Though not all the Northwest Conference boys basketball teams will lace up their game shoes this week, it’s still time to crank up the 2023-24 basketball season. It all begins on Monday, November 27, with everyone’s eyes on Saturday, March 2, whether you prefer Tacoma, Yakima, or Spokane.
The Nooksack Valley Pioneers will be delayed a week due to their football teams’ playoff success. They, however, lost an overtime heartbreaker to Lakeside on Saturday in the 1A semifinals, which ended their season. The Pioneers basketball team’s first scheduled game is Tuesday, December 5, at Cedar Park Christian.
The Anacortes Seahawks football team went one step further. The Seahawks beat Enumclaw on Saturday, in the 2A state semifinals. The Seahawks will play for the 2A football championship next Saturday, pushing the start of their basketball season back to the week of December 11.
To refresh our memories, let’s go over the NWC’s hardware collection from 2023.
The Nooksack Valley girls claimed the Gold Ball in the 1A tournament, with Lynden Christian finishing second. The Burlington-Edison girls took second place in the 2A state tournament.
On the boys side, Lynden and Lynden Christian both won state championships for the second consecutive seasons in 2A and 1A, respectively. The Blaine Borderites brought home the third-place trophy in 1A last season.
Anacortes won the NWC boys title with a 14-1 record. Nooksack Valley took the girls title with a perfect 15-0 record.
Individually, both the girls and the boys Players of the Year return this season. Nooksack’s Devin Coppinger returns for her senior season, while Davis Fogle, of Anacortes, comes back for his junior season.
Looking at last season’s All-Conference teams, of the 20 players named to the first and second teams, only five return this season, from a very senior-heavy list. The girls return 11 of the 20 players on the first and second teams.
Lynden senior Anthony Canales is the reigning two-time 2A State Tournament MVP, and Lynden Christian senior, Jeremiah Wright, took home 1A State MVP honors.
Northwest Conference 3A Boys (Records from last year)
Mount Vernon (11-4/18-7)
Coach Brett Farrar will be in his second year with the Bulldogs after four years at Blaine and six at Sedro-Woolley.
Bulldogs lost to Walla Walla in 3A regional play-in, round of 20.
Senior Quinn Swanson and his 26.8 points per game return to the Bulldogs lineup. Swanson’s offensive versatility allows him to score anytime from anywhere on the floor; 3-point line, midrange, and attacking the rim. He has a great feel for offensive spacing and balance, and just watch him move without the ball.
Juniors Michael Johnson and Xavier Neyens add to the Bulldogs lineup. Johnson averaged ten points a game last year, and Neyens can also hit home run bombs on the basketball floor.
Oak Harbor (5-10/7-13)
Led by second year head coach Justin Ronning. Lost to Mount Vernon in the 3A District first round.
The Wildcats graduated nine players from last year’s roster. They will have non-league games against La Conner and Snohomish before hosting Lynden in the first night of conference play.
Ferndale (1-14/1-19)
Golden Eagles did not qualify for the 3A district tournament last year.
Luke DuChesne takes over as head coach of the Golden Eagles after assisting Brad Jackson as Sehome. DuChesne will have a “coach on the floor” in senior guard, Bishop Ootsey.
Northwest Conference 2A Boys
Anacortes (14-1/21-4)
Won NWC title and 2A District Championship. Lost to Prosser at regionals and Enumclaw at state.
Seahawks coach Brett Senff, now in his 17th season leading the program, will be missing a bulk of his varsity roster until they finish their tussle with Tumwater in next Saturday’s 2A state football championship game.
When they do return, back will be several from their NWC title in 2023, and work for a much deeper run toward the Gold Ball. Their top returnee is junior, Davis Fogle, who averaged 24.6 points per game last season. Fogle was the league MVP, and also possesses a wide variety of offensive skills on his 6-5 frame.
Sedro-Woolley (4-11/6-15)
Coach Ethan Brown begins his second year at the helm of the Cubs. They entered the 2A District 1 tournament but lost in the play-in round.
