After all the Valley had been through the past two weeks, you’d expect the Nooksack Valley girls basketball team to struggle in its return to the gym after the devastating floods wiped out two of their games and all but one practice.
And the Pioneers did struggle … until literally the last minute.
But after trailing the entire game, Nooksack rallied as the Valley always has in the face of adversity to overtake and finally beat Mount Vernon, 64-62, on Tuesday night, Dec. 16.
“It meant a lot in a lot of ways,” Nooksack Valley coach Shane Wichers said of the team’s first home game after the flooding last week that left Everson, Sumas, and vicinity underwater. “In this league, every game is critical. But this was huge.”
The victory raised the Pioneers’ record to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in Northwest Conference play, while Mount Vernon fell to 2-3 and 0-2. And while any win against a solid Class 3A squad like Mount Vernon is impressive for a 1A school, it was how the game played out that made it even more meaningful.
From the opening tip until midway through the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs were in command and the Pioneers looked like they hadn’t played together for two weeks.
Foul trouble hampered senior guards Payton Bartl and Chayleigh Davis, sloppy turnovers gave the Bulldogs easy baskets, and whenever Nooksack cut the deficit under 10, Mount Vernon seemed to answer with a three-point play.
The only thing that seemed to work was to get the ball to senior post Grace DeHoog. The 6-foot-1 all-leaguer battled inside and had 24 points through three quarters, nearly half of Nooksack’s 49 points.
“They punched us in the face in the first half,” said Wichers. “But we made some adjustments.”
And something magical happened, perhaps inspired by the loud crowd that brought back memories of Nooksack Valley’s state championship era just two years ago.
“We could have gotten down on ourselves … (but) once our defense started to fall into place our offense did too,” said DeHoog, who along with Bartl and Davis was a key part of the Pioneers’ back-to-back state titles.
Davis’s return in the fourth quarter after sitting out with four fouls seemed to spark Nooksack. With the Pioneers down by seven midway through the period, the 5-7 guard snuck inside for a putback, DeHoog sank two free throws, and Davis tossed in a 3-pointer and with two and a half minutes left the Mount Vernon lead was down to two.
Then Bartl took over. The southpaw sharpshooter sank her third 3-pointer with 1:10 left to give Nooksack its first lead, 61-60. Mount Vernon came right back with a bucket to retake the lead, but the Pioneers weren’t to be denied.
Bartl drove in for a bucket with 35 seconds left to again give Nooksack the lead by one. This time there would be no response from the Bulldogs as DeHoog blocked a shot. Bartl then sank one of two free throws to make it 64-62 with 10 seconds remaining, and when Mount Vernon’s two attempts missed the mark, the Pioneers celebrated like it was 2024.
“We were trying to find our groove the first half,” said Bartl. “In the second half, we got the team energy. We wanted to get easy shots, get open shots, and we executed.”
The three seniors led the way for Nooksack Valley. DeHoog would finish with a game high 26 points thanks to a 10-for-11 performance at the line, 20 rebounds, and 3 blocks; Bartl had 19 points, eight coming in the fourth-quarter comeback; and Davis had five of her 7 points in the final period.
But DeHoog was quick to spread out the praise: “A lot of younger girls stepped up. We trust each other.”
Give particular kudos to junior Raegan Burke and to reserves Mikaela Swaffield and Natileah Harmon. Burke had 5 rebounds, and Swaffield, a 5-3 freshman, hit two huge 3-pointers to keep Nooksack Valley close in the third quarter.
And while Harmon didn’t score, the sophomore’s second-half defense on Mount Vernon standout Anaya Saldivar was crucial in the comeback. Saldivar finished with 22 points and should be at the top of the NWC’s list of best sophomores, but Harmon held Saldivar to two points in the final period.
Next up for Nooksack Valley is another NWC game on Thursday at Sedro-Woolley — barring any more deluges and cancellations, or course.
Nooksack Valley 64, Mount Vernon 62
Mount Vernon 16 19 18 9—62
Nooksack Valley 11 15 23 15—64
Mount Vernon: Padilla-Delgado, Saldivar 22, Luvera 7, Rodriguez 2, Duodu 15, Snyder 6, Krivanek 3, Chennault, Williams 7.
Nooksack Valley: Flores, Bartl 19, Davis 7, Swaffield 6, Harmon, Van Liew 4, Burke 2, DeHoog 26.
