YAKIMA — Three Whatcom County teams were scheduled to hit the court Wednesday at the 1A/2A state tournament at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Follow along here for updates from the tournament as games are completed.
No. 4 W.F. West 55, No. 12 Lynden girls 30
Eventually, the Lynden girls basketball team was going to run into a really good team.
The Lions’ reward for handling Sequim in regionals last weekend was a date with No. 4 W.F. West Wednesday afternoon at the state tournament.
The overall size, depth and talent of the Bearcats was too much for the Lions to overcome in a 55-30 loss that ended Lynden’s season.
It was clear from the start the Bearcats had the advantage over the Lions as W.F. West scored the first 14 points of the game before Lynden would find the basket at all.
“We have had a little bit of trouble coming out offensively at the beginning,” Lynden coach Vic Wolffis said. “I just think they were a little tight and nervous. They feel inexperienced and feel kind of young.”
The Lions shot just 18.2% from the field in the first half, scoring only 10 points.
W.F. West picked up where it left off in the second half and the Bearcats never once looked like they were about to lose control.
Lynden outscored W.F. West 11-7 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late and the clock struck zero on both the game and the Lions’ season.
Suiting up for the last time for Lynden was lone senior Claire DeVries who scored two points and pulled down three rebounds in her final game.
“It’s a reward because a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do what we did,” DeVries said of playing in Yakima one last time.
Freshman Kiki York and junior Adia Newcomb led the Lions on offense with seven points each. York also grabbed eight rebounds. Sophomore Haylee Koetje scored six points in the loss.
Lynden was out-rebounded by W.F. West 39-29 with the Bearcats pulling down 14 of those on the offensive end.
“I just think they’re more of an aggressive team,” DeVries said. “They got ahead and we let that bring us down and didn’t play our A-game.”
For this Lynden team of mostly sophomores to have even made it to the SunDome was an achievement in itself.
The Lions end their season with a 16-7 record.
No. 8 Quincy 69, No. 9 Blaine boys 51
Blaine’s hot shooting in the second quarter helped the Borderites muster a 17-5 run and earn a four-point lead at halftime. But the No. 9 Borderites’ day-one 1A state tournament run cooled off in the third quarter and the Quincy Jackrabbits took control, running away with a 69-51 victory, putting an end to the Blaine season at 15-7.
“It had been 18 years since the last time a Borderites team has been to the state tournament and it was our goal to put Borderites basketball on the map,” said Blaine senior Cole Thomas, who led the Borderites with 20 points. “It means a lot to all of us. Our goal was to make the district championship game and play our way to the state championship tournament.”
Thomas had Blaine moving toward a longer stay in Yakima after 16 first-half points, but the 50 percent shooting in the first half cooled to 26% in the second half against the No. 8 seed.
Quincy’s TreyVaughn Bierlink had the hottest of hands throughout the game, leading all scorers with 31 points on five three-pointers. He added eight rebounds for Quincy.
A Jaxon Kortlever bucket with 5:28 left in the game cut the Quincy lead to 51-46, but a Bierlink traditional 3-point play immediately after and a Jalen Spence 3-pointer extended the Jackrabbits’ advantage, one they never relinquished.
“It was tough,” Thomas said. “Playing in that atmosphere is a lot different and we couldn’t get anything toward the basket.”
The Jackrabbits weren’t just riding Bierlink. Spence added 19 points and the Quincy starters played virtually every minute of the game.
Thomas led the Borderites both inside and outside, but Kortlever, a senior, added eight points and juniors Carson Lehnert and Matthew Russ both ended with five points. Thomas also had nine rebounds and Russ had eight.
The Blaine seniors hope they’ve started a new tradition. “I want to see them back here next year,” Thomas said, “and I’ll come watch.”
“One of the things we talked about was putting Blaine basketball back in the state tournament,” Borderites coach Brett Farrar said. “This is a close group of kids, and we are brokenhearted for them. They will walk out and those tears will turn to smiles.”
No. 8 Sehome boys 42, No. 9 Lakewood 40
Sehome is back at the SunDome for the first time since 2015 and the Mariners played like it Wednesday night in a 42-40 win over Lakewood.
Having to overcome their own mistakes all game and both teams having trouble finding the hoop consistently, it was a matter of which team was going to come through late.
Sehome coach Skyler Gillispie called it an ugly win.
“They went on a few streaks, we went on a few streaks,” Gillispie said. “We got lucky ours was at the end.”
The teams went back-and-forth all game and were tied 29-29 early in the fourth quarter until junior Grey Garrison scored seven straight points for the Mariners to pull them ahead 36-31.
Sehome turned the ball over 20 times in the game, but still found a way to win.
Gillispie said the nerves and inexperience of playing in the SunDome got to the team, but hopes that’s behind them now heading into day two.
“Hopefully, we can settle in now,” Gillispie said. “We’ve got nothing to lose playing a team that’s beat us twice. We just want to go out there and have fun and get some experience for these juniors.”
Junior Mathew Storms led the offense with 14 points. Garrison was right behind him with 13 points and five rebounds. Juniors Isaac Lawrence and Grant Kepley were forces on the glass, each pulling down 10 boards.
The win makes Sehome one of the last eight teams standing in the tournament. The road doesn’t get any easier with the Mariners’ next game against No. 2 Lynden, a team that’s beaten them twice this season.
However, there is that saying about playing a team three times.
“We just need to play with an irrational confidence,” Storms said. “It’s extremely hard to beat a team three times in a row.”
Sehome’s quarterfinal game against No. 2 Lynden is at 9 p.m. Thursday.