Burlington-Edison (6-9/8-13)
Jeff Dutton is in his second season as head coach of the Tigers, who lost out in the second round of the district tournament. Senior guard, Rex Wilson, leads the Tiger returnees as he averaged 10.2 points per game last season.
Lakewood (8-7/13-12)
Anthony Wiederkehr II begins his tenth season as the head coach of the Cougars, and his teams always come to play. The Cougars lost to Lynden in a winner to state game the 2A district tournament last year.
Senior guard Ben Rucker can score, and junior guard Evan Stacey can keep you from scoring. Sophomore Caleb Greenland came on strong at the end of his freshman season.
Sehome (13-2/18-6)
This will be Brad Jackson’s second year guiding the Mariners, who like Anacortes, came up short at the end of the season, losing a regional game to Mark Morris, and were eliminated by North Kitsap at state.
The Mariners return 6-6 senior Braddock Duckworth, and sophomore energizer, Nolan Wright. Duckworth came on strong in the second half of the season for the Mariners, along with being an asset to the local Apex Northwest Volleyball Club in his “spare” time.
Bellingham (5-10/7-14)
Head coach Brad McKay begins his 11th season with the Bayhawks. Bellingham lost in the district play-in game last season. They lost only one senior from last year’s roster, and received senior, Jesse Harward, as a transfer from Mount Baker.
Squalicum (6-9/11-14)
This will be coach Tyler Hannigan’s fourth season leading the Storm, who saw their 2023 season end in a loss to Lakewood in the district tournament. A young team, but sometimes those questions can create excitement.
Lynden (13-2/24-4)
Brian Roper begins his 19th season with the Lions, who have won four of the last five state titles and have not won a league title in that time.
The Lions return two-time state tournament MVP, senior Anthony Canales, 6-6 junior Brant Heppner, and senior point-man Brady Elsner.
Northwest Conference 1A Boys
Mount Baker (0-15/2-17)
Just two seniors on the Mountaineers roster in Tony Clark’s second season as head coach, but there’s some size spread out this year in a group that looks like a good foundation to build on. The 1A part of the NWC will again be a tight squeeze, but the Mountaineers should be very competitive.
Blaine (10-5/19-8)
Nate Sullivan begins his second year as the Borderites head coach. Blaine took home third place in last year’s 1A state tournament. Senior Noah Tavis is the only returning starter from that team, who brought home state hardware to Blaine for the first time since 2004.
Nooksack Valley (5-10/10-13)
The Pioneers are looking to first year head coach Jason Heutink to lead the Pioneers on a deep state tournament run. Heutink led his 2003 Pioneers to the 2A state title. The Pioneers will start a bit late due to the success of the football team, but there’s a lot of experience returning to the floor.
Meridian (6-9/11-11)
This will be Shane Stacy’s 19th season as head coach of the Trojans. Watch out for junior wings, Jaeger Fyfe and Talon Jenkins. They can really light it up and will put a lot of pressure on opponent’s defenses.
Lynden Christian (13-2/26-2)
This will be Tim Zylstra’s fourth season as head coach of the Lyncs. In his two full seasons, he has coached in two state tournaments, and won them both.
Along with last year’s title, LC big man, Jeremiah Wright earned the state MVP award. He returns this season, pending an injury in his final football game.
The Lyncs also return 6-0 senior Dawson Bouma, who really improved throughout the season, and especially showed well in the Lyncs biggest games.
In a Nutshell
The 1A and 3A district tournaments and state allocations remain the same as last year.
In 1A, the top two from their district tournament will play the District 2 crossover games for state tournament berths.
In 3A, for NWC teams to qualify, they must finish in the top 12 in the 3A district RPI. Also, only two NWC teams can qualify, no matter where they finish. The top four from the district tournament will advance to state.
In 2A, the squeeze gets really tight this year. Due to the mathematical formula used to keep a state-wide balance of teams from each area, District 1 gets only two allocations to state this year. All things being equal, they will get the third allocation back next year.
Much more on the post-season and the RPI formulas as the season progresses.
Until then, enjoy some December basketball!
~ Ted House