The Squalicum girls came up one game short of reaching their state dream on Saturday, Feb. 21, while the Lummi Nation boys and girls kept on winning as they head into the regional round of their state tournaments.
The Storm, playing in the first-ever Class 2A District 1/5 crossover with a state berth at stake, lost at home to visiting Selah, 61-39. The defeat ended Squalicum’s season with a 20-5 record.
Meanwhile, at the Class 1B District 1/2/3 tournament at the Muckleshoot Community Center, the Lummi Nation boys beat Tulalip Heritage for the fourth time this season, 59-44, to claim the tri-district championship for the second year in a row.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Lummi Nation girls defeated host Muckleshoot Tribal, 55-24, to earn third place.
Both Blackhawks teams had already qualified for their Class 1B state tournaments and will now await the announcement of the seedings on Sunday to find out who, when, and where they will play their regional games on either Friday or Saturday, Feb. 27 or 28.
2A Girls: Storm Suffer Offensive Outage In 61-39 Loss
In what amounted to a state playoff game, the Squalicum girls were cold from the start and lost the District 1/5 crossover to Selah, 61-39. The Storm had earned a spot in the winner-to-state, loser-out contest by finishing third in the District 1 tournament.
After leading 7-4 to start the game, the Storm watched as the Vikings used an 11-0 run to take the lead for good. A 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Selah a 10-point lead after the first quarter, and the Vikings stretched it to 19 by halftime, never letting Squalicum get within single-digits for the rest of the game.
Junior Addison Kettman led the seventh-ranked Storm with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks, but Squalicum could only hit 25 percent from the field and its 39 points was a dozen below its scoring average.
Junior Colee Harper had 8 points, junior Lexi Robbins had 7 points and 3 assists, and senior Jolie Paz and junior Thompson collected 6 rebounds each.
“We had a tough shooting night; seems like we couldn’t buy a bucket,” said Squalicum coach Caden Mee. “Selah shot the ball at a really high percentage on that night, which didn’t help. But the girls played hard the whole game and never gave up.”
The Storm will only lose Paz to graduation and in addition to the rest of the team, hope to get back junior Carli Kiesau and sophomore Kai Perez, who missed all or parts of the season due to injuries.The Storm will be shooting for the school’s first trip to state since 2010.
“The overall season was beyond incredible,” said Mee. “I couldn’t be more proud of the late nights, adversity they overcame, injuries and so much more that made them into the incredible young ladies they are as well as tremendous athletes.
“We lose a huge voice and leader in this program, and someone has some huge shoes to fill next year,” he said of Paz. “But we also gain two incredible players (Kiesau and Perez). We have laid the foundation. These girls are starting to make history and leave a legacy here at Squalicum. We will be back and better next year and will get into state — there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Selah, which came into the game ranked 10th in the state, finished third in District 5 and will move on to state with a 19-7 record.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to Addy Hauber of Snappedbyaddy for her photos from the game.
Selah 61, Squalicum 39
Selah 20 14 18 9—61
Squalicum 10 5 9 15—39
Selah: Webster 1, Pepper 17, Hall 2, Tilley, Phinney, Pendleton 5, Bettis 6, Kingston 17, St. Mary 9, Durbin, Jamieson 4.
Squalicum: Av. Kettman 5, Paz 3, Horst 1, Singh-Sanchez, Thompson 3, Robbins 7, Harper 8, Ad. Kettman 12.
1B Boys: Blackhawks Down Tulalip For Tri-District Title, 59-44
The fourth time was not the charm for Tulalip Heritage as Lummi Nation defeated the Hawks once again, 59-44, on the way to claiming the District 1/2/3 championship. The Blackhawks have now won the Northwest 1B League, District 1, and tri-district titles for the second straight year.
All that remains for third-ranked Lummi Nation, which improved to 23-1-1, is to repeat as Class 1B state champion. The Blackhawks will get that chance starting next weekend with the state regionals.
Jerome Toby Jr. once again showed why he was the 1B player of the year last season by scoring a team-high 23 points and leading the Blackhawks in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Hawks, 19-8, to pull away. The senior point guard also had 4 assists and only 1 turnover against the Tulalip pressure.
Junior Dyson Edwards had 12 points and 4 rebounds; junior Landon LaFontaine had 9 points, two 3-pointers, and 4 rebounds; senior Chayce Waite-Kellar had 7 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks, and junior Deandre James had 6 points and 5 rebounds.
Lummi Nation defeated Tulalip by three and 13 points during the regular season, and by one in the District 1 final.
All is not bad news for Tulalip, which fell to 19-6 but will join Lummi Nation at state as the tri-district runner-up. Also qualifying from District 1/2/3 are Neah Bay (third), Summit Classical Christian (fourth), Muckleshoot Tribal (fifth), Concordia Christian Academy (sixth), and Evergreen Lutheran (seventh).
