YAKIMA — Lynden snapped two-time defending champion Ellensburg’s historic 75-game win streak, 43-40, to win the 2A girls state championship on Saturday, March 2 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Senior Haylee Koetje scored the would-be game-winning shot for Lynden with 32 seconds remaining in the game. Ellensburg had two opportunities to respond, including on a clean 3-point attempt by Bulldogs freshman Bella Standish just before the buzzer, but it was offline.
“We all have worked so hard for this,” Koetje said. “Even just the past three years. “It’s just so, not only rewarding but satisfying knowing that we accomplished what we set our minds to.”
The play Koetje scored on was the same inbounds play Lynden head coach Rob Adams used to win a state tournament game back in 2012, he said. They hadn’t run it in-game all year until that moment.
Adams called it to try and beat a team that hadn’t lost since June 5, 2021 (COVID-19 shortened season)
“They executed and it’s over. The rest is history,” Adams said. “It just shows you it’s meant to be … for us to be able to kind of slay the beast, we’ll take it.”
The win gave Lynden its first state championship since 2020 and fourth overall. Lynden head coach Rob Adams — who returned to the program this season after a three-year, temporary “retirement” — has won all four with the team.
Adams’ younger son, Spencer Adams, also won a state championship with the boys team less than two hours before. Dawson Adams, the family’s eldest son, won a title with Lynden in the first year of the three-peat in 2022.
Lynden’s current seniors had struggled through consecutive seasons of disappointing first-round exits. Last year the Lions were the No. 2 seed, like this season, but didn’t even make it past the round of 12.
“Those seniors are great,” said freshman guard Finley Parcher, who had a team-high 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists. “They have such great leadership, and I think that leadership really showed out tonight. And it helped our team all season long.”
Lynden got off to a hot start as the Lions managed to build up a 13-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Ellensburg, however, immediately tightened up defensively to begin the second period. Lynden didn’t score in the quarter until there was 3:08 remaining, and by then Ellensburg had taken a 17-15 lead.
Both teams remained deadlocked for the next three minutes, and the Bulldogs took a 22-21 advantage into the locker room. Ellensburg, in a physical game on both sides, had a slight halftime edge in the turnover battle, 9-7.
Lynden held Ellensburg to just 25% shooting in the first half — an encouraging trend against a team that hadn’t lost in three seasons.
The slow build-up to offense was present for Lynden again in the third quarter. Senior guard Kalanie Newcomb knocked in the Lions’ first bucket, a 3-pointer, with 3:02 remaining in the period. That trimmed Ellensburg’s lead to 26-24.
The Lions led briefly, 30-29, with under a minute left in the period, but Ellensburg retook the advantage by one heading into the fourth. Lynden scored five straight to begin the final period and eventually took a seven-point lead — its largest of the game to that point.
“This kind of went about how I thought it was going to go,” Adams said. “When we pushed it out to seven points, I was like, ‘Man, we just need one more stop.’ And they were smart. They switched back to their zone and it stalled us out.”
Ellensburg rallied again, tying the game at 40-40, before Koetje’s game-winner. Sophomore post Payton Mills made one more free throw to prevent Lynden from losing on a 3-pointer, but it didn’t matter.
Senior guard Kalanie Newcomb, sophomore post Rian Stephan and Koetje all had six points for Lynden. Ellensburg was led by 13 points from junior forward Layne Rogel, while freshman guard Bella Standish had 11.
Sophomore post Payton Mills, who had a down game in the championship with five points, was named the 2A state tournament MVP. Mills had a combined 33 points and 23 rebounds in the Lions’ quarterfinal and semifinal victories.
“Credit them,” Adams said of his team. “They settled in, they settled down and they got it done. It’s truly remarkable. Seventy-five in a row. Nobody does that.”
Lynden finished its season 27-1 overall. The Lions will lose four seniors to graduation: Mallary Villars, Mya VanderYacht, Koetje and Newcomb.
Connor J. Benintendi is CDN’s sports editor; reach him at connorbenintendi@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
