LAUREL — Nooksack Valley coach Rich Skillman knows the kind of team he’s had this entire year.
With only one senior, the Pioneers have had to go through some growing pains, finishing the regular season with a 5-11 record, but this young team couldn’t have picked a better time to find its footing.
Nooksack Valley picked up its first win of the playoffs Thursday night, dominating Meridian 58-36.
The Trojans were out in front early with a 10-5 lead. Meridian’s shots were falling in the first quarter, but that’s about the only time they fell consistently.
Nooksack Valley led 16-15 after one quarter. For the remaining 24 minutes of the game, it was all Pioneers as they held the Trojans to just 21 more points the rest of the way.
Skillman said everything starts with the defense and limiting turnovers.
“They had 36 at the end and there was 15 at the end of the first quarter,” Skillman said. “The hoop starts to get smaller for the other team when you can lock down defensively.”
Making stop after stop repeatedly put the Pioneers in transition, leading to easy baskets and the offense being able to run as freely as it wanted.
Junior Bennett DeLange led all scorers with 17 points. Freshman Brady Ackerman added 15 for the Pioneers and freshman Caden Heutink scored nine.
DeLange said he thinks the team is peaking at the right time.
“Practices have been a lot more detailed and we’re just playing better,” he said.
Skillman called the Northwest Conference a gauntlet, so the team has had no choice but to get better throughout the season.
There’s always going to be room for growth, he said, but they’re finally starting to put some of the pieces together.
“They’re becoming a really great team instead of just good athletes and good basketball players,” Skillman said.
The Pioneers will have their work cut out for them Tuesday against the loser of No. 1 seed Lynden Christian and No. 2 seed Blaine.
The winner of that advances to the District 1/2 crossover where a trip to regionals will be on the line while the loser is out.
