Maybe I’m over blowing this, but it’s basketball, so let’s talk “height.”
It used to be a big (no pun intended) thing. Size. “We need big guys. Cut the big guys last.”
And, of course, the famous quote by 40-year college coach, Marv Harshman. “Quick guys get tired; big guys don’t shrink.”
Well, over the years, the numbers in the team program grew (again, see above) less and less important. The 3-point line made everyone an outside shooter. The style of play changed as the speed of the game greatly increased over the decades.
Low post presence is not what it used to be. There generally aren’t many players who set up shop on the low block. Maybe it’s due to the fact that the art of the “entry pass” has gotten, well, comical. The next time you see a player on the wing, trying to throw a pass to the post, get ready for the possession to go the other direction. But if it lands perfectly in the outstretched hand of the big guy, and it leads him directly to an easy bucket, I will be the first to throw praise to the passer.
I do believe that championships are won “inside the 3-point line.”
That doesn’t mean that you have to have lots of big guys, and pound the ball inside to win. Not even close. It takes a mixture of the inside and the outside, just like in football where it takes a combination of run and pass. But I still say it’s easier to rely on shots inside of 19-feet, nine-inches. Lynden has actually proven that, three straight years.
I guess I got into all that because of my first thoughts after scanning the 16 Northwest Conference boys’ basketball rosters. There are lots of tall guys in the league this year. I, frankly, don’t know if it’s any different than any other year, but some things caught my eye, so this is the overblown part.
I must say that without seeing every team in person, because it’s still a bit early, the list of big guys may certainly include some that are not yet in their teams’ rotation, but here goes.
Burlington-Edison lists six players between 6-5 and 6-8.
Lynden had five listed between 6-5 and 6-7. In their first game, four of those were starters.
Meridian had three players between 6-5 and 6-7. The tallest one is basically a guard.
Ferndale also has three at 6-5 to 6-6. Bellingham has a couple in that range.
Squalicum lists eight players at 6-3 to 6-4. Nooksack Valley’s roster is all 6-foot or more.
What does this prove? Really nothing. I may have just been a way to state how much I miss the low post game!
Imagine, if you will, you are a young coach who started with the C-team, then, after one season, was promoted to lead the Junior Varsity. Then, after four years, you became the head coach, and in your very first varsity game, you had a player scored 53 points!
That’s exactly what happened to the new Sedro-Woolley head coach, Kevin Kesti.
In the Cubs first game of the season, and their only game last week, Sedro-Woolley junior Ethan DeJong scored 53 points in their 73-65 win at Mariner, last Saturday. He could get shut out over the next two games and still have a solid average! DeJong averaged 19 a game for the Cubs last season.
DeJong scored in double-figures in every quarter. He had 26 points at halftime, and if that wasn’t good enough, he tossed in 27 in the second half. He had 13 2-point shots, and four 3-pointers. Where he really made his money was at the free throw line, where he hit 15 of 16.
The Cubs travel to Mount Baker for a conference game on Monday.
The Mountaineers, who won four games last season, already have three in the bank with wins over Coupeville, Orcas Island, and Friday Harbor.
Oak Harbor’s mark of three wins last year should be eclipsed as well. The Wildcats took out Marysville-Pilchuck by 23 points, then traveled to Everett on Saturday, but took a 74-54 loss to the Seagulls.
The Wildcats are a much-improved team over last season and have only two seniors. Junior guard Xavier Ochoa leads the Wildcats offense, with help from junior point, Bryson Harris.
I saw the Wildcats game at Everett on Saturday, but a medical emergency delayed the game with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter. Having another event to attend, I had to leave at that time.
When I left, the Wildcats were trying to come back from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit. They cut the Everett lead to seven early in the fourth quarter, but after the delay, they ended up losing by 20.
The Wildcats go end to end, and in their comeback effort, hit six 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Blaine is 2-0 and halfway to last year’s win total. The Borderites have wins over La Conner and Friday Harbor, so far.
Anacortes played for a state football championship on Saturday, and were successful, yet again, with a 20-10 win over Tumwater. They are scheduled to play at Mount Vernon this Friday, but I would be skeptical that the game would be played on that day, due to practice rules. I will try to confirm that ASAP.
UPDATE: Anacortes at Mount Vernon will be played Friday, as Scheduled.
Burlington-Edison is off to a 3-0 start with wins over Mariner, Cedarcrest, and Kingston. Against Mariner, 6-6 junior Logan Heigert, netted 30 points, and followed that up with a 20-point effort at Cedarcrest.
In that game, it was a very slow start for the Tigers, who, after leading early 7-3, were down 20-15 at halftime at the Red Wolves, who now reside in District 2’s KingCo Mountain Division.
The Tigers played even with the Red Wolves over the next eight minutes, still down 33-28, as Cedarcrest scored the last five points of the third quarter.
I don’t know what the trigger was, but the Tigers outscored the Red Wolves 21-0 in the final period, taking a 49-33 victory.
Maybe it was a hard fall Heigert took when he was called for an offensive foul near the end of the third quarter. Whatever it was, Heigert scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to tie the game, and the Tigers never looked back.
