As prep sports teams reach the season’s midway point, basketball teams still leave much to be decided, boys swim and dive teams picked up new state-qualifying times and boys wrestlers added tournament wins to their resumes. Meanwhile, Western Washington University basketball teams turned in opposite results.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Girls basketball
We finally got the matchup all of Whatcom County was waiting for when Nooksack Valley and Lynden Christian squared off in a 2022 1A state championship rematch on Jan. 6.
Each of the three meetings between the teams last season were decided by six points or fewer. The Pioneers dominated this time around, winning 66-52 in a statement win. NV also handed Lynden its first league loss of the season on Jan. 3, defeating the Lions 60-47.
Squalicum has won three of its last five games after beginning the season 1-5. The Storm most recently lost to Anacortes, 54-40, on Jan. 5, but earned a solid 49-41 win over Mount Vernon on Jan. 3.
Junior forward Corinthian Sykes-Stewart led the Storm with 11 points in the win, followed by senior guard/forward Callie McEachran’s 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Junior guard Mari Binning added nine points for Squalicum.
Sehome has won six-straight games following a 74-40 win over Lakewood on Jan. 6. The Mariners are rolling, tied for third place in the Northwest Conference at 10-1 overall and 6-1 in league games.
Ferndale has bounced back nicely after suffering three consecutive losses in the Lynden Christmas Classic. The Golden Eagles have won two straight after beating Bellingham 51-13 on Jan. 2 and Oak Harbor 52-36 on Jan. 6.
Boys basketball
Sehome, Blaine, Lynden and Lynden Christian refuse to stop winning, all remaining undefeated against NWC opponents.
LC faced off against Nooksack Valley on Jan. 6, winning 73-52, led by 35 points from senior guard Tyler Sipma. The Lyncs are the only team that doesn’t have a single notch in the overall loss column, but they will have a tall task in Anacortes (10-1, 6-0 NWC) on Monday, Jan. 9.
On win streaks: Blaine is on a nine-game stretch of victories that dates back to Dec. 3. The Borderites most recently downed Sedro-Woolley 65-49 on Jan. 5, led by 20 points from senior forward Mathew Russ.
Meridian had its four-game win streak snapped in a 66-55 loss to Mount Vernon on Jan. 7. Sophomore guard Jaeger Fyfe led the Trojans with 21 points, while seniors Hunter Jones and Tyrel Brooks each finished with nine.
Bellingham, along with Meridian, is battling for the sixth spot in the NWC standings below the top five undefeated groups. The Bayhawks fell to Lynden on Jan. 5, but bounced back to beat Sequim 57-54 two days later on Jan. 7.
Boys wrestling
Blaine and Mount Baker continue to dominate the league standings, each sitting at 6-0 in duals so far this season.
The Mountaineers hosted Bellingham, Blaine and Squalicum on Jan. 3, emerging with an event-high 46 points. Blaine tallied 36 while Squalicum and Bellingham lost both its duals.
Nooksack Valley faced Lynden, Sehome and Meridian at home on Jan. 4, taking the second-highest score of 10. Lynden finished with 15 points, while the remaining two ended with none.
Blaine also picked up two fourth-place finishes at the Everett Classic on Jan. 7, with Blake Goltz and Victor Gervol each posting solid performances.
Wyatt Straight took first place for Ferndale in the same tournament within the 285-pound weight class, defeating Mount Si’s Chase Nunan by decision.
Mount Baker had four first-place finishes at the Snohomish Panther Classic on Jan. 7. Jorey Johnson, K.J. Chapman, Daniel Washburn and Elijah Washburn finished first in their respective weight classes.
Boys swim and dive
Squalicum picked up two wins over league opponents last week, defeating Mount Vernon 92-81 on Jan. 3 and Sedro-Woolley 116-38 on Jan. 5.
The Storm’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Dylan Fisk, Hayden Nelson, Trey Rippon and Mathias Synnott put on a show versus Mount Vernon, dropping nine seconds from their previous best in a comeback win over the Bulldogs’ group.
