BLAINE — Blaine boys basketball has clinched a spot in the district championship game after defeating Meridian 61-54 at home in the opening round of the 1A District 1 playoffs Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The Borderites will face Lynden Christian for the district title at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 at Lynden High School. The Lyncs defeated Nooksack Valley 83-38 in the other district opener Wednesday night. Meridian and Nooksack Valley will play in a loser-out game at 1 p.m. on Feb. 11, at Lynden High School.
The first quarter of Wednesday’s Blaine-Meridian matchup was full of defensive shine taking advantage of offensive miscues. After Blaine opened the game on a 4-0 run, both the Bortderites and Trojans scored at a nearly even rate, while defensive rebounds and turnovers were plentiful by both sides.
Meridian’s Hunter Jones tries for the basket but loses the ball under pressure from Blaine’s Mathew Russ and Carson Lehnert. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Offensive points were few and far between as Meridian closed out the first quarter leading 8-7.
“There wasn’t really an adjustment,” Blaine coach Nate Sullivan said. “I just told the kids ‘hey, you’re getting stops and you forced five turnovers in the first quarter … don’t let the ball not going in the hoop affect you defensively.”
Buckets eventually began to fall for the Borderites.
Blaine came out of the first break looking like a completely different team, knocking in three-straight layups — two coming from turnovers — to reclaim the lead at 13-8. Blaine senior guard Lucas Smith led the charge with eight second-quarter points to give the Borderites a 28-14 lead going into halftime.
Meridian’s Tyrel Brooks, right, tries to grab the rebound away from Blaine’s Noah Tavis. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
After the intermission, Meridian began to climb back in it, reeling off an 11-0 run over three and a half minutes of play to pull within five points.
Blaine returned to the scoreboard from there, however, going on an 11-4 run of its own, fueled by nine points from Smith.
Four of Meridian’s starters combined for 25 points in a bombastic fourth quarter, led by senior swingman Hunter Jones’ 10 points to bring the Trojans within four points with just under three minutes remaining.
Despite scoring just 20 points in the fourth, Blaine’s was able to hang on and come away with the win, led by Smith’s game-high 24 points.
Explaining he was calling for a timeout, Blaine head coach Nate Sullivan reacts as he is called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter against Meridian. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
“My team got me the ball; the shot was feeling nice,” Smith said. “We’re feeling good. We think we can definitely win [the next game].”
Second-seeded Blaine will face top-seeded Lynden Christian in the district championship Saturday. Blaine lost to Lynden Christian 70-56 on Jan. 26.
“I’m feeling good,” Sullivan said. “We know that any games against teams in our league are going to be a dogfight, and [tonight’s game] certainly was. We knew we were in for one and we might be in for another one. No surprise there tonight.”
Meridian will clash with Nooksack Valley on Saturday in an elimination game. Meridian beat Nooksack Valley 68-50 on Jan. 17.
