LYNDEN — It’s been a long time coming for the Pioneers.
Nooksack Valley girls basketball vanquished Lynden Christian for the second time this season, defeating the Lyncs 55-45 to nab the 1A District 1 championship at Lynden High School Saturday night.
The win marked NV’s first 1A District 1 title since 2010, when the tournaments were broken up into sub-district and tri-district stages.
“I remember that game actually. No one came because they thought we were going to get smoked by LC, and we actually pulled off an upset,” NV coach Shane Wichers said with a laugh.
Junior guard Devin Coppinger led the Pioneers with 24 points while senior guard Hallie Kamphouse added 10.
NV lost the district championship and 1A state championship to the Lyncs a year ago, making this win a tad bit sweeter.
“We’re so excited right now,” Coppinger said. “This is exactly where we wanted to be today.”
LC was led by 14 points from freshman guard Ella Fritts and 13 from sophomore guard Grace Hintz.
NV entered the second quarter leading 23-15, which was far from indicative of the game’s overall offensive tempo.
The defenses shined from there, and the Pioneers managed to hold Hintz to less than half of her scoring output from the two teams’ regular-season meeting.
“[Hintz] is a great basketball player, so we knew she’s going to get some,” Coppinger said. “At the end of the day, we can only control ourselves and our team defense.”
Both teams grew cold during the middle chunk of the second quarter — combining for just 15 points in the period — and the Lyncs were held to a third of their opening quarter output.
Each offense continued to struggle into the second half, and senior guard Lainey Kimball scored NV’s first field goal of the third quarter with 1:18 remaining in the period after LC cut the Pioneers’ lead down to single digits.
Coppinger responded for NV, re-extending its lead to 10 at the third-quarter buzzer, 41-31.
The Pioneers kept pouring it on, taking their largest lead of the game at 52-37 with 4:01 remaining in the game. Coppinger scored 12 points in each half.
Kimball added eight points for the Pioneers and senior post Taylor Lentz finished with six.
Senior guard Demi Dykstra totaled 12 points for the Lyncs while senior forward Reganne Arnold tallied four.
Nooksack Valley punched its ticket to the 1A bi-district crossover on Saturday, Feb. 18, winning its 15th-straight game and moving to 22-1 overall on the season. The Pioneers’ District 2 opponent is not yet determined, but a win there sends them to regionals.
“These girls are dialed in,” Wichers said. “Their goal was to be undefeated league champs. We checked that off. Their second goal was to be district champs. We checked that off. So we really haven’t talked about what’s next, but they’re a pretty motivated group.”
LC dropped to 20-3 and will need a win over third-seeded Meridian on Tuesday, Feb. 14, to advance to the crossover. That game will be played at 5:30 p.m. at Lynden High School.
