On a night when Lynden High School celebrated past athletic achievements, its girls basketball team reminded everyone that there’s still some pretty incredible heroics happening right now.
The Lions once again flexed their championship muscles — especially on defense — as they took down rival Lynden Christian, 55-35, to win their 65th game in a row before a huge crowd at Jake Maberry Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 31.
“It was super fun,” said Lynden junior Lexi Hermanutz. “There was a lot of energy with such a big crowd.” And beating LC? “It always means more,” she said with a smile.
In addition to inducted athletes and coaches Brian Heppner (basketball and track), Scott Noteboom (football and track), and Dave Weidkamp (wrestling) into its Hall of Fame, Lynden joined Lynden Christian in raising awareness and funds for battling cancer as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer program. Lynden native and supporter Mark Dykstra was the Lions’ honorary captain, and the LC family of 4-year-old Lauren Bjornstad were the Lyncs’ honorary captains.
Lynden coach Rob Adams, whose two-time defending Class 2A state champions are 18-0 overall and 11-0 in the Northwest Conference, agreed whole-heartedly.
“It was an unbelievable opportunity for our student athletes to have a great night,” he said. “We’re in a pretty unique situation … 2,000-plus people (attending) on a Saturday night. I told them to enjoy this. This doesn’t happen in girls basketball in the state of Washington. Both teams played hard. It was a state-caliber slugfest.”
The Lions and Lyncs are ranked No.1 and No.3 in their respective classifications and appear to be ready to continue the town’s tradition of state-caliber teams. The winner of this game has gone on to claim a state title in four of the past five seasons in which playoffs were held with both teams winning state championships in 2020.
But it was the experienced and athletic Lions who took command from the outset Saturday, allowing just six first-quarter points and eventually holding Lynden Christian to its lowest point total of the season and 25 points below its average.
“That is obviously a tremendously talented team,” said LC coach Brady Bomber, whose Class 1A squad dropped to 17-3 overall and 11-1 in the NWC. “They are an excellent defensive team. They just wear on you. Every dribble, every shot, every pass is difficult.”
Give the Lyncs credit, however. Their defense held Lynden to 25 points below its average and its second-lowest point total of the season, and they were only the third team to finish within 20 points of the Lions.
“I thought LC did a spectacular job not letting us get to where we wanted to go,” said Adams. “They had a great game plan. But our kids handled that adversity really well. Any time you can win a game by 20 against a team like that … tonight we took a step forward definitely.”
In the physical defensive struggle, it was Lynden’s offensive star — junior all-state guard Finley Parcher —who literally made the difference, finishing with 20 points.
After Lynden scored the final eight points of the first quarter thanks to 3-pointers from Hermanutz and senior Payton Mills, Finley turned two steals into fastbreak layups midway through the second quarter to push Lynden’s lead to 20-8.
The Lyncs managed to get the lead under 10 early in the second half, but Parcher’s seven points in the third quarter stretched the margin to 17. And with LC still struggling to get good shots, Parcher turned two more steals into easy layups to start the fourth period and push the lead up to 21. She would finish with 5 steals and 3 assists.
Hermanutz would hit two of Lynden’s four 3-pointers and finish with 13 points and 4 steals. Mills and senior Rian Stephan added 7 and 5 points, respectively.
For Lynden Christian, junior Jocelyn Eshuis had 10 points; senior Ella Fritts had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists; and sophomore Tyra Dykstra had 6 points. But the normally sharp-shooting Lyncs only managed one 3-pointer.
Still, their coach wasn’t disappointed.
“We wanted to compete for four quarters,” said Bomber. “There was no lack of effort. It was an awesome experience for us. We are super thankful and wanted to appreciate the experience.”
Lynden completes its regular-season schedule with visits to Anacortes on Tuesday and Nooksack Valley on Friday. Lynden Christian finishes its regular season by hosting Lakewood on Tuesday and Ferndale on Thursday.
The Class 2A district tournament opens with a play-in game on Feb. 10 and the double-elimination portion beginning Feb. 12. The 1A district playoffs begin on Feb. 11.
Lynden 55, Lynden Christian 35
Lynden Christian 6 7 12 10—35
Lynden 16 10 14 15—55
Lynden Christian: Fritts 9, T. Dykstra 6, Eshuis 10, D. Dykstra, Hernandez, Russell, Van Loo 2, Pierce 4, DeJong 4.
Lynden: Bowler 4, Hermanutz 12, Nyhoff, Newcomb 2, Slayton, R. Stephan 5, I. Stephan 3, Somma, Basart, Parcher 20, Mills 7, Dykstra 2.