Cedarcrest, who lost four starters from last year’s team, shot 0-8 from the field, 0-4 from the free throw line, and committed eight turnovers in the final eight minutes.
The next night, at home against Kingston, the Tigers ran away late for an 80-41 win, to go 4-0 on the season. (They have a forfeit win over Evergreen of Seattle).
The Tigers methodically built a 14-point lead after three quarters, using their size and experience against the young and quick Buccaneers. Kingston showed grit and resolve by closing the gap to just nine points in the middle of the third quarter, but the Tigers were able to keep them at a safe distance.
Then the fourth quarter hit. And it hit hard.
The Tigers went on an 18-4 run to put the game away, and take a 28-point lead with 3:30 remaining, and began to retire their starters.
Then, the rest of the crew picked up the momentum from the Tiger student section and rained in several 3-pointers and fast break points, on the way to the 39-point win.
If you pull together the Tigers’ last two fourth quarter performances against Cedarcrest and Kingston on consecutive nights, in eight minutes against Cedarcrest, and five minutes and 30 seconds against Kingston, the combined score was 39-4. For all 16 minutes, the total was 53-7. Do the Tigers now have a “thing” for the fourth quarter?
Heigert’s 24 points led the Tigers. Junior guard Logan Arendse tossed in 11 of his 14 points during the big fourth quarter run, as the Tigers hit seven 3-pointers in that frame.
On Tuesday, Lynden took the floor for the first time. This year with only two seniors on the roster. They took on Tamanawis, from Surrey, BC. The Lions looked very good at times, but also suffered through a few first game “lulls,” but handled the Wildcats, 63-56.
The Lions turned a 14-10 first quarter deficit, into a 22-14 lead, early in the second quarter.
The Lions never surrendered the lead, but the Wildcats never went away, either. The Lions led only 56-54 with 1:55 left, but did the things you have to do to win games down the stretch.
6-6 senior, Brant Heppner, led the Lions with 22 points, nine rebounds, and ten assists, as he showed this year his ability to take the ball from end to end, and score, as well as create.
The Lions other senior, 6-7 Jack Stapleton, added 13 points for the Lions, and 6-5 junior, Ty Jorgenson added 13 more to the Lions cause, while exhibiting some incredible athleticism in the process. One highlight was early in the game as he took a high-low pass from Heppner and rose through a crowd for a 2-hand dunk.
Lakewood opened with a 79-49 win over Campbell High School, a team from Ewa Beach, Hawaii.
Interestingly (probably only to me), the Sabers are located on Oahu, a few miles west of Honolulu. Nearby is the Hawaii Prince Golf Club, where I played a round in the summer of 2021. Nice course. Bad round.
The Cougars are not a team with the size I’ve been talking about. But their 2-3 zone was impressive with its quickness from side to side. Defensive wizard and four-year starter, Evan Stacey, anchors the middle of their defense. He’s not a rim protector, but he was responsible for four steals in the first quarter, alone.
The Cougars ran out to an 11-0 lead, and never looked back. Junior forward Caleb Greenland paced the offense with 26 points, scoring from everywhere. Senior guard Nash Espe added 16, while senior guard Quinton Steen added a dozen.
The Cougars lead the league with eight seniors.
Meridian is 2-0 so far. They had a 36-point win over Mount Vernon Christian on Thursday, but it’s Monday’s 67-66 win at Bear Creek that’s worth talking about.
Down by two with 30 seconds left, they got a defensive gem by 6-0 senior Canyon James, as he blocked a lay-in attempt by Bear Creek.
The Trojans then worked the ball as senior Talon Jenkins came off of a double-screen to the top of the key and drained a 21-foot 3-pointer with seven seconds left. It proved to be the game winner, as Bear Creek missed a baseline shot at the buzzer.
Lynden Christian is off and running, as they got an 84-41 win over Holy Cross Secondary of Surrey, BC.
The Lyncs don’t have those familiar inside forklifts in Jeremiah Wright and Kayden Stuit, but they still have really good basketball players.
Senior guard Gannon Dykstra scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half, with a variety of shots mixed with extreme athleticism.
Inside now are 6-5 senior Luke VanKooten and 6-4 sophomore Kaden Veldman. They scored 23 and 18 points, respectively, and both can step outside the 3-point line.
The Lyncs will be without sophomore guard Dawson Hintz for a period of time at the start of the season, as he recovers from a football injury. Once he is back in the lineup, watch out for these guys. In fact, watch out for them right now.
On Saturday, the Lyncs led wire-to-wire in defeating 4A Lake Stevens, 76-58.
Squalicum split two games in week one, defeating Sultan 70-36 on Thursday, then coming within an eyelash of sending Saturday’s game against Marysville-Getchell into overtime, in a 59-56 loss at home.
Senior guard Marcus Nixon’s 3-pointer from the left wing that banked in was waved off, as it was released after the final buzzer.
Lots of good action is coming up this week. Pick a day, and there are great matchups. I said last week that the league standings will be tighter this year, and I believe that even more after watching just one week of NWC action.
~ Ted House
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