Lynden Girls Roll Into Final; Sehome, Bellingham See Seasons End

The Class 2A girls were on center stage Friday night, Feb. 14, and while Lynden’s stars stole the spotlight at the expense of Squalicum, the show came to an abrupt end for Sehome and Bellingham.

Defending state champion Lynden dominated Squalicum from the outset of their District 1 semifinal, 61-27, at Mount Vernon High School and will move on to the district championship game.

The top-ranked and unbeaten Lions will face third-ranked and once-beaten Archbishop Murphy on Wednesday at 6 p.m. with a state berth at stake.

The Storm still have a chance to reach state, but must go through a daunting gauntlet starting with a loser-out contest against Lakewood on Monday at 6 p.m., also at Mount Vernon.

Sehome and Bellingham, however, had their dreams of a state berth dashed with consolation losses on the road Friday. Sehome fell to Lakewood, 49-43, and Bellingham was beaten by Anacortes, 46-23.

CLASS 2A GIRLS

Lynden Defense Quiets Storm In Semifinal Win, 61-27

The Lions showed why they are considered one of the best teams in the state regardless of classification by using their sticky man-to-man defense to shut down the Storm and advance to the district championship game for the third straight year.

“I was really happy with the way we played,” said Lynden coach Rob Adams, whose Lions improved to 23-0. “They (the Storm) did a nice job of giving us different looks. They had a good game plan, and our kids responded really well. Once we settled in, we had a good rhythm.”

It didn’t take the Lions long to settle into their home away from home — the Mount Vernon High gym. A 9-0 run put them up, 13-3, midway through the first quarter.

Then to start the second quarter, the Lions turned three straight Squalicum turnovers into a 25-8 lead. When they held the Storm to only two free throws in the second period, it was 34-10 at the half and despite a better second half, Squalicum still had its third-lowest point total of the season.

Sophomore guard Finley Parcher led Lynden with 14 points and junior post Payton Mills had 11 points, but the two all-staters were slowed by not only the Squalicum defense but foul trouble and sickness, respectively.

“I felt fine,” said a game Mills, who sat out Wednesday’s district opener with bronchitis and barely practiced all week. “We knew they’d come at us with different things than last time (a 64-21 Lynden win on Dec. 12). We were mentally ready.”

Jules Slayton certainly was ready. The junior guard came off the bench to score 14 points and hit three 3-pointers. Another reserve, junior Reese Nyhoff, had 5 points and another of the Lions’ 3-pointers.

“It was really nice to see Reese and Jules shoot like they did tonight,” said Adams. “They put in a tremendous amount of work — tremendous with a capital T. Our motto is always ‘be ready,’ and tonight Jules was ready. She literally showed everyone what we see every day in practice.”

Senior Kiki York had 8 points, and junior Rian Stephan added 7 points for the Lions.

While the loss was tough for the Storm, dropping them to 12-9 on the season, the outcome was overshadowed by a serious knee injury to sophomore Addison Kettman with 4:10 left in the game.

Kettman, whose stellar play despite a prosthetic leg has made her an inspiration not only to her team but the Whatcom basketball community, lay on the court for several minutes before being helped off by her father, assistant coach Ryan Kettman.

The Storm were visibly shaken and only managed two points the rest of the way. Even the Lions were touched, their players and coaches all coming over to Addison after the game. Mills even gave her friend a big hug.

“I love her,” said Mills. “She’s the sweetest person. She inspires me. I hope all the best for her.”

Squalicum coach Jenalyn Brown praised her team for continuing to battle in the second half, but she knew her girls were just thinking of their inspirational leader.

“It’s a heart-breaking situation,” she said of the injury to her starting forward. “But we’ll get ready for the next game … we’re getting ready to battle for Adds.”

Addison’s good friend and longtime teammate, Carli Kiesau, was already looking forward to Monday, when the Storm take on Lakewood (10-13) at 6 p.m.

“You go into it with the mindset to win,” the sophomore guard said of facing undefeated Lynden, “and even if you aren’t winning, you keep working hard and working for each other. We will flush it (the loss) pretty quick. We’ll be ready (for Lakewood).”

