MOUNT VERNON — Lynden girls basketball is headed to state after downing Archbishop Murphy in the 2A District 1 championship game, while the Lynden boys will face a loser-out game after a 50-49 upset loss to Lakewood in their district title match Wednesday night, Feb. 19 at Mount Vernon High.
Lynden Girls
The Lynden girls (23-0) secured their ticket to state with a 52-36 over the Wildcats in an early defensive battle.
“That is a Saturday basketball team there,” Lynden girls coach Rob Adams said. “We were playing with the same juice on offense as we were on defense.”
The Wildcats 1-3-1 defensive zone provided early issues for the Lions. On the other hand, Archbishop Murphy’s Ava Marr made a pair of 3-pointers to give the Wildcats an 8-4 lead. Lynden responded shortly after with their size and physicality.
Gallery: Lynden girls win districts, boys upset
“They were bound and determined to zone us the entire time,” Adams said. “They were diligent to a point where it almost hurt us.”
Payton Mills dominated the paint in the first quarter and capped it off with a 3-pointer to give the Lions a 13-11 lead after the first eight minutes. Mills finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Mills continued to dominate in the paint in the second half, tallying five more points. Finley Parcher also scored five points in the quarter and the Lions’ defense had six blocks in the first half. Lynden took a 24-13 lead into halftime.
Archbishop Murphy’s Brooke Blachly ended almost a 10-minute scoreless drought for the Wildcats. Within a two-minute span, Blachly nailed three 3-pointers to cut the Lions’ lead to 36-22. But Lynden’s Degitu Bowler ended the quarter with an open layup to make it 38-24.
In the fourth quarter, Blachly and Marr tried rallying the Wildcats back into contention, making it 46-34 with about three minutes remaining. Parcher finished the job with five points, a block and a couple of rebounds to secure the win for Lynden.
Lynden boys
Three-time defending state champion Lynden (22-1) saw its perfect season fall five seconds short as Lakewood stunned the Lions 50-49 in the district championship.
“I give a lot of credit to Lakewood,” Lynden boys coach Brian Roper said. “We know how tough they are and how hard they played. I felt like we had the game under control but they made some big plays when they needed to.”
Lakewood’s Nash Espe, who had 26 points, hit the game-winning 3-pointer after wrapping around a screen in the right corner with five seconds to play.
Cougars’ Quinton Steen made a 3-pointer in the corner with 30 seconds left, and Lynden’s Spencer Adams followed up with a contested 3-pointer to make it 49-47 with 16 seconds left.
Before the close contest, Lynden saw themselves in a massive 18-0 deficit within the first few minutes.
Lakewood took an early 9-0 lead after a couple of steals and baskets by Steen and Espe. The Cougars keep the full-court pressure rolling through the first quarter, not allowing Lynden to score until Spencer Adams made a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to end the quarter trailing 18-3.
“I did not think it was possible for us to play that poorly in the first quarter,” Roper said. “We were timid, they were the aggressors. I was proud of our guys for keeping fighting.”
In the second quarter, Lynden began to force the Cougars into contested shots, allowing them to grab rebounds and break the press. The Lions utilized the up-tempo offense to drain four 3-pointers and slim the score to 29-21 at halftime.
Lynden erased the deficit with a hot start from Brant Heppner to make it a one-possession game. Heppner finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
After a few failed attempts to tie the game, Lynden’s Brody Price made a layup and converted the free throw to tie the game at 31-31 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
The Lions picked up its first lead of the game when Heppner scored a midrange jumper to make it 35-34 with two minutes left. Both teams traded the lead until Heppner made a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter to make it 39-38.
Both teams continued to trade the lead until the final buzzer when Heppner’s shot hit the back of the rim.
“We got a one-game season and we have been in this situation before,” Roper said. “I know our team will come and compete.”
Lynden will face the winner of Archbishop Murphy and Burlington-Edison in a winner-to-state, loser-out game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 at Mount Vernon High School.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
