The Blackhawks were able to fly, but the Bayhawks were grounded in boys and girls District 1 tournament action on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
Lummi Nation won its Class 1B district semifinal games with the boys defeating Orcas Island, 67-57, and the girls routing Darrington, 82-42. Tuesday’s victory put the Blackhawks and Lady Blackhawks into their district championship games on Thursday.
The Bellingham girls, however, struggled early and weren’t able to recover in a 48-30 loss to Lakewood in a 2A district play-in game. With the defeat, the Bayhawks’ season comes to an end.
NEXT UP WEDNESDAY: The Class 1A district tournaments continue with their semifinals. On the boys side, Meridian is at Nooksack Valley and Mount Baker is at Lynden Christian, both at 5:30 p.m., while the girls are at 7:15 with Blaine at Lynden Christian and Meridian at Nooksack Valley. The 2A boys quarterfinals will see Burlington-Edison at Lynden, Sehome at Anacortes, and Bellingham at Lakewood, and Ferndale is at Marysville-Getchell for a 3A boys play-in game. For all the action, check out Whatcom Hoops.
Here are the results from Tuesday night’s playoff action:
1B Boys: Lummi Nation Overcomes Orcas Island, 67-57
When you’re the top-ranked team in the state and beating everybody by 30-plus points, it only takes one game to remind you how tough it is to win in the playoffs. The Lummi Nation boys learned that lesson again in beating Orcas Island, 67-57, in the district semifinals.
“It was a battle tonight, and I was proud of the boys,” said Lummi Nation coach Jerome Toby, whose team is now 17-1. “We beat a physical and scrappy Orcas Island team. It was a good semifinal win for us.”
With the victory, Lummi Nation moves into the district championship game on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The Blackhawks will host Tulalip Heritage, which upset Mount Vernon Christian, 52-46, in the other semifinal. Lummi and Tulalip have already played each other twice this season with the Blackhawks winning both times.
On Tuesday, the Blackhawks took a double-digit lead thanks to a 22-point first quarter, but the fierce Vikings never let the Blackhawks get too far ahead and closed the gap over the next two periods. It took a team effort to hold off Orcas Island, which fell to 9-12 on the year.
Sophomore point guard Jerome Toby Jr.’s 22 points led Lummi Nationwith 13 of those points and one of his two 3-pointers coming in the Blackhawks’ big first period. But nine different Blackhawks got in the scoring column as Lummi showed its depth by extending a shaky five-point lead after three quarters into the final 10-point margin.
“Our bench did a good tonight,” said Toby, praising seniors Landon Day and Raymond Perkins, juniors Trevon Lee and Karson Revey, and freshman Landon LaFontaine.
Senior Desmond Bailey and Revey had 9 points each for the Blackhawks, and senior Mathias Johnson, junior Tony Abrams, and Perkins had 6 points each with Perkins sinking a pair of 3s.
Win or lose Thursday’s final, Lummi Nation has already clinched a spot in the next round, the District 1/2/3 tournament. From there the top seven teams will advance to the 1B state regionals.
Lummi Nation 67, Orcas Island 57
Orcas Island 10 19 19 9—57
Lummi Nation 22 11 20 14—67
Orcas Island: Smiton 2, Garcia 8, Lago 9, Freeman, Stephans 28, Connell 8.
Lummi Nation: Toby 22, LaFontaine 2, Francis, Johnson 6, Edwards 3, Perkins 6, Day 4, Abrams 6, Lee, Revey 9, Bailey 9.
CLASS 1B DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, Feb. 6
Consolation round
Providence Classical Christian 58, Concrete 47 (loser out)
Shoreline Christian 48, Grace Academy 45 (loser out)
Semifinals
Tulalip Heritage 52, Mount Vernon Christian 46
Lummi Nation 67, Orcas Island 57
Thursday, Feb. 8
At Lummi Nation
Consolation finals
Providence Classical Christian vs. Shoreline Christian, 1:30 p.m. (winner fifth to tri-district, loser out)
Orcas Island vs. Mount Vernon Christian, 5 p.m. (winner third, loser fourth, both to tri-district)
Championship game
Lummi Nation vs. Tulalip Heritage, 8:30 p.m.(winner first, loser second, both to tri-district)
1B Girls: Lummi Nation Dispatches Darrington, 82-42
The Lady Blackhawks dominated on both ends of the court, especially in the first half, and never let up in taking down Darrington, 82-42, in the District 1 semifinals.
“They’re playing great together for sure,” said Lummi Nation coach Krista Mahle, whose team improved 16-5. “It was a very physical game, but we played through it.”
