MOUNT VERNON — It wasn’t easy, but the Lions survived.
Lynden boys basketball downed Lakewood 68-51 in the 2A District 1 consolation final, clinching the district’s third and final regionals berth Saturday night at Mount Vernon High School.
The No. 2-seeded Lions were led by 44 combined points from junior guard Anthony Canales (24 points) and senior forward Kobe Baar (20 points).
“I feel like a coach who’s going to state for the first time,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said. “That’s how excited I personally am. The thought of staying home with a talented team that really loves to practice, and I love to go to practice with every day — that would’ve been extremely disappointing.”
No. 4 Lakewood was led by junior forward Zachary Stoddard’s 15 points and freshman guard Caleb Greenland’s added 14.
It was a tale of two halves for Lynden, who got 17 first-half points from Baar and 20 second-half points from Canales.
Much of Canales’ production came in the third quarter when the Lions’ leading scorer dropped in 16, helping push Lynden’s lead way up.
“I’m a competitor and I want to win, so [the third quarter] is when I turn it on,” Canales said. “Just stretch the lead and give us a cushion.”
The Lions endured a difficult 46-44 loss to No. 3 Sehome on Feb. 14 before bouncing back to eliminate No. 8 Archbishop Murphy 65-25 on Feb. 16.
“We were thinking it could be our last day together the other day when we played Archbishop [Murphy],” Canales said. “We love each other so much, it’s like a brotherhood. We want to stay together as long as we can.”
Lakewood did its best to keep it close in the first quarter, trailing 16-14 with two minutes remaining in the period.
The Lions got five rapid points from Baar, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, to lead the Cougars by seven heading into the second. Baar had 10 of his 20 total points in the first quarter alone.
“They weren’t guarding two of our guys, and one of them was Kobe Baar,” Roper said. “He moved without the ball, we found him and Trey [Smiley] did a good job facilitating. Our other guys, who are more of our scorers, stayed patient.”
Lynden held 10-point leads at various times throughout the second period, but Lakewood’s elite efficiency from 3-point range allowed the Cougars to continue nipping at the Lions’ heels.
Both teams combined for 11 total 3-pointers in the first half, as Lynden turned to triples as well to match the quick-strike approach of Lakewood.
Baar scored another seven points in the second, leading Lynden to a 37-28 halftime edge.
“They were just denying Anthony,” Baar said. “Someone needed to step up, so I took advantage of that opportunity and just played with confidence.”
Canales wasn’t satisfied with the single-digit lead, and the junior guard erupted for the Lions’ first nine points of the second half in just over two minutes to give Lynden a 13-point advantage.
Summarizing the third quarter in one play: With less than a minute remaining in the period, Canales ran out to contest a Lakewood 3-pointer. He stretched out the full length of his 6-foot-4 frame, emphatically blocking the shot and gracing the gym’s ears with the “thwop” of a pure swat before going coast-to-coast to score a contested layup.
“At first I was a little bit frustrated that the kid was open. He was open for a second, then that second closed,” Roper said. “That was a little bit of an exclamation point.”
After Canales erupted in the third quarter, the Lions cruised to victory in the fourth.
Lynden moved to 19-4 overall with the win, clinching the last bid to regionals. The Lions will play their round-of-16 game on either Feb. 24 or 25, and a win there — or a seed within the top eight — sends them to the round of 12 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
“The 2A’s are really balanced this year,” Roper said. “There’s a lot of good teams out there and we’re one of them. It’s a super fun time of the year.”
Lakewood concluded its season 12-12 overall and is eliminated from the playoffs.
