1A State Tournament: Pioneers Fall to Warriors

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.  That was the only window the Pioneers had to do some damage to the Warriors.  When a 3-point shot from senior guard Jayden Anderson finally fell at the 4:20 mark of the first period, that tied the score at 3-3.

The Warriors immediately found their offensive rhythm and netted four 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 19-9 lead.

The results were no better in the second quarter, as Warriors 6-4 senior forward Sam Althoff muscled his way through the Pioneers defense, drawing fouls and hitting 5-6 from the free throw line.

Pioneers senior Owen Wichers

Meanwhile, the Pioneers continued to get quality shots but touched too much of the metal in the SunDome rims.  Senior guard Owen Wichers was the only Pioneer who was on is offensive game, scoring 11 points in the first half, but the Pioneers trailed 36-19 at halftime.

The Pioneers shot under 30-percent in both halves and were outrebounded for the game 49-22.

Althoff finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Warriors (18-6), who will play #2 Lynden Christian, Thursday, at 200pm, in the state quarterfinals.

The Pioneers season comes to an end with an 11-15 record but did raise some eyebrows around the state with their February run. 

~ Ted House

STATS:

NV: Coppinger 6, Bauman 0, J.Anderson 8, Wichers 17, Leyerly 3, Martin 3, Scheenstra 5, Silves 2, Ackerman 0, E.Anderson 0, L.Anderson 0, Mitchell 0. 

FG: 16-58 27.6%.

3P: 4-15 26.7%

FT: 8-13 61.5%

SC: E.Collier 3, Johnson 0, Nelson 10, Collier 14, O’Hare 16, Alvis 5, Jones 8, Lombardo 2, Althoff 20, A.Collier 0, Ward 0, Young 0.

FG: 27-50 54%

3P: 9-20 45%

FT: 15-23 65.2%