YAKIMA — Lynden Christian boys clinched a spot in the 1A state championship game with a 56-49 victory over Royal in the semifinals late Friday night, March 7 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The third-seeded Lyncs will face top-seeded Annie Wright at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 8. Annie Wright beat No. 4 Zillah 55-37 in its semifinal match.
“It’s pretty special,” coach Tim Zylstra said. “They worked their tails off and deserve to be in those games. We talked about the details and executing down the stretch and they did that tonight.”
Gallery: 1A/2A state hoops Day 3
It was a physical and fast-paced battle between similar teams. Royal had the first punch as both teams traded blows. The Knights took a 15-14 lead after the first quarter, but Lynden Christian responded with the support of Dawson Hintz.
Hintz finished the first half making nine shots for 24 of the Lyncs’ 30 points. He finished with 33 points.
“He was a stud,” Zylstra said. “He had a really good game offensively and even defensively. A lot of the time, he guards bigger guys.”
Lynden Christian’s defense also stepped up as they piled up three blocks and three steals to take a 30-20 lead at halftime.
Royal opened the third quarter with four 3-pointers to go on a 14-2 run and retake the lead at 34-32. Royal’s lead jumped up to five before Gunner Dykstra hit a 3-pointer and Gannon Dykstra followed up with a layup to tie the game at 39-39.
Royal finished the third quarter with a 3-pointer to gp up 42-39. In the fourth quarter, the Lyncs took an early lead and fended off the Knights the rest of the way.
“It’s a tough hill to climb,” Zylstra said. “That team is built for winning championships but we have the opportunity.”
Lynden girls set to defend 2A state title
Defending state champion Lynden girls basketball had no trouble reaching their second straight title game with a 62-44 drubbing of Prosser in a 2A state quarterfinal match Friday, March 7 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Lions will play either No. 2 Ellensburg for the state title at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 8. The Bulldogs beat No. 3 Deer Park, 58-50, in their semifinal game.
“We are happy to move on,” Lynden coach Rob Adams said. “The postseason is about survive and advance — and we advanced.”
Finley Parcher led top-seeded Lynden to an opening 10-2 run in the first six minutes of the game with five points herself. The Lions ended the quarter with a 3-pointer from Lexi Hermanutz to make it 15-8.
Hermanutz opened the second quarter with a steal and assist to Parcher. Payton Mills made a presence in the paint, finishing the half with 10 points. Her presence on defense was apparent as Prosser’s six made baskets all came from the 3-point line.
Lynden held a 36-21 lead at halftime.
Prosser opened the half with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 10. Lynden responded to take a 47-31 lead after three quarters, led by eight points from Degitu Bowler.
“Two nights in a row, our bench has played outstanding,” Adams said. “We have dubbed them ‘The Electric Company’ because they bring the juice when we need it.”
In the fourth quarter, Lynden broke Prosser’s full court defensive pressure and cruised to another victory.
“Our goal every season is to play on the last day of Yakima,” Adams said. “We have accomplished that, so it is about rest, recovery, sleep, get some food and be where your feet are at.”
Mills finished with 18 points and Parcher had 17.
LC girls stunned by buzzer-beater in semifinals
Lynden Christian took the lead with 8.9 seconds left then King’s Kaleo Anderson drilled a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from 23 feet deep and the Lyncs lost 45-44 in the 1A state semifinals Friday, March 7 in Yakima Valley SunDome.
The Lyncs will now play the loser of No. 2 Bellevue Christian and No. 5 Annie Wright for third/fifth place at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, March 8.
“When I was in college, my coach would always say, ‘players win games but coaches lose games,’” LC coach Brady Bomber said. “We affirmed to them that we are super proud of how they played and the togetherness they showed.”
The Lyncs nearly pulled off the win Friday. Trailing 42-41 with 16.4 seconds left, Ella Fritts received an inbounds and dished it to Tyra Dykstra, who drilled a 3-pointer with 8.9 seconds left to give LC a 44-42 lead.
But Anderson proved her worth as one of the top-ranked juniors in the state, nailing a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, causing a frenzy in the SunDome and disbelief to LC players and fans.
“(There are) a lot of things I would have liked to have done differently,” Bomber said. “We wanted to make everything difficult for (Anderson) and put bodies in front of her and contest shots. I thought Estela (Hernandez), Ella and Danya (Dykstra) made shots difficult. She made every big shot, so you’ve got to tip your hat off to a really good player.”
Anderson finished with 20 points while Lynden Christian’s Allison Shumate and Fritts had 10 points each. Before the hectic fourth quarter, Lynden Christian started the game with a 9-2 lead.
