I don’t know about you, but when the high school state basketball tournaments are over … I don’t want them to be over. I want to keep enjoying them.
And Whatcom Hoops fans had a lot to enjoy this year. Here are some leftover tidbits from our nine state teams in their five tournaments.
FAMILY TIES: Nothing is better than sharing a state championship with your family except maybe winning it with your family.
Here are the six coaches and their children who won state titles together on Saturday. (And if I missed somebody, let me know right away and we’ll update this post.)
For Lynden: Mike and Brady Elsner, and Brian and Brant Heppner. For Lynden Christian: Kelly and Demi Dykstra, Grant and Griffin Dykstra, Brian and Tyler Sipma, and Tim and Dexter Zylstra.
And don’t forget siblings. Lynden Christian senior Jamison Hintz and little sister, freshman Grace Hintz, both got to hoist the gold ball on Saturday.
While they didn’t cut down the nets, there were other parent-child combos who brought home great memories from state, including Nooksack Valley’s Shane and McKenna Wichers, Lynden’s Nikki and Kamryn Hermanutz, and Lummi Nation head coach Jerome Toby, who had two sons on the team — Duncan and Jerome Jr.
ALL-TOURNAMENT: Our outstanding players dominated the all-tournament teams. One note, however: the WIAA doesn’t recognize official all-tournament teams (because of too many complaints), so these are “unofficial” honors compiled by some of the media in Yakima. Still, it’s fun to see our players recognized.
1A boys: First team—Andrew Hommes, Lynden Christian (MVP); Jordan Hansen and Cam Hiatt, King’s; Clay Delp, Zillah; Bradley Swillie, Life Christian Academy; second team—Tyler Sipma, Lynden Christian; Josh Perez, Toppenish; Quin Goldsmith, Freeman; Luke Navarre, Zillah; TreyVaughn Bierlink, Quincy; Martin Kaupanger, Annie Wright.
1A girls: First team—Libby Stump (MVP) and Grace Hintz, Lynden Christian; Devin Coppinger, Nooksack Valley; Kayana Bass, Wapato; Joyce Goldsmith, Freeman; second team—Riley Johnson, Cashmere; Hallie Kamphouse, Nooksack Valley; Brynn Widner, Zillah; Paige Lisherness, Montesano; Trinity Wheeler, Wapato.
2A boys: First team—Anthony Canales (MVP) and Jordan Medcalf, Lynden; Jonas La Tour, North Kitsap; Jaedyn Brown, Pullman; Grayson Hunt, Pullman; second team— Aaron Ofstun, R.A. Long; Xander Maestas, Port Angeles; Luke Brewer, Tumwater; John Vaara, Port Angeles; Cade Oreness, North Kitsap.
2A girls: First team—Dylan Philip, Ellensburg (MVP); Sydney Reisner, Burlington-Edison; Halle Wright, Prosser; Mahalia Harrison, Hudson’s Bay; Dream Brumfield, W.F. West; second team—Amey Rainaud, Burlington-Edison; Chloe DeHaro, West Valley (Spokane); Olivia Anderson and Katie Blume, Ellensburg; Ava Baar, Archbishop Murphy; Aniyah Hampton, Hudson’s Bay; Jaiden Bea, Washougal.
Two other media outlets posted their all-tournament teams and you can go to their websites to find them: Matt Evans on EvansRankings.com and Scorebook Live Washington at scorebooklive.com/washington/
Here are our local players who were honored:
EvansRankings: First team—Lummi Nation’s Tyran Lane (MVP) and Duncan Toby, Canales (MVP), Hommes (MVP), Stump (MVP), Coppinger; second team—Hintz; honorable mention—Medcalf, Sehome’s Gavin Ortega, Sipma, Kamphouse, Lummi Nation’s Jerome Toby.
SBLive: First team—Canales (MVP), Hommes (MVP), Stump (MVP), Medcalf, Coppinger, Hintz; second team—Sipma, Kamphouse
RECORD BOOKS: There was only one state tournament record that we heard about that was broken by a Whatcom Hoopster.
Lummi Nation senior Duncan Toby broke the Class 1B boys mark for steals in a game with 9 in the Blackhawks’ victory on Saturday over Moses Lake Christian, which gave them fourth place. Toby had 8 steals earlier in the tournament and finished with 23 in Lummi’s four games.
There were some other impressive numbers accumulated by our teams.
The Lynden boys won their fifth Class 2A state championship, all under coach Brian Roper, which along with their six 1A state titles gives the Lions a remarkable 11 state crowns.
The Lynden Christian boys won their sixth Class 1A state title and their first under second-year coach Tim Zylstra, and with their one 2A title, gives the Lyncs seven overall.
While the Lynden and Lynden Christian boys have dominated the record books for their classifications, the LC girls have dominated the state when it comes to team accomplishments.
This year’s 1A state title was the Lyncs’ 14th and gives them four in the past eight years under coach Brady Bomber.
But maybe more impressive is LC’s consistency. The Lyncs have appeared in 41 of the 45 girls state tournaments and won a remarkable 38 trophies. And with their seven runner-up finishes, the Lyncs have been in 21 state finals or almost half of the championship games.
