Boys and girls basketball teams continued finding their identities. Girls bowling teams dropped a few key matches. Boys swim and wrestling teams competed in their first duals of the season. Western Washington University track and field kicked off its indoor season with fresh school records.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Nooksack Valley’s Lainey Kimball steals the ball and heads for the basket as Nooksack Valley beat Bellingham 67-9 in girls basketball on Dec. 10. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Girls basketball
Nooksack Valley held back-to-back opponents to single-digit points last week, defeating Sedro-Woolley 75-6 on Dec. 7 and Bellingham 67-9 on Dec. 10. The Pioneers are looking scary in the early part of the season and are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in NWC matchups.
They will look to remain undefeated when traveling to Oak Harbor (2-2, 1-1 NWC) on Dec. 14 for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff.
Lynden and Lynden Christian are each off to 4-0 starts, with both teams not afraid to take on top talent.
Nooksack Valley’s Tana Hoekema gets past the Bayhawks defense for a basket as the Pioneers beat Bellingham 67-9 in girls basketball on Dec. 10. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
All four of LC’s wins have come against Class 2A opponents or higher, with the most recent being an 83-73 win over Woodinville, the defending 4A state champion, on Dec. 10. The Lyncs opened their season with a 53-39 win over 3A Snohomish.
LC will play host to Mount Vernon (2-4, 1-1 NWC) at 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 12.
Lynden earned a 61-55 win over 4A Lake Stevens on Dec. 7 before toppling Lakewood 52-23 the next night. The Lions will travel to Squalicum (1-4, 0-2 NWC) on Dec. 13. Tipoff will be at 7:15 p.m.
Boys basketball
Lynden Christian and Sehome are having excellent seasons, each sitting at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Northwest Conference games.
The Lyncs put up 80 points in consecutive games last week, defeating Burlington-Edison 81-37 on Dec. 6 and Sedro-Woolley 84-54 on Dec. 9.
In the latter game, senior guard Griffin Dykstra led LC with 25 points. Isaac Paxton drained five 3-pointers off the bench with the senior forward totaling 17 points on the night. Senior guard Dexter Zylstra added an additional 16.
LC will make the trip to Mount Vernon (2-2, 0-1 NWC) on Dec. 12 for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Sehome earned two wins last week by a combined six points, defeating Mariner High School 47-44 on Dec. 7 and then returning to the court the next night to beat Meridian 68-65, led by 27 points from senior center Grey Garrison.
Senior guard Grant Kepley had 14 points for Sehome, while fellow seniors Dane Dominguez and Isaac Lawrence each added nine.
Meridian senior forward Talon Jenkins led the Trojans with 24 points. Sophomore guard Jaeger Fyfe tallied 14 points, junior guard Taran Burks totaled 10 and senior forward Hunter Jones finished with eight.
The Trojans will travel to Ferndale (0-4, 0-2 NWC) on Dec. 12 for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff. Sehome will host Mount Baker in its season opener on Dec. 13 at 7:15 p.m.
Blaine and Bellingham are remaining in the mix, each picking up big wins on Dec. 10. Bellingham hung on to defeat Nooksack Valley 56-47, bouncing back from its league schedule-opening loss to Blaine four days prior. The Bayhawks are now 2-1 overall and 1-1 in NWC games.
The Borderites are undefeated in the NWC after a 64-56 win over Oak Harbor. Blaine is 3-1 overall so far on the season.
Blaine will host Lakewood (3-2, 1-0 NWC) on Dec. 14 at 7:15 p.m. Bellingham travels to Sedro-Woolley (1-3, 0-2 NWC) on Dec. 13 at 7:15 p.m.
Bellingham’s Ruarc O’Malley upends Meridian’s Carson Campbell in their match on Wednesday night. Squalicum hosted a dual wrestling meet with Bellingham, Meridian and Nooksack Valley on Dec. 7. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Boys wrestling
Squalicum hosted a four-school meet on Dec. 7, joined by Bellingham, Meridian and Nooksack Valley. There were four total duals, with each team wrestling two other schools. Squalicum and Bellingham each went 2-0 on the night.
Bellingham first defeated Nooksack Valley 57-12, following that effort up with a 51-18 win over Meridian. The Bayhawks are currently leading the NWC with 108 total team points, followed up closely by Blaine with 94 and Squalicum with 87.
The Storm won their first dual over Meridian 48-6 before knocking off Nooksack Valley 39-12.
Mount Baker, Lynden, Blaine and Sehome also wrestled in a four-team meet on Dec. 7, with the Mountaineers and Borderites winning both their duals.
