Seahawks junior Ryan Harrington The undefeated, and #2 seeded RA Long Lumberjacks got past the #6 seeded Anacortes Seahawks, 53-49, Friday night in the 2A state semifinals in the Yakima SunDome.   The Lumberjacks were on the attack as the ball left the referee’s hand on the opening tip.  Showing off their strength, speed, and aggressiveness, that brought them to the semis with a perfect 26-0 record.    The Jacks forced the Seahawks to call two early timeouts, trailing 9-3 in

Lion senior Rian Stephan The Lynden Lions cleared their first hurdle in the race for a third straight 2A Girls state championship by dismantling the Deer Park Stags, 58-33, Thursday, in a state quarterfinal game in the Yakima Valley SunDome.    It was pitted as the “early state championship” as it was the #2 seeded Stags against the #1 seeded Lions, but the Lions ended the suspense with a 20-3 run in the third quarter.   Before that, it was a defensive chess match at the star

The Renton RedHawks defeated the Lynden Lions, 46-36, in Wednesday’s elimination round of the 2A State basketball tournament, in the Yakima SunDome.   The 36 points by the Lions was their lowest scoring game of the season by 11 points.  On the other hand, the RedHawks beat their previous low score of the season by one point.    In the first quarter ended with the Lions leading 13-12, which was the highest scoring quarter of the game.  The RedHawks were able to drive the lane

The late season run by the Nooksack Valley Pioneers came to an end to the hands of the Seattle Christian Warriors, 78-44, in the elimination Round of 12, in the 1A Boys State Tournament, Wednesday, in the Yakima SunDome.   The #8 seeded Warriors paid no attention to the seeding of the #16 Pioneers, or their 11-14 record as the Pioneers set foot in the SunDome for the first time since 2011.   Through the first few minutes, both teams suffered through missed shots and turnovers

(This Week In (the) State Tournament) The long and winding, definitely windy, and sometimes snowy, road to the Yakima County SunDome began right after Thanksgiving, 2025.  There are four tournaments and 48 teams remaining from all those that had this dream, months ago.    The remaining Northwest Conference representatives include the Lynden and Lynden Christian boys and girl’s teams, along with the Anacortes and Nooksack Valley boy’s teams.   Wednesday Games   1A Boys, 200pm

The Northwest Conference took five boys and three girls teams into regional play of the 2026 state basketball tournaments.  And when the weekend was over, six of the eight will play on in the Yakima County SunDome, and two are done for the season.   The headline on Friday was the Nooksack Valley boys win over Fort Vancouver.  The #16 Pioneers eliminated the #9 Trappers, 52-45, in a game played at Camas High School, in Vancouver, just a 285-mile trip, each way.   The Pioneers

We are just one day away from the start of regional play in the 2026 state basketball tournaments. Here is look at what to expect on the boys floor through next week. 1A Boys State Tournament Preview   #16 Nooksack Valley Pioneers (10-14) vs #9 Fort Vancouver Trappers (20-3) Camas High School, Vancouver, Friday, February 27, 600pm   The Trappers broke through last year, appearing in their first state basketball tournament since the 1990 4A state tournament.  Their stay as t

I didn't see many girls games, but I can give you some matchup perspectives, and a little history along the way. Please read on for information on the 1A and 2A Girls State Basketball Tournaments. 1A Girls State Tournament Preview #16 King’s Way Christian Knights (16-6) vs #9 Nooksack Valley Pioneers (14-10) Lynden High School, Saturday, February 28, 200pm   The Knights are making just their third state tournament appearance, and second consecutive.  They lost in the regiona

Coaches Kesti and Swanson The Sedro-Woolley Cubs are one win away from a state tournament berth, after their 63-45 win over Mount Vernon, in the consolation round of the 3A Boys District 1 Tournament.   This was a rivalry game in a post-season elimination situation, so the Sedro-Woolley gym was packed with a standing room only crowd, with student sections filling the end zone bleachers.    The Bulldogs zone defense was geared to slow down the league’s top scorer, and in my op

