It was a tale of one city but two completely different halves, and when the biggest game in Whatcom County was done, it was the Lynden Christian boys who reigned over their Lynden counterparts, 72-54, before a sold-out crowd at LC on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 31.
“It’s a big rivalry,” said senior Boyce Robertson, whose Lyncs had lost to the Lions the past two years. “And we got them back.”
The biggest reason LC improved to 18-1 overall and 13-0 atop the Northwest Conference is that the Lyncs used their speed and quickness to dictate the pace of the game by pressing fullcourt and running the fastbreak whenever possible.
For the first half, the Lions managed to slow the Lyncs and use their height and strength to take a 13-point lead after a pair of Malachi Koenen 3-pointers two and a half minutes into the second quarter. And even after LC’s Dawson Hintz hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, Lynden still lead 29-27.
The two schools joined together to raise awareness and funds for battling cancer as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer program. LC supporter and parent Traci Likkel was the Lyncs’ honorary captain and former Lynden star athlete and championship coach John Clark was the Lions’ honorary captain. LC also honored long-time athletic director Harlan Kredit, who will be inducted into the WIAA Hall of Fame.
But that was just a preview of the second half. Hintz hit another 3 to start the third period and start a 25-point quarter as he and fellow junior Gunnar Dykstra forced turnovers and ramped up the LC running game.
Still, it was only a 10-point Lynden Christian lead going into the fourth quarter until Robertson’s steal and fastbreak started a 10-0 run. And two minutes into the final period, the margin had stretched to 20.
“It’s another one of those ‘stay the course’ game,” said LC coach Tim Zylstra. “We tell them to stay the course and things will start to go our way. We wanted the pace to be faster, and we wore them down.”
Said Robertson, who finished with 6 points and whose defense helped hold Lynden star Spencer Adams to 9 points, “We started out flat, but the coaches got us locked in (at halftime).” Then he smiled. “And Dawson went off. That helped.”
Ah yes, Dawson. The 6-foot guard missed his first couple of 3-point attempts as Lynden took its big lead, but hit his first with 1:45 left in the first half. Then he hit the one at the halftime buzzer. Then he hit three more in the third-quarter outburst and his sixth one in the fourth period.
Toss in several drives to the basket and a big dunk and you’ve got a game-high 32 points, 22 of them after halftime.
“We wanted to play at our pace and we did that for most of the first half,” said Lynden coach Brian Roper, whose squad dropped to 13-6 overall and 10-3 in the NWC. “But tip your hat to them. When Hintz and Dykstra get going in the open court, they’re tough to stop.”
Hintz also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals, but Lynden Christian was far from a one-man show.
Junior Kaden Veldman, the Lyncs’ “big man” at 6-foot-4, ran the fastbreak and muscled inside for 16 points on 8 of 10 shooting and 7 rebounds. Dykstra ran the offense and dished out 9 assists while scoring a quiet 8 points. Robertson had 6 points and 7 rebounds, and fellow senior and cousin Eli Maberry added 5 points.
While Lynden Christian almost hit its average scoring margin for the season exactly (73-54), Lynden was held 12 points below its offensive average.
Senior Ty Jorgenson continued his stellar play since returning from a broken leg with 16 points and 4 rebounds; Koenen had 13 points and 4 rebounds; Adams had 9 points despite being the focus of LC’s defense, a game-high 12 rebounds, and a team-high 6 assists; junior Gordy Bedlington had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists; senior Brody Price had 6 points; and sophomore Jayden Navarre had 3 assists.
“We had a lot of energy the first half,” said Koenen, who finished with three 3-pointers. “The second half we got a little tired. But you either come out of this (loss) stronger or weaker, and I think we’ll get stronger.”
His coach agreed. “Being humbled isn’t always a bad thing for an athlete or a human being,” said Roper, whose squad is battling with Anacortes and Lakewood for the top seed in the Class 2A district tournament. “It gets our attention on what we need to work on. But I felt like our best is ahead of us, and this doesn’t change that.”
For the Lyncs, another conference title is certainly important, but after finishing second at the 1A state tournament last season, they’re again setting their sights higher. Still, Saturday’s victory over their archrivals was satisfying.
“I definitely didn’t expect it,” Zylstra said of the 18-point victory. “I thought it was possible, but we’re still a work in progress.” Then came the grin. “But I’ll take it.”
Lynden Christian wraps up its regular season next week with road games at Lakewood on Tuesday and at Ferndale on Thursday. Lynden finishes up the regular season by hosting Anacortes on Tuesday and visiting Nooksack Valley on Friday.
The Class 2A district tournament begins with a play-in game on Feb. 9 with the first round of the double-elimination portion starting on Feb. 11. The 1A district playoffs also start on Feb. 11.
Lynden Christian 72, Lynden 54
Lynden 16 13 13 12—54
Lynden Christian 13 14 25 20—72
Lynden: Navarre, Bedlington 7, Price 6, Ellis, Mar. Koenen, Mal. Koenen 13, Broersma 3, Smith, Jorgenson 16, Adams 9.
Lynden Christian: Hintz 32, Dykstra 8, Howell 3, Maberry 5, Kooiman, Kamphouse 2, Ridnour, Robertson 6, Veldman 16, Herwerden, Vos.
