1A Boys State Tournament: Lyncs Take Title

The Lynden Christian Lyncs breezed past the Zillah Leopards, 61-42, to capture the 1A Boys State Basketball Championship, Saturday night, in the Yakima SunDome.

It was the first loss of the season for the Leopards, and the eighth championship in program history for the Lyncs.  Both teams end the season with 26-1 records.

It was the usual stars for the Lyncs on the scoresheet, as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, junior Dawson Hintz, scored 18 points, with guard tandem, junior Gunnar Dykstra tossing in 15, but those two weren’t the stars of this night.

Junior forward Kaden Veldman hit the first shot of the game, to get things rolling for the Lyncs, but picked up his second foul just three minutes in and went to the bench.  He played sparingly the rest of the half.

Veldman left with the Lyncs leading 10-7, but others picked up the slack and by the time halftime hit, the Lyncs led 32-19.  Hintz and Dykstra combined for 22 of those points.

Their scoring was the end result of more hustle plays than the stats people can count.  The leader in that category, if there was one, was senior guard Boyce Robertson.

Robertson chased down six offensive rebounds in the first half, which gave the Lyncs a bounty of extra possessions.  Hustle plays also came from the likes of junior guard Wyatt Kamphouse and senior guard Eli Maberry.  Give those three the award for “Best Supporting Actors.”

The Lyncs out rebounded the Leopards 24-12 in the first half, and it got worse for the Leopards in the second half, as they Lyncs built a lead to as much as 21 points.

In the third quarter, Robertson hustled for a long offensive rebound on the left wing, then drove to the baseline, and when the defense stopped him, he flipped the ball in the air where Veldman was waiting for the catch and lay-in.

Robertson finished the game with 13 points, and 10 rebounds, eight of which were at the offensive end. 

The Lyncs accumulated 24 offensive rebounds in the game, and Zillah had only 24 total rebounds.  It was also the Leopards lowest point total of the season. 

One more accolade for Boyce Robertson.

He was assigned to guarding Zillah’s leading scorer, 6-5 senior Dekker Van De Graaf.  Van De Graaf averages 18 points a game and was held to just four points.  Both players were on the floor for about 30 minutes.  Van De Graaf shot 2-8 and finished with four points. 

Junior Budda Aranda, who made the All-Tournament Second Team, scored 17 points for the Leopards.  Senior guard Jayden Saenz added ten.

Veldman was never in foul trouble in the second half and finished with ten points and 11 rebounds. 

While Hintz was the tourney MVP, Dykstra was named to the First Team, and Veldman was named to the Second Team.

The Lyncs were most recently state champions in 2022 and 2023.  This is the 11^th championship divided between Lynden Christian (4), Zillah (4), and Kings (3) in the last 12 tournaments.

~ Ted House

STATS

Lynden Christian: Hintz 18, Dykstra 15, Howell 0, Maberry 5, Kamphouse 0, Ridnour 0, VanKooten 0, Robertson 13, Kooiman 0, Veldman 10, Herwerden 0, Voc 0

FG: 23-61, 37.7%

3P: 7-27, 25.9%

FT: 8-11, 72.7%

Zillah: Saenz 10, Aranda 17, Calzada 2, Castilleja 3, Van De Graaf 4, Jones 6

FG: 16-49, 32.7%

3P: 6-24, 25%

FT: 4-6, 66.7%