The Lynden Christian and Mount Baker boys basketball teams shot the lights out in the first half, but only the Lyncs kept up their hot shooting on the way to an 83-62 victory on Friday, Jan. 3.
And, yes, on the dark and stormy night, the lights did go out in the Mount Baker gym with 6:30 left in the third quarter with the Mounties only down by three. But after the lights came back on a couple of seconds later, the Lyncs finished the period on a 12-2 run to take control.
“We did a nice job in the third period,” said LC coach Roger DeBoer, whose squad raised its Northwest Conference record to 2-1 and 4-3 overall. “We defended a lot better in the second half. And I was encouraged by how we shared the ball.”
Everybody got involved for the Lyncs as eight of nine players scored. Jaden DeBoer led the way with 20 points, including five 3 pointers; Bryce Bouwman had 15 points, 13 in the first half; Andrew Hommes came off the bench for 13 points; Logan Dykstra added 12 points; and Zach Sipma had 10.
Surprisingly, the team’s leading scorer — Andrew DeVries — only had 9 points (although there was some question about the final stats), but the senior guard did accomplish an impressive milestone: With a layup in the second period, he broke into Lynden Christian’s 1,000-point club.
“It’s a cool milestone, but at the end of the day numbers come and go,” said DeVries, who last week broke the school’s career 3-point record. “It’s the relationships, the hard work … that’s what matters. Tonight we were trying to find our rhythm, and we found it.”
DeBoer praised DeVries’ accomplishment, but also pointed to the whole team: “It’s a great milestone for Andrew. But it’s really a testament to all his teammates. There have been a lot of assists over the past four years.”
On Friday, there were a lot of assists for both teams, especially in the first half as Mount Baker’s offense matched Lynden Christian’s shot for shot.
Braedan Hart’s four 3-pointers led a barrage of seven Baker bombs, and it took a DeBoer 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to give LC a slim 41-37 lead.
But while the Lyncs kept up the pace after halftime, the Mounties cooled off, scoring only seven points in the third quarter, all by Truman Anderson.
Hart would finish with a team-high 17, Anderson had 16, Jason Lee added 15 and Mason Jacoby had 13.
“We were hitting shots the first half, and it was great to see,” said first-year Mounties coach Ben Zakheim, who also praised Vincent Figueroa and Toby Anderson for their quality minutes. “Offensively, we did a good job, sharing the ball, playing for each other.
“But they (the Lyncs) are a tough team to match up with. The second half they abandoned the 3-point shot and went to attack the cup. They showed that they were multi-dimensional.”
The loss dropped the Mounties to 0-3 in league and 2-7 overall.
