They are the two-time defending Class 1A state champions, but this year’s Nooksack Valley Pioneers are not the same girls basketball team that only lost two games the past two seasons.
And they are OK with that especially after winning their fourth straight game, a 54-46 Northwest Conference victory over a scrappy Sedro-Woolley squad on Thursday, Dec. 19.
“It’s been really fun,” said Kate Shintaffer, the Pioneers’ lone senior. “We’re a very young team. Our underclassmen have to be upperclassmen. I think we’ve surprised the community, even ourselves a little bit.”
The win raised the Pioneers’ record to 4-0 in league and 5-1 overall. Not bad considering Nooksack graduated state player of the year Devin Coppinger and three other all-stars that led the Valley girls to three straight state finals.
“This isn’t last year’s team,” said Nooksack Valley coach Shane Wichers. “But I tell them, ‘You don’t need to be a Devin. Just be you.’ Every year our goal is the same — to reach our potential. We’re still learning how to be the best version of ourselves.”
On Thursday, the Pioneers showed they are still a work in progress. They got the lead for good late in the first quarter but foul trouble to starting guards Shintaffer and junior Chayleigh Davis kept the game close until the two returned midway through the second quarter.
The two — along with fellow junior veterans Grace DeHoog and Payton Bartl — built the lead up to nine at the half, 13 after three quarters, and as much as 16 in the fourth. But then came one of the rough patches.
“It was something like the Mount Vernon, game,” Wichers said of Tuesday’s one-point victory. “We were up by 12 and let them back in the game and then had to scrape and claw. But none of these kids have been in these situations. Learning is bumpy. It goes up and down.”
Give credit to the Cubs, who fell to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in NWC play. Although even younger than Nooksack — Sedro has one senior, eight sophomores, and one freshman — they cut the lead to 51-44 with 2:30 to go and had a chance to get it to five. But three straight turnovers proved costly, and the Cubs would only manage two more points.
Meanwhile, DeHoog hit a left-handed hook shot with 1:45 left and Bartl hit a late free throw to thwart the Cubs’ comeback.
It was a homecoming of sorts for first-year Cubs coach Ken Crawford, a Washington state boys basketball Hall of Fame inductee who also was a former administrator for Nooksack Valley.
“I saw great progress especially against a good team and a well-coached team,” said Crawford, whose 48 years of coaching included stints with the Bellingham High boys and Whatcom Community College men. “They worked hard and fought back. But I don’t want playing well and losing close ones to be our standard.”
A big reason the Cubs never caught up was the play of Nooksack Valley’s 6-foot-1 center DeHoog, who dominated inside with 17 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 assists. She also had five of the Pioneers’ six points in the crucial fourth period.
The other returnees also played key roles Thursday. Bartl had 11 points, 5 steals, and 5 assists; Davis had 10 points; and Shintaffer had 8 points, 4 steals, and 3 assists.
DeHoog agreed with Shintaffer that while there has been much less pressure to win and so far the season has been “so much fun,” there was still work to do if the Pioneers were to reach their goals.
“I think we’re a little surprised (at their success so far), but there’s a lot of growth still to be made,” she said. “Our goal is to play at least two days at state. I think it’s realistic.”
The Pioneers were encouraged Thursday by a packed Kay LeMaster Gymnasium and 30-plus junior cheerleaders. They will continue their new chapter after Christmas when they travel to Tacoma for the T-Town Throwdown holiday tournament on Dec. 26-28 at Silas High School.
Nooksack Valley 54, Sedro-Woolley 46
Sedro-Woolley 16 6 13 11—46
Nooksack Valley 19 12 17 6—54
Sedro-Woolley: Torgerson 2, McIlraith, Farrell 2, Evans 14, Woolcock 12, Oram, Stroud 16.
Nooksack Valley: Flores 2, Shintaffer 8, Bartl 11, Davis 10, Biondolillo 3, Harmon, Burke 3, DeHoog 17.
