Six basketball programs represented the Northwest Conference in 1A and 2A boys and girls state tournaments in the Yakima County SunDome last week.  Two won state championships and brought home the big Gold Ball.  One of them has had it in their possession for quite a while.  In fact, longer than any other team has ever had it.  The other reclaimed the Gold Ball after a two-year absence.   The Lynden Lion girls will have the Gold Ball in their possession for the third straight

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

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

The Bellingham Bayhawks got 28 points from senior forward Joe Harward, in a 66-59 win over Marysville-Pilchuck, in the play-in game of the 2A Boys District 1 Tournament.   The #8 seed Bayhawks move into the tournament’s official first round, with a game at #1 seed, Lynden, Wednesday, at 600pm.    The Tomahawks (5-16) were not at full strength when the two teams met in early December, when the Bayhawks handed them a 71-24 defeat.  This time, they were at full strength, and des

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