There are two teams remaining in the consolation round of the 2A Boys District Tournament.  Those two survived elimination games on Monday night at Mount Vernon High School.  One came away with a fairly comfortable win, while the other happened in dramatic fashion.   Lakewood 55, Squalicum 41   The Squalicum Storm, entering their district tournament elimination game with a record of 10-11, should be praised for playing their best basketball of the season at the right time.  T

Eight boys district tournament games filled the evening of Friday the 13 th .  There were more important things to attend to than Jason and his hockey mask.    Before I analyze the two games I saw in The Palace at Mount Vernon High School, let’s take a look at what else happened in the night’s district tournament action.   1A Boys At Lynden Chistian, the top-seeded Lyncs (21-1) could not shake the #4 th  seed Blaine Borderites (5-18) until the final two minutes, in their 66-5

There were eight boys district tournament games played on Wednesday, and every home team won, which means every higher seed advanced.    There were two teams on the wrong side of that.  Ferndale, the #10 seed, had their season end in a 70-67 loss at #7 Meadowdale in the 3A district tournament.  The Golden Eagles finish with a record of 8-13 on the season.   Mount Baker also had their season end, as they lost at Blaine, 60-43, in the 1A district play-in game.  The Borderites w

Ten weeks of Northwest Conference basketball now seems like it went by in about five minutes. We turn the page to the post-season, and here is a preview of what is around the corner. 1A BOYS   GAME #1 #5 Mount Baker Mountaineers (1-14/3-15) at #4 Blaine Borderites (2-13/4-17) Wednesday, Feb. 11, 700pm, Loser Out Winner at #1 Lynden Christian, Friday, Feb 13, 730pm   The Mountaineers have lost 12 straight games and the Borderites have lost ten straight games.  But that’s the

The dust has settled and the brackets have spoken on the 2025-26 Northwest Conference basketball season.  There were no earth-shattering events that happened on the conference’s final evening, but it is worth a review.   Squalicum broke a six-game losing streak with a win at Oak Harbor, 49-44.  The Wildcats had been eliminated from the post-season the day before with Mount Vernon’s win over Mount Baker.  It was a big win for the Storm to stop the losing streak before the 2A d

The number of streaks of consecutive points I have seen teams put on each other, many in the same game, has become very noticeable.  Even in the final week of the regular season, between teams discernable by just a basket or two.    Anacortes and Lynden put runs on each other in their game on Tuesday.  Lions Get Past Seahawks...   Then on Wednesday, Burlington-Edison turned around a 21-4 deficit to Bellingham (coming up here), then Anacortes and Lakewood turned the tide on ea

The Lynden Lions passed their first exam of finals week, with a 61-51 win over the Anacortes Seahawks, Tuesday night, at Jake Maberry Gym.    This battle between two of the 2A heavyweights meant the inside track to the top seed in next week’s district tournament.  But as I have said before, I think seed placement in this year’s tournament means less than in most years due to the depth of the entire field.   This game took on a heavy dose of a defensive focus from both benches

As of Monday, it’s Finals week.  Has your team kept their grades up all season, and is ready for Finals Week exams, or have they been daydreaming in class and in need of learning two semesters of geology in three hours?  Fortunately, either way, they are all still in line for a passing grade.   The Lynden Christian boys finished rivalry week by locking up the conference championship with a 72-54 win over Lynden.    On the girls’ side, Lynden took sole possession of first plac

Sedro-Woolley’s 76-60 win over Sehome on Monday keeps the Cubs in the race for second place in the Northwest Conference, and solidifies their #6 RPI toward the 3A district tournament.   Tuesday’s 70-62 win by Meridian over Ferndale pushes the Trojans closer to the #2 seed heading into the 1A district tournament.  The Trojans NWC record is now 4-8, with Nooksack Valley and Blaine at 2-10.  The Trojans need one more win, or a loss by both the Pioneers and Borderites, to secure

The SunDome Shootout is a major event in my world.  It’s the best chance in the state to see the most teams in one spot.  You can see a team play two consecutive days, so if that team struggled on day one, you could get a second read on them next day.   It caters mainly to the 1A and 2A classifications that will be a part of the state tournaments in the Yakima SunDome in March.  There were 28 teams this year.  Most are from the boys 1A and 2A classifications.  There were also