Synnott, the final-leg swimmer for the Storm, overtook Mount Vernon in the final 50 yards for the win. Their time of 3:40.49 gave Squalicum the win and one of only two state-qualifying times at the 2A level thus far.
“I was swinging my arm so hard cheering [Synnott] on it felt like it popped out of my socket,” Squalicum coach Randy Elsner said.
Synnott and Fisk earned two more individual state-qualifying times in the meet versus Sedro-Woolley. Fisk now has six on the season while Synnott has four.
The Storm are now 2-1 overall and in league duals.
Bellingham is currently the top Whatcom County team at 5-0 in league duals and overall. The Bayhawks also defeated Mount Vernon, 110-60, on Jan. 5.
Sehome won its second dual of the season on Jan. 5, a 111-64 victory over Burlington-Edison. The Mariners moved to 2-1 overall and in league duals.
WWU
Women’s basketball
Western is on a tear. The Vikings have won 11 in a row, highlighted by two massive wins last week.
An 82-70 victory over Central Washington on Jan. 5 began the week for Western, led by 22 points and five rebounds from senior forward Katrina Gimmaka.
The Vikings continued their domination in an 86-70 win over Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 7. Junior forward Brooke Walling posted 21 points and 11 rebounds, helping lead Western to victory.
Three other Vikings scored in double figures with senior guard Avery Dykstra (15 points), sophomore guard Riley Dykstra (14 points) and senior center Carley Zaragoza (12 points).
Western has 13 games remaining on its conference schedule and is 5-0 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and 11-1 overall.
Men’s basketball
The Vikings lost 80-76 to MSU Billings on Jan. 5 and 90-73 to Seattle Pacific on Jan. 7.
During the Jan. 5 game, junior forward Jonathan Ned led Western with 16 points and three rebounds, while redshirt freshman forward BJ Kolly added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kai Johnson tallied 14 points and nine assists, while junior guard D’Angelo Minnis totaled 13 points.
Western is now 9-6 overall and 2-3 in GNAC games after losing its last three games.
Basketball standings — Jan. 10
Boys basketball, Northwest Conference
| Boys basketball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Anacortes | 7-0 | 11-1 |
| Sehome | 7-0 | 10-1 |
| Blaine | 6-0 | 9-1 |
| Lynden | 6-0 | 9-1 |
| Lynden Christian | 6-1 | 11-1 |
| Bellingham | 3-4 | 5-6 |
| Meridian | 3-4 | 7-4 |
| Nooksack Valley | 3-5 | 6-6 |
| Mount Vernon | 2-3 | 6-4 |
| Lakewood | 2-4 | 5-7 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-4 | 4-6 |
| Burlington-Edison | 2-5 | 3-7 |
| Squalicum | 2-6 | 4-9 |
| Ferndale | 1-5 | 1-10 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 1-6 | 3-9 |
| Mount Baker | 0-6 | 2-6 |
Girls basketball, Northwest Conference
| Girls basketball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Nooksack Valley | 8-0 | 13-1 |
| Ferndale | 6-0 | 7-4 |
| Lynden | 6-1 | 11-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 6-1 | 11-2 |
| Sehome | 6-1 | 10-1 |
| Burlington-Edison | 5-1 | 8-3 |
| Anacortes | 5-2 | 6-5 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-4 | 5-5 |
| Mount Vernon | 2-4 | 3-8 |
| Lakewood | 2-5 | 5-6 |
| Bellingham | 2-5 | 4-8 |
| Squalicum | 2-5 | 4-8 |
| Blaine | 1-5 | 3-7 |
| Meridian | 1-6 | 2-7 |
| Mount Baker | 0-7 | 3-8 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-7 | 1-11 |
*Standings were updated on Jan. 10 at 9:11 a.m. to reflect the outcome of the Jan. 9 games.
