Ferndale coach Luke DuChesne wanted his team to enjoy senior night in front of family and friends, and while the Golden Eagles enjoyed the festivities, they weren’t pleased with the outcome — a 52-39 loss to Meridian on Tuesday night, Jan. 28.
“Senior night was really fun,” said Hunter Wills, one of five Ferndale seniors honored before the game. “But we expected to play better.”
The loss dropped Ferndale to 8-9 overall and 6-6 in the Northwest Conference. Fortunately, it wasn’t too damaging to their RPI standings among District 1’s Class 3A teams. With three regular-season games to go, the Golden Eagles are firmly in eighth place, which would earn them a first-round home game in the district tournament.
Meridian, meanwhile, raised its record to 11-6 overall and 7-5 in league play. With three games left, the Trojans are two games ahead of Nooksack Valley for the second seed in the 1A district tournament, although the Pioneers own the tie-breaker.
Meridian stars Talon Jenkins and Jaeger Fyfe are not only connected on the court but have a connection through their mothers, who have their own place in Whatcom basketball history. Check it out at Family Ties.
“These (late-season) games are a grind,” said Meridian coach Shane Stacy. “Everybody knows everybody. All the teams are getting better. You need to be willing to do the little things — defense, rebounding, and offensive execution.”
On Tuesday, it was the Trojans who did the little things thanks in big part to their little guys. Starting guards Canyon James and Pierce Brzozowski and reserve Trey Alexander — all 6-foot or under — provided the quickness in Meridian’s trapping zone that frustrated the Golden Eagles all night.
“Holding a team under 40 on their home court is pretty good,” said Stacy, whose team held Ferndale to its second lowest point total of the season. “Our guards did a good job.”
DuChesne gave Meridian’s defense credit but added that his team’s shooting didn’t help.
“Their defense was good, but you have to fight through that,” he said. “I didn’t expect us to miss as many as we did. Sometimes it’s not your night and this was definitely not our night. They’re a good team, but if we’d hit our shots, it would have been a different story.”
The Trojans weren’t shooting the lights out either. They needed a “hail Mary” 3-pointer from Talon Jenkins at the buzzer to reach double digits after the first quarter and only managed 10 points of their own in the fourth quarter.
“Two years ago, we didn’t shoot well here; I think it has to do with the Jumbotron,” joked Stacy of Ferndale’s large and very colorful video screens behind the backboards.
The one player who did shoot well was Jenkins, who finished with a game-high 23 points and a pair of 3-pointers.
“Sometimes your shots fall and sometimes they don’t,” said the 6-foot-7 senior forward. “Then you have to get to the rim and make the easy shots.”
The only other player in double figures was Meridian senior Jaeger Fyfe, who had 11 points and three 3s. Sophomores Alexander and Brzozowski added 6 points each when they weren’t harassing Ferndale’s guards.
For Ferndale, Wills, fellow senior Tommy Mack, and junior Mantaj Singh all had 9 points. But the Golden Eagles were only able to come up with 18 points in the second half and four points in the last six and a half minutes, and never got closer than eight points in the final period.
Still, their coach wasn’t discouraged.
“Historically, we’ve bounced back really well after losses,” said DuChesne. “They’re resilient, and tomorrow they’ll come to practice ready to move on.”
Meridian will be ready, too, at least according to one Trojan.
“We’re in a good spot but there’s still more room to grow,” said Jenkins. “We’ve got work to do.”
Ferndale is in action again on Thursday when the Golden Eagles travel to Blaine. Meridian also is on the road again when the Trojans take on Mount Vernon on Friday.
Meridian 52, Ferndale 39
Meridian 12 14 16 10—52
Ferndale 7 14 9 9—39
Meridian: Jenkins 23, Hayes, Fyfe 11, James, Haugen, Blankenburg, Larsen, Alexander 6, Galbraith, Brzozowski 6, Hedahl 3, Harris 3, McConnell-Heller.
Ferndale: Singh 9, Brillowsky 4, Wills 9, Vincent, Thomas 5, Mack 9, Grewal 2, Dhillon 1.



