The Lyncs saw their lead slip away when Anderson scored four points and Molly Kyler banked a 3-point shot to make it 9-9 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Lyncs held a 14-13 lead after the first quarter, led by six points from Danya Dykstra and four from Shumate.
For the first five minutes of the second quarter, neither team scored until Shumate was fouled and connected on a free throw. On the next possession, Tyra Dykstra hit a 3-pointer to start the scoring run by both squads.
Tyra Dykstra ended the second quarter by making a free throw to give the Lyncs a 21-17 lead.
In the third quarter, King’s took their first lead at 24-21 when Anderson made a basket, was fouled and made the free throw. The Knights continued a 12-1 run that was finally ended by a 3-pointer from Jocelyn Eshuis. The two teams traded buckets in the fourth until the buzzer-beater.
Lynden Christian will now get a chance to finish as high as third.
Meridian clinches first state trophy in 15 years
Meridian boys basketball clinched their first state trophy since placing second in 2010 after blowing past Seton Catholic 68-48 in the consolation semifinals Friday.
The No. 7 Trojans will play for fourth/sixth place against the winner of No. 5 King’s and No. 9 Chelan at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 8.
“It feels great,” coach Shane Stacy said. “For us in that locker room, we believed we were one of the top four teams and we have a chance to win that fourth-place trophy tomorrow. I feel like we are right where we belong.”
Meridian’s offense clicked early with five points from Pierce Brzozowski and a 3-pointer from Jaeger Fyfe. Seton Catholic quickly answered but the Trojans led 10-7 after the first four minutes and 14-12 at the end of one quarter.
The Trojans started the second quarter with a hot start, taking a 19-12 lead in the first couple of minutes. Fyfe left briefly with an ankle injury, but it didn’t slow down the Trojans offense at all. Meridian extended its lead to 30-19 with eight points from Brzozowski and James Hadahl each. Fyfe returned and Meridian kept the momentum.
“It was a no-brainer,” Stacy said. “I knew (Jaeger) was going back in. You would have to cut off his leg to not get him back in that game.”
Meridian went into halftime with a 36-23 lead after Matthew Blankenburg made an unbalanced 3-point shot from the left corner with the buzzer going off. The Trojans finished the first half shooting 56%.
“You watch a lot of these games and teams that rely on one-to-two kids are going to be hurting,” Stacy said. “We have been in that situation as well. We knew going in that this needed to be a team effort. Pierce, Matt and James were able to let it fly.”
In the third quarter, Talon Jenkins took over by making baskets from all over the court to take a 53-35 lead. Meridian finished the fourth quarter by breaking Seton Catholic’s press defense and dreams of chasing a medal at state.
Jenkins stepped up in the last few minutes and finished the game with 21 points.
Lynden boys leave empty-handed
After getting stunned by Prosser in the 2A state quarterfinals Thursday, March 6, Lynden boys basketball was unable to recover Friday morning in a 41-38 elimination loss to Columbia River at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Lynden, the three-time defending state champions, entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and will now leave the SunDome trophy-less for the first time since 2015.
“We slayed the king,” Columbia River coach Mark Ganter said. “Like Muhammad Ali said, we shook up the world.”
On Friday morning, senior Brant Heppner led the charge in the first quarter with 13 points to give the Lions a 15-6 advantage after the first eight minutes.
“Brant’s one of the all-time Lynden players,” Lynden coach Brian Roper said. “He took a very young team and his leadership was on display all year. What you don’t see is in the practice and locker room. He was a quality leader for us.”
Heppner continued to lead the pack with the first four points in the second quarter. He finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Rapids began to change momentum after a steal and layup cut Lynden’s lead to 21-8 with five minutes left. No. 11 Columbia River got it down to single digits as time expired to give Lynden a 25-16 lead at halftime.
Lynden struggled in the third quarter as they failed to make a basket in the entire eight minutes as all five points came from free throws. On the other hand, Columbia River took the momentum and tied the game at 30-30.
Columbia River took the 31-30 lead after Ari Richardson made one of two technical free throws. Heppner scored the first basket in the second half with a jump shot to take a 32-31 lead with five minutes left.
Both teams traded the lead throughout the final two minutes as tensions began to rise every second. With 23 seconds left, Richardson was fouled and sent to the free throw line with a 37-36 Rapids’ lead. Richardson made both free throws.
“(Ari) is used to it and loves it,” Ganter said. “He is a gym rat so this stuff doesn’t bother him.”
Jack Stapleton made a layup with 8.6 seconds left to make it 39-38. Richardson stepped up to the line again with 5.5 seconds left and made both free throws.
“It was a great season,” Roper said. “It doesn’t feel like it at this moment. Because of how special it was, it makes this moment more difficult for the players and coaches.”
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
