Cougars Run Past Pioneers, & Other Monday Games

From Wednesday to Monday, I personally saw three teams reach the 90-point threshold.  Two were in the same game.  The third came on Monday night as Lakewood ran past Nooksack Valley, 91-59.

And a game the same day that I did not attend, Lynden Christian outscored Arlington 19-11 in overtime to leave with a 93-85 win.  It was the second time the Lyncs hit 90-plus in their last three games.

If I were a coach in the NWC, I have always said that Lakewood would be the most difficult team to prepare for.  Their teams have usually lacked height but have been one who could spread you out defensively and use lanes to drive.  And if that didn’t work out, there were always capable shooters waiting at the 3-point arc.  At the other end, they employ a very quick zone defense, who’s defenders seem to arrive at their defender the same time the ball does. 

They have always played like they were in fourth gear.  This year, they seem to have found a fifth gear.  They still do the same things, only now seems like they do it all, faster. 

They still have their senior guard-forward, Caleb Greenland, a four-year varsity player and three-year starter.  At 6-3, the rest of the team looks up to him, literally and figuratively.  The rest of the starting lineup on this night consisted of one six-footer and three others under six feet tall.  The Cougars were missing starting junior guard, Drew Egger, another six-footer.  Greenland is their only senior starter of the three seniors on the roster.

The Pioneers had a size advantage at every position, including off the bench.  They did well in the key, securing several second chance opportunities, but they weren’t enough to keep up with the much quicker Cougars.

The Cougars struck quickly and often, taking a 15-5 lead, that eventually ballooned to 42-22 in the second quarter.   The Pioneers scored the last six points of the half to go to the locker room trailing by a more manageable, 42-28.

The Pioneers even chipped away at that lead in the first minutes of the third quarter, cutting the Cougars lead to 44-32, but Greenland ignited a 17-6 run with a 3-pointer and a fast break lay-in.  Lakewood led 70-49 after three quarters.

The Cougars hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, and seven more in the second half.  Greenland led the Cougars with 21 points.  Junior Derek Wilson hit for 19, while sophomores Chase Kirkpatrick and Carter Langum added 18 and 16 points, respectively. 

Pioneers’ sophomore forward Treven Scheenstra scored 14 points off the bench.  They also got 11 points from senior guard Owen Wichers, and ten points from senior guard Weston Silves.

The Cougars have played four official games in the season, all conference games, and they are 4-0.  They are traveling to Yakima for the SunDome Shootout on Monday and Tuesday, December 29-30, where they will take on two teams from the 2A CWAC.  They will play Grandview (4-4), and East Yalley-Yakima (1-6).

The Pioneers will play on Monday, December 29, at Silas High School in Tacoma.  They will play Bonney Lake of the 4A SPSL South.  The Panthers are 7-0 this season. 

In other NWC action on Monday, the Lyncs handed Arlington (7-1) from the 4A Wesco their first loss of the season, in that 93-85 overtime win. 

Arlington tied the score with seven seconds left on a 3-point jumper from the right wing by 5-10 junior guard, Mac Crews.  Crews could not lose Dawson Hintz over a screen and had to fire with Hintz close enough to share the same phone booth with Crews.  But Crews connected despite Hintz two outstretched arms in his vision. 

The Lyncs then scored 19 points in the four-minute overtime period.

The Lyncs will play Seattle Academy (1A, 6-2, Metro League) and Sumner (5-3, SPSL North) at Mountlake Terrace High School, on Monday and Tuesday, December 29 and 30. 

The Lynden Lions fell to the Bothell Cougars (6-3, 4A Kingco), 66-51 on Monday.  The Lions were without the services of senior forward, Spencer Adams, who is recovering from an injury suffered in the opening minutes of their game at Stanwood on Saturday.

The suddenly much smaller Lions went up against the 6-9 center from Bothell, Logan Christy, and they brought another 6-9 off the bench, junior Raider Finau.  Christy did not score in the game, but Finau tallied 16 off the bench, shooting 7-9 from the field. 

The Cougars jumped out to leads of 10-0 and 15-4, and even 32-9 in the second quarter.  Trailing 39-16 at halftime, the Lions cut into the lead in the second half, finally losing by 15 points.

The real problem for the Lions defense turned out to be Bothell’s 6-4 junior guard, Jaylen McLaughlin, who shot 6-10 from 3-point land, and finishing with 30 points. 

The Lions will join Lakewood in Yakima on Monday and Tuesday, December 29 and 30. They will take on Eisenhower (1-5, 4A Big 9), and Selah (6-0, 2A CWAC). 

The Oak Harbor Wildcats ran into some tough luck in the final seconds of their 66-64 loss to Chelan, in the first leg of their two-day trip. 

The Goats scored with 15 seconds left to break a 64-64 tie.  After a timeout, the Wildcats turned the ball over before they could get off a shot, with nine seconds remaining.

The Goats inbounds pass went out of bounds as it hit high into the gym rafters.  So, the Wildcats had a second chance to tie or win the game with the ball on their own baseline.

Senior guard Byrson Harris maneuvered the dribble into the key but missed a closely guarded 12-footer.  The loose ball was picked up by senior forward Max Waldron, but he missed a putback attempt just before the buzzer. 

Chelan (1A Caribou Trail) remained undefeated on the season, with a 6-0 record.  The Wildcats fell to 2-5 and will play Liberty Bell (2B CWB), today, Tuesday, in Chelan at 1pm. 

The Mount Vernon Bulldogs got a non-league win, defeating the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks, 66-55.  The Bulldogs (3-3) will host Mariner (1-4, 4A Wesco) on Tuesday, December 30.

~ Ted House