Meridian’s Jackson Miller grimaces as he rolls Squalicum’s Christopher Le to his back for the pin on Wednesday night. Squalicum hosted a dual wrestling meet with Bellingham, Meridian and Nooksack Valley on Dec. 7. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Blaine took down Lynden 39-22 and followed up that win with a narrow 25-20 victory over Sehome. Mount Baker bested Sehome 48-20 before rolling past Lynden 39-22.
Mount Baker currently sits in fourth place in the NWC standings with 76 team points.
Girls bowling
Meridian continued its hot start to the new season with a 3-0 win over Cascade (Everett) on Dec. 6. Leading the Trojans in game one was a 173 from Dakota Hill, followed by a 131 from Lauren Lipton in game two.
The Trojans had won four straight matches before falling 2-1 to Anacortes on Dec. 7. Meridian is now 5-2 overall on the season and will face Squalicum at 20th Century Bowl on Dec. 12 for a 4 p.m. match.
Blaine’s lone match of the week on Dec. 7 wound up as a 2-1 loss to Mount Vernon. The Borderites will host Ferndale on Dec. 12 at Mt. Baker Lanes for a 3:15 p.m. match start.
Boys swim and dive
Sehome and Squalicum faced off in a dual on Dec. 8, with the Mariners pulling off a tight 91-90 win.
“We knew going into the meet that Squalicum was loaded at the top end this year and that we were relatively young and inexperienced,” said Sehome coach Don Helling. “Given that, we knew we had to win the close races and win on our depth. Lots of great swims by our crew who rose to the occasion.”
Jack Legan led Sehome with first-place finishes in the 1-meter dive, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard medley relay alongside teammates Kai Arthur, Scotty Li and Jacob Champagne.
Leading the way for Squalicum were Dylan Fisk and Mathias Synnott, who each posted state-qualifying times — Fisk in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, and Synnott in the 200-yard individual medley.
“Despite Squalicum winning nine out of 12 events, Sehome’s overall depth, a key win in the 200-medley relay, and Squalicum’s lack of divers gave Sehome a slight edge,” said Squalicum coach Randy Elsner.
Bellingham picked up a 129-44 win over Ferndale on Dec. 6 in its first dual of the season. The Bayhawks nabbed another victory two days later 88-64 over Burlington-Edison.
WWU
Track and field
The Western track and field team began its indoor season at The Podium in Spokane on Dec. 10, with two Vikings setting new program records.
Sophomore Raine Westfall broke her own school record in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 16.75 meters/54-11.50 feet. That performance gave Westfall a fifth-place finish out of 39 total competitors.
In the women’s shot put, junior Katie Potts set a new Western school record with her mark of 12.73 meters/41-9.25 feet and finished ninth out of 42 competitors. Potts broke the previous record of 12.69 meters/41-7.75 set by Megan Mortensen in 2016.
Sophomore Miller Campbell led the Vikings in the men’s weight throw with his fourth-place mark of 16.26 meters/53-4.25 feet among 28 competitors.
Junior Marian Ledesma placed fourth out of 11 runners in the women’s 800-meter race with a time of 2:14.48. Freshman Jonah Bloom (1:54.08) took fourth out of 14 runners in the men’s 800-meter race, followed closely in fifth by junior Drew Weber (1:54.26).
Western won’t be back in action until Jan. 13 when the Vikings will travel to the University of Washington for the two-day UW Indoor Preview.
Basketball standings — Dec. 13
Boys basketball, Northwest Conference
| Boys basketball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Lynden Christian | 3-0 | 5-0 |
| Sehome | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| Anacortes | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| Blaine | 2-0 | 3-1 |
| Lakewood | 1-0 | 3-2 |
| Lynden | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Bellingham | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Squalicum | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Meridian | 1-2 | 3-2 |
| Burlington-Edison | 1-2 | 1-3 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-2 | 2-3 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-2 | 1-3 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-2 | 1-3 |
| Ferndale | 0-3 | 0-5 |
| Mount Baker | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Girls basketball, Northwest Conference
| Girls basketball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Lynden Christian | 3-0 | 5-0 |
| Ferndale | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| Nooksack Valley | 2-0 | 5-0 |
| Lynden | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| Sehome | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| Anacortes | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Burlington-Edison | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Bellingham | 1-1 | 3-2 |
| Oak Harbor | 1-1 | 2-2 |
| Mount Vernon | 1-2 | 2-5 |
| Mount Baker | 0-2 | 2-2 |
| Lakewood | 0-2 | 2-2 |
| Squalicum | 0-2 | 1-4 |
| Blaine | 0-2 | 0-3 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-2 | 0-4 |
| Meridian | 0-3 | 0-3 |
*Standings were updated on Dec. 13 at 1:06 p.m. to reflect the outcome of the Dec. 12 games.