Lummi Nation came out hot and led by 18 after one quarter and by 32 at the half again the Loggers, who fell to 10-10 on the year.
Doing much of the damage was freshman point guard Jemma James who had 11 of her game-high 27 points in the first quarter. But it was not a one-girl show for Lummi.
Sophomore Ailina Rabang had 15 of her 19 points in the first half, and seniors Serena Jo Pantalia and Keyonee Morris chipped in with 13 points each.
The 12th-ranked Lady Blackhawks now advance into the district championship game against second-ranked Mount Vernon Christian on Thursday at 6:45 p.m.
Lummi Nation lost to the Hurricanes (20-4 overall) on Dec. 28, 59-25, in a non-league game at Mount Vernon Christian’s holiday tournament. But there will be two big differences this time: Thursday’s game is at Lummi Nation and the Blackhawks have been bolstered by recent transfers Rabang and Brianna Metteba.
The good news is that regardless of the outcome, Lummi Nation has already qualified for the next step in the playoffs — a spot in the District 1/2/3 tournament starting Saturday.
Darrington, which was led by Allie Cochran’s 19 points, will play Orcas Island in the consolation final Thursday at 3:15 p.m. Mount Vernon Christian defeated Orcas Island, 75-7, in the other semifinal.
Lummi Nation 82, Darrington 42
Darrington 6 9 16 11—42
Lummi Nation 24 23 13 22—82
Darrington: Holz, Wright 16, VanLaningham, Espeland, Pater, Ab. Cochran, Ross 7, Al. Cochran 19.
Lummi Nation: Mak. Morris, J. James 27, Jones, Metteba 2, Dennis 6, Rabang 19, Pantalia 13, K. Morris 13, Landsem 2, C. James.
CLASS 1B DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, Feb. 6
Consolation
Concrete 59, Lopez Island 37 (loser out)
Grace Academy 35, Tulalip Heritage 28 (loser out)
Semifinals
Lummi Nation 82, Darrington 42
Mount Vernon Christian 75, Orcas Island 7
Thursday, Feb. 8
Consolation game
Concrete vs. Grace Academy, noon (Winner fifth, to tri-district, loser out)
Consolation final
Orcas Island vs. Darrington, 3:15 p.m. (winner third, loser fourth, both to tri-district)
Championship game
Lummi Nation vs. Mount Vernon Christian, 6:45 p.m. (winner first, loser second, both to tri-district)
2A Girls: Early Woes Doom Bellingham In 48-30 Loss
With one of the youngest teams in the district, Bellingham showed its inexperience in big games by struggling early and eventually losing on the road to Lakewood, 48-30, in the 2A district play-in game.
“We battled and the girls never quit,” said Bellingham coach James Wolverton, whose 10th-seeded team ended the season at 3-17. “We had too many turnovers for my young Bayhawks.”
And the Bayhawks are definitely young. Bellingham has no seniors on its roster and Malia Hanks is the only junior. Despite their inexperience and scoring a grand total of one point in the first quarter, the Bayhawks only trailed by eight at halftime before the seventh-seeded Cougars pulled away in the second half.
Bellingham was led by Mary Lockhart’s 10 points and fellow sophomore Alexyce Evans’s 9 points, all on 3-pointers. Hanks added 7 points, and Lockhart and freshman Merritt Jensen each had double-digit rebounds.
With most of the team expected to return, Wolverton was optimistic about Bellingham’s future: “They’ll work hard to close the skill gap this offseason, I know.”
Lakewood, which improved to 9-9 on the year, now advances to play second-seeded Archbishop Murphy in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Lakewood 48, Bellingham 30
Bellingham 1 12 8 9—30
Lakewood 7 14 13 14—48
Bellingham: Jude, Verner, Manning, Hanks 7, Jensen 4, Lockhart 10, Evans 9.
Lakewood: Tocco 2, Hine 2, Harrison, Riveira 13, Morales 9, Raymond 9, Carlson, Stewart 3, Jones, Agee, Powers 10.
CLASS 2A DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT
Play-in games
Tuesday, Feb. 6
Lakewood 48, Bellingham 28 (loser out)
Sedro-Woolley 41, Cedarcrest 34 (loser out)
First round
Thursday, Feb. 8
#8 Sedro-Woolley at #1 Lynden, 7 p.m.
#7 Lakewood at #2 Archbishop Murphy, 6 p.m.
#6 Anacortes at #3 Burlington-Edison, 6 p.m.
#5 Squalicum at #4 Sehome, 7 p.m.
