MOUNT VERNON — Both the Lynden girls and boys basketball teams hit the court Friday night for their regional matchups in the state tournament. Both emerged victorious.
Playing in a loser-out game, the girls needed a win against No. 13 Sequim to keep their season alive and move on to the Yakima SunDome next week.
As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the boys team had already locked down a spot in Yakima with a win or loss.
No. 2 Lynden boys vs. No. 7 Port Angeles
Coming into their matchup with Port Angeles, Lynden knew the Roughriders were better than a seven-seed.
For the first 24 minutes Port Angeles played like it.
The Roughriders came out fast, leading by nine at halftime, but something about the Lions was different in the second half. Lynden outscored Port Angeles 36-17 to erase the deficit and win the game 58-48, completing the comeback.
The start of the Lions’ big run came at the end of the third quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from junior Coston Parcher to pull Lynden within seven points with the score 41-34.
The Lions erupted for 24 points in the fourth quarter. On defense, they only gave up seven in the final eight minutes.
Senior Kaleo Jandoc hit a 3-pointer to give the Lions a 47-44 lead with 2:40 left in the game and drilled another from deep to push the lead to 50-46.
“I’ve gotten old, but this never gets old,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said.
The Lions move on to the state quarterfinals Thursday in Yakima. Their opponent hasn’t been determined, but if Sehome wins Wednesday, it’ll be the Mariners.
Senior Jordan Medcalf led the offense with 17 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds and grabbed four steals. Senior Dawson Adams contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. Parcher scored 11 and Jandoc had 10.
“We’ve got good senior leadership,” Roper said. “We’ve got guys who care and who care about each other. You’ll play harder if you care about your teammates than if you don’t.”
No. 12 Lynden girls vs. No. 13 Sequim
The Lions didn’t need much motivation in their convincing 50-26 win against Sequim. The season, and chance to defend their 2020 title, were on the line.
It looked like the game could be close for about the first 60 seconds when the score was tied at 2-2. That was the only time the score was tied the rest of the game.
Lynden cruised from there. It wasn’t until the 7-minute mark of the second quarter that Sequim scored its second basket of the game. By then, the Lions were ahead 18-5 and the lead would only grow until the final buzzer.
Lions coach Vic Wolffis said this group has definitely overachieved this season.
“If you asked most fans or family members if these girls are going to be in Yakima they would’ve said that’s a long shot,” Wolffis said.
Pacing the offense for the Lions was junior Adia Newcomb with 16 points. Senior Claire DeVries scored nine and sophomore Haylee Koetje added eight.
Newcomb, the only player left from Lynden’s 2020 title team, said it feels good to be headed back to Yakima.
“We’ve been waiting a really long time for this,” Newcomb said. “It’s really fun to be going back since I know what it’s like. It’s really fun to get my team excited for it.”
Lynden will open its run at the SunDome at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday against the loser of No. 4 W.F. West and No. 5 Archbishop Murphy in a loser-out contest.
Other scores from the county:
No. 1 North Kitsap 73, No. 8 Sehome 42
Sehome will play in Yakima Wednesday against the winner of No. 9 Lakewood and No. 16 Sammamish.
