit them and their program. But my guys competed and showed they can play at a high level. They gave us everything we needed.”
Well, almost everything, according to the younger Toby. When asked what the team’s goal was this season, his answer said it all.
“Our goal all the time is to win state,” he said “Tonight we learned we’ve got to play well the whole game. We have to play all 32 minutes.”
Both teams will continue their quests on Monday when Lynden Christian travels to Bellingham and Lummi Nation hosts Friday Harbor in another non-league game.
Lynden Christian 70, Lummi Nation 60
Lummi Nation 17 15 14 14—60
Lynden Christian 11 21 14 24—70
Lummi Nation: Toby Jr. 18, LaFontaine 12, Edwards 9, Yrizarris 4, Waite-Kellar 11, D. James 6, Toby-Williams.
Lynden Christian: Hintz 29, Dykstra 14, Howell 7, Maberry 3, Ridnour, Adams, Kooiman 2, Veldman 15, Herwerden.
Girls: Lyncs Rally To Stun Archbishop Murphy, 50-47
Having graduated half of the team that took third at state last season, Lynden Christian was expected to be rebuilding — and the Lyncs sure looked it during the first half against the Wildcats, who were returning most of the players from last year’s fourth-place 2A state squad, including all-state guard Brooke Blachly.
After a four-point second quarter, LC found itself down by 10, and three minutes into the third quarter, the deficit was 29-17.
But this was in the lair of the Lyncs, who have more girls basketball state championship banners hanging on their wall than any other program in Washington (14, if you’re counting). And you don’t win that many state titles by being satisfied with a morale victory against a bigger school.
The Lyncs turned on the defense, holding Archbishop Murphy to six points in the third period and retaking the lead for good on Jocelyn Eshuis’s left-handed layup a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, 35-33. They wouldn’t relinquish the lead … but it wasn’t easy finishing off the Wildcats.
Blachly hit her only 3-pointer of the game with 1:46 left and two more Archbishop Murphy free throws cut LC’s lead to one. But Fritts hit a turnaround jumper with 31 seconds remaining and the Wildcats couldn’t hit a game-tying 3-pointer despite three tries, the final one missing with one second left.
“I was proud of our kids,” said LC coach Brady Bomber. “We schedule games like this to challenge us. Our players displayed great togetherness … and played well down the stretch.”
Playing the best down the stretch was senior Ella Fritts. The all-state guard was held to only three points in the first half, but took charge after halftime, scoring 10 points in the crucial fourth period and finishing with a team-high 15 points.
“The first half we came out timid; we weren’t playing our aggressive self,” said Fritts, a Biola University commit. “Coach challenged us (at halftime). It was really cool to see how everyone responded. We had to make the choice — to crumble … or say, ‘We’re not losing this game.’”
Points were hard to come by in the defensive struggle but Lynden Christian made the most of its roster. Eight different Lyncs scored with freshman post Jessica DeJong coming off the bench to have a big game with 11 points, and sophomore guard Tyra Dykstra having 8 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
But what brought a smile to coach Bomber’s face was the team’s defense, especially on Blachly, who was constantly shadowed and would finish with only five points. Give credit to senior Estela Hernandez, junior Ellie Pierce, and Fritts, who all hounded the Wildcats guard all game. But don’t forget the help from the rest of the team.
“She has scored a lot points on us over the years,” said Bomber of Blachly, a Santa Clara commit. “It takes a village to stop her. Others girls helped as well.”
Which is what has Bomber and the Lyncs excited about the future — even in a “rebuilding” season.
“It was fun to see Ella have success down the stretch,” said Bomber of his three-year standout. “But there were eight girls that all contributed. We want strength in numbers. This is a team that dreams of playing in March … of playing in the SunDome.”
In case you’re wondering, that would be the date and location of the 1A state tournament. For now, Lynden Christian is off until Wednesday, when the Lyncs return to Northwest Conference play at Sedro-Woolley.
Lynden Christian 50, Archbishop Murphy 47
Archbishop Murphy 17 10 6 14—47
Lynden Christian 13 4 14 19—50
Archbishop Murphy: Blachly 5, Hookfin 8, Le, Ives, Fletcher 12, Cohen, K. Fryberg 6, Cham, Wright 16.
Lynden Christian: Fritts 15, Dykstra 8, Eshuis 3, Hernandez 4, Russell 3, Van Loo 2, Pierce 4, Lenssen, DeJong 11.