Lummi Nation 59, Tulalip Heritage 44
Tulalip Heritage 8 14 14 8—44
Lummi Nation 13 16 11 19—59
Tulalip Heritage: Not available.
Lummi Nation: Toby Jr. 23, LaFontaine 9, Edwards 12, Yrizarris 2, Hawk, Waite-Kellar 7, D. James 6.
CLASS 1B BOYS DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Thursday, Feb. 12
Play-in game
Cedar Park Christian (Lynnwood) 51, Crosspoint Christian 45
Saturday, Feb. 14
First round
Evergreen Lutheran 94, Clallam Bay 59 (loser out)
Concordia Christian Academy 71, Shoreline Christian 39 (loser out)
Summit Classical Christian School 84, Cedar Park Christian (Lynnwood) 29 (loser out)
Northwest Yeshiva 71, Darrington 60 (loser out)
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Quarterfinals
Lummi Nation 81, Northwest Yeshiva 34
Tulalip Heritage 90, Evergreen Lutheran 45
Neah Bay 55, Concordia Christian Academy 50
Summit Classical Christian 65 Muckleshoot Tribal 56
Thursday, Feb. 19
Consolation round
Concordia Christian Academy 52, Evergreen Lutheran 47
Muckleshoot Tribal 60, Northwest Yeshiva 39
Semifinals
Lummi Nation 85, Summit Classical Christian 48
Tulalip Heritage 75, Neah Bay 50
Saturday, Feb. 21
At Muckleshoot Community Center
Consolation games
Evergeen Lutheran 63, Northwest Yeshiva 44 (winner seventh to state regionals, loser out)
Muckleshoot Tribal 56, Concordia Christian Academy 51 (winner fifth, loser sixth, both to state regionals)
Neah Bay 73, Summit Classical Christian 38 (winner third, loser fourth, both to state regionals)
Championship game
Lummi Nation 59, Tulalip Heritage 44 (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
1B Girls : Lady Blackhawks Take Third At Tri-District, 55-24
Jemma James finished with a game-high 24 points to help Lummi Nation claim a third-place trophy in the District 1/2/3 tournament with a 55-24 victory over Muckleshoot Tribal.
The win raised sixth-ranked Lummi Nation’s record to 21-3 on the year. And this time it was the Lady Blackhawks’ defense that provided the win.
The Lummi defense limited the Lady Kings to two points in the first quarter and three in the second quarter to take a 28-5 halftime lead and coast to victory.
“I was proud of the girls tonight,” said Lummi Nation coach David James. “Our defense led to easy points, we shared the ball, and everyone played for each other. We have a few minor things to clean up before state, but I believe we are ready.”
Joining James in double figures was senior Ailina Rabang with 14 points and eighth-grader Jordy Reeder with 11 points.
Muckleshoot (14-11) finished in fourth and will join Lummi Nation as well as tri-district champion and three-time defending 1B state champion Neah Bay and tri-district runner-up Crosspoint Christian in the state regionals.
Lummi Nation 55, Muckleshoot Tribal 24
Muckleshoot Tribal 2 3 11 8—24
Lummi Nation 14 14 14 13—55
Muckleshoot Tribal: Riklon, Cabuag, Jewelz 8, Williams, Penfield, James 3, Nelson 12, Lester 1, Loggins.
Lummi Nation: J. James 24, Rabang 14, B. Metteba 1, Reeder 11, Dennis 2, Lajuan, Morris, C. James 3, M. Metteba.
CLASS 1B GIRLS TRI-DISTRICT 1/2/3 TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Feb. 14
Play-in games
Grace Academy 29, Summit Classical Christian 23 (loser out)
Concrete 61, Crescent 29 (loser out)
Evergreen Lutheran 55, Cedar Park Christian (Lynnwood) 12 (loser out)
Lopez Island 39, Quilcene 29 (loser out)
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Quarterfinals
Neah Bay 76, Lopez Island 8
Crosspoint Christian 71, Grace Academy 19
Lummi Nation 71, Concrete 23
Muckleshoot Tribal 56, Evergreen Lutheran 52
Thursday, Feb. 19
Consolation round
Concrete 37, Grace Academy 21
Evergreen Lutheran 50, Lopez Island 32
Semifinals
Crosspoint Christian 61, Lummi Nation 50
Neah Bay 78, Muckleshoot Tribal 48
Saturday, Feb. 21
At Muckleshoot Community Center
Consolation games
Lopez Island 37, Grace Academy 33 (winner seventh to state regionals, loser out)
Evergreen Lutheran 45, Concrete 35 (winner fifth, loser sixth, both to state regionals)
Lummi Nation 55, Muckleshoot Tribal 24 (winner third, loser fourth, both to state regionals)
Championship game
Neah Bay 60, Crosspoint Christian 47 (winner first, loser second, both to state regionals)