Kiesau led Squalicum with 9 points, freshman Kai Perez had 6 points all on free throws, and Kettman had 5 points before her injury.

While Squalicum will need to win three loser-out games to earn a state berth, Lynden only needs to win one more game. But Wednesday’s district championship game won’t be easy. Archbishop Murphy dismantled fifth-ranked Burlington-Edison, 54-39, in Friday’s early semifinal.

“They’ll be a handful,” said Adams. “We’ll be 0-0 again and on Wednesday we’ll try to be 1-0.”

Lynden 61, Squalicum 27

Squalicum 8 2 9 8—27

Lynden 17 17 18 9—61

Squalicum: Murphy-Kangas 2, Singh-Sanchez, Horst 4, Perez 6, Thompson 1, Kiesau 9, Robbins, Harper, Kettman 5.

Lynden: Bowler 2, Hermanutz, Nyhoff 5, Newcomb, Slayton 14, R. Stephan 7, I. Stephan, Anderson, York 8, Parcher 14, Basart, Mills 11.

Sehome Comes Up Short Against Lakewood, 49-43

The Mariners were the definition of “young and inexperienced” having graduated almost all of last year’s team and having no seniors on this year’s squad. Yet the Sehome youngsters made a statement by winning the Bellingham city championship and pushing Lakewood to the end on Friday before seeing their season end.

“I am so proud of this young team,” said Sehome coach Kim Stensgar, whose squad finished with an 8-14 record. “And there were few tears at the end because we will have everyone returning next year.”

On Friday, Sehome stayed within striking distance of the Cougars (10-13) throughout the game, but despite holding Lakewood to only six points in the fourth quarter, couldn’t come up with the miracle comeback.

While leading scorers sophomore Kate Schroeder and freshman Taylor Turrell were held to 5 and 8 points, respectively, by Lakewood’s triangle-and-two defense, two other sophomores picked up the slack. Post Elyse Panagos had 12 points and guard Sadie Gustafson had 10 points.

“Elyse and Sadie stepped up and had career highs for scoring,” said Stensgar. “They were awesome.”

Lakewood 49, Sehome 43

Sehome 11 11 14 7—43

Lakewood 14 16 13 6—49

Sehome: Gustafson 10, Schroeder 5, Turrell 8, Barge 2, Ka. Reeves 1, Panagos 12, Hogan 5, Kingsley.

Lakewood: Tocco 6, Wagner 9, Pevny, Bagtas 10, Riveira 9, Morales 4, Hite 5, Perez 5, Jones 1.

Bellingham Battles But Can’t Beat Anacortes, 46-23

The Bayhawks had enough fight but not enough points to pull off the upset against the Seahawks. The loss ended Bellingham’s season at 6-15.

“I’m super proud of the girls for their consistent fight,” said assistant coach Kyrin Baklund.

Junior Mary Lockhart led Bellingham with 8 points and senior Malia Hanks had 6 points. It was the final Bellingham game for Hanks and fellow seniors Jennifer Ruano and Alisha Garcia.

“I want to say a special thank you to our seniors for the effort and intensity they brought not just in this last game, but every game this season,” said Baklund. “They have helped create a solid foundation that we can continue to build on in the upcoming seasons.”

The Bayhawks’ improvement can be seen in comparing their Anacortes scores. Bellingham lost to the Seahawks on Dec. 19, 59-22.

Anacortes (13-8) will face Burlington-Edison in a loser-out consolation game on Monday at 7:45 p.m.

Anacortes 46, Bellingham 23

Bellingham 7 2 7 7—23

Anacortes 11 11 14 10—46

Bellingham: L. Holland 4, Ask, Manning 2, Hanks 6, Evans, Ruano 1, Lockhart 8, Green, Morell, E. Holland 2.

Anacortes: Michael 3, Schwabe 5, E. Davis 4, L. Davis, Nigro 12, Hunt 7, Dunham 8, Saunders, DeVries, Ward, Boyer 5, Bowman 2.

CLASS 2A GIRLS DISTRICT 1 TOURNAMENT

Friday, Feb. 14

Consolation games

Anacortes 46, Bellingham 23 (loser out)

Lakewood 49, Sehome 43 (loser out)