Three Whatcom County teams are set to play state championship games in the Class 1A/2A tournaments at the Yakima Valley SunDome, while an additional three will play for guaranteed trophies Saturday, March 2.

Both of Lynden’s teams will play for 2A state titles, while Nooksack Valley’s girls team pursues its second straight 1A championship. Lynden Christian’s pair of teams will each play for third/fifth in the 1A tournaments, and the Lummi Nation boys captured sixth in Class 1B.

Championship Saturday matchups are set.

1B/2B state tournaments: Spokane Arena

• 1A boys third/fifth-place game: No. 1 Lummi Nation (23-3) vs. No. 3 Moses Lake Christian-Covenant Christian (23-2), 8 a.m.

1A/2A state tournaments: Yakima Valley SunDome

• 1A boys third/fifth-place game: No. 2 Lynden Christian (23-3) vs. No. 5 Seattle Academy (17-7), 11:15 a.m.
• 1A girls third/fifth-place game: No. 3 Lynden Christian (19-8) vs. No. 5 Wapato (23-5), 1 p.m.
• 2A boys state championship: No. 1 Lynden (23-4) vs. No. 2 Grandview (25-3), 3 p.m.
• 2A girls state championship: No. 2 Lynden (26-1) vs. No. 1 Ellensburg (23-0), 5 p.m.
• 1A girls state championship: No. 1 Nooksack Valley (25-1) vs. No. 2 Deer Park (26-0), 9 p.m.

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Lyncs bounce back from semifinal loss to down Wapato, 72-64

YAKIMA — On Jan. 11, Lynden Christian junior guard Grace Hintz made her mid-season return to the court after an offseason ACL tear.

Less than two months later, she was scoring 29 points (including 22 in the second half) to help lift the No. 3 Lyncs (20-8) to a 72-64 win over No. 5 Wapato (23-6) in the 1A girls third/fifth place game on Saturday, March 2 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“When I first got the injury, my biggest thing was like, ‘I’m going to work hard because I want to play at state,’” Hintz said. “That’s really it. I wanted to work hard. I wanted to be there for my team.”

LC last finished third in 2012 before winning five championships over the next 10 seasons (six titles since 2008) to highlight its current 19-season state tournament appearance streak. The last time the Lyncs finished below second was in 2017, when they took fourth.

Hintz added the team struggled to digest its one-point loss to No. 2 Deer Park in the semifinals, which snapped the team’s streak of five straight championship appearances. They rallied around playing for the Lyncs’ lone senior: Tabby DeJong.

“It stung … it’s not what we wanted. We know we are a state championship team,” Hintz said. “Our coach [Brady Bomber] said ‘Let’s show our character.’”

Both teams held first-half leads at various points. The back-and-forth went to halftime in Wapato’s favor, with the Wolves holding a narrow 32-31 lead.

LC won the rebound battle in the first two quarters by a massive 25-7 margin, but the Lyncs also turned the ball over 16 times to Wapato’s six. What one team did well, the other was failing at.

Hintz came out in the third quarter on fire — scoring seven points in under three minutes to lead the Lyncs on an 11-0 run to begin the period. In a blink, LC had a nine-point advantage.

Wapato trimmed that to five at the end of the third quarter, but Hintz didn’t slow down. Wapato didn’t come within five points of the Lyncs in the fourth quarter.

“The first half I was forcing shots and I wasn’t getting the looks I wanted, so I was just not taking my best shots,” Hintz said. “[In the second half] I wasn’t trying to get points, I was just trying to do what was best for my team and end up with a win.”

DeJong finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in her final high school game. Sophomore guard Ella Fritts finished with 12 points and six rebounds, and junior forward Allison Shumate tallied 11 points and six rebounds. LC outrebounded Wapato 51-17.

With DeJong being the team’s only soon-to-be graduate, the Lyncs will return a deep roster of 12 players next season that will once again have its eyes on competing for a state championship.

LC boys end with win, capture third at 1A tournament

YAKIMA — It was only fitting that No. 2 Lynden Christian’s two most impactful seniors led the way for the Lyncs in their final game.

Seniors Dawson Bouma (20 points) and Jeremiah Wright (19) combined for 39 points in a 70-44 consolation win over No. 5 Seattle Academy (17-8) on Saturday, March 2 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“It was an emphasis, for sure,” Bouma said of the pair leading the team one last time. “We’ve both worked really hard, and it feels good to end like this. It sucks that it’s third, but it just feels good to out with a win with your brothers one last time.”

The Lyncs (24-3) secured a third-place trophy, their seventh straight top-six placement in the 1A boys state tournament. Another of LC’s rising stars, junior guard Gannon Dykstra, had 18 points and five rebounds.

Wright, who also had eight boards, said they were just focused on going out with a win. After Friday’s two-point, heartbreaking loss to No. 3 Annie Wright, they decided to refocus.

“We just went back to the hotel and hung out with each other, kind of laughed it off and got ready for the next one,” Wright said.

While this season may not be immortalized like the program’s previous eight title-winning seasons have been, its players will be. All except the Lyncs’ freshmen are two-time state champions.

“We’ve been playing together since we were 5, 6 years old, so just the childhood memories playing with each other,” Bouma said of his thoughts when checking out of the game for the final time. “I’ll remember it for the rest of my life — playing with my brothers for the last time. It’s emotional.”

In the first quarter, the Lyncs looked like they were trying to find the motivation to play in a season-ending, non-championship game — it was the whole roster’s first one, in all fairness.

Seattle Academy led 13-12 after one period. LC scored the first nine points of the second quarter, taking a 21-13 lead midway through the period. The Lyncs went to the locker room with a 32-23 advantage, led by 10 first-half points from Wright.

A 10-2 burst to start the third quarter put the Lyncs up by 17 at the 4:35 mark of the period. Seattle Academy never came within 14 points of LC from there.

LC last finished third in 2006, and the Lyncs hadn’t placed below second since 2019. The team has won three 1A championships since 2018.

Five seniors will graduate ahead of next season: Wright, Bouma, Kayden Stuit, Treven Blair and Brody Bouwman.

Lummi Nation boys finish sixth at 1B state tournament

The No. 1-seeded Lummi Nation boys’ stellar season came to a somewhat disappointing end following a sixth-place finish Saturday, March 2 in the 1B state tournament at the Spokane Arena.

After being knocked out of title contention in the quarterfinals by No. 7 Mossyrock on Thursday, Feb. 29, the Blackhawks won their consolation game the next day but fell to No. 3 Moses Lake Christian-Covenant Christian, 45-40, in their final contest of the season.

Lummi Nation captured its first trophy since 2022 when it also finished sixth. Overall, it’s the fifth trophy in program history, all of which have been earned since 2006. The Blackhawks’ won the 1B state title in 2015.

Junior forward Karson Revey led Lummi Nation (23-3) in its final game with 12 points and seven rebounds, while senior forward Desmonds Bailey had 10 points and five boards.

Bailey is among five Blackhawks seniors who will graduate ahead of next season, also including Landon Day, Tobias Francis, Mathias Johnson and Raymond Perkins.

Sophomore guard Johnny Ferguson led Moses Lake Christian-Covenant Christian with 27 points and seven rebounds.

Connor J. Benintendi is CDN’s sports editor; reach him at connorbenintendi@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.