MOUNT VERNON – The Lions are moving beyond districts for the ninth consecutive season.
Lynden, the No. 1 seed in the 2A District 1 tournament, used a potent third-quarter scoring effort to defeat No. 5 Archbishop Murphy 52-42 Monday night at Mount Vernon High School, clinching a regionals berth with the win.
The result set up a date between Lynden and No. 2 Burlington-Edison for the district championship.
Even though they have one more game to play, Lions junior guard Haylee Koetje said knowing they have a place beyond districts feels good. They will still need a regionals win to earn a spot in the SunDome, but that’s the goal.
“It’s so much fun to be there and play all these good teams that we don’t get to play in regular conference [games],” Koetje said. “Being around [the team] that much longer just makes it that much better.”
The Lions had just five players score, with three recording double digits. Lynden freshman post Payton Mills tied Archbishop Murphy freshman guard Brooke Blachly with a game-high 19 points.
“I was just posting up down low and I was open,” Mills said. “[My teammates] were just getting me the ball.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guard Kalanie Newcomb near the end of the first quarter gave Lynden a 15-13 advantage, its first of the game, after eight minutes of play.
Three ties and as many lead changes later, both teams entered the third quarter tied at 23-23. It was the epitome of trading punches for the first 16 minutes of the game.
Lynden coach Vic Wolffis said shot selection and attacking the rim was the main point of emphasis heading into the second half.
“Some of that was actually timing. For example, really early threes. We’re not really an early-three team, and with our nerves all up we just got a little bit tighter,” Wolffis said. “We talked about ball movement and good basketball things happening before we take those threes because good basketball begets good basketball.”
A three-point Lynden edge in the third quarter rapidly ballooned to eight when Newcomb drilled her third 3-pointer of the game, and senior guard Haylee Koetje added two more on the next possession.
Newcomb finished 12 points, all on 3-pointers.
Lynden outscored Archbishop Murphy 21-11 in the third quarter, taking a 10-point lead into the final period.
Mills was not only a force scoring the ball, but she frequently showed off her court vision on timely passes to teammates while being difficult to bully out of a rebound.
The Lions had an answer for each of Archbishop Murphy’s fourth-quarter runs, holding on for the win.
“We had probably three runs, that I can remember, where we put six-to-eight points on them,” Wolffis said. “That’s kind of the formula.”
Koetje added 11 points for Lynden, all in the second half. Senior guard Adia Newcomb totaled six points while junior guard Mallary Villars finished with four.
For Archbishop Murphy, sophomore guard Ava Marr followed up Blachly’s effort with 10 points of her own. Freshman guard Kayla Hookfin finished with seven.
Lynden advanced to 19-4 overall and will face No. 2 Burlington-Edison in the 2A District 1 championship game at 7:15 p.m., Friday, Feb. 17, at Mount Vernon High School. The Lions will advance to regionals regardless of that result.
Archbishop Murphy dropped to 12-10 overall and the Wildcats will face No. 6 Squalicum at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 15, at Mount Vernon High School. That game will be loser-out, winner to consolation final.
Wolffis said he is feeling good heading into the district title game with the way his team has performed as of late.
“We’ve got to feel good about us no matter who is in the other jerseys, just because we’ve been playing pretty well lately,” Wolffis said. “I think we’ve grown a ton.”
