The first week of the basketball season is like starting out in first gear in a standard transmission. You pop the clutch a few times, snapping your head into the head rest. Maybe you even have to start out in four-wheel drive to get rolling.
Not every team starts the season in cruise control. In fact, most coaches would probably prefer not to. If your team popped the clutch a few times in week one, I’m sure they will be shifting gears smoothly in the coming weeks.
Before we dive deeper into basketball, congratulations to the Anacortes Seahawks and their first ever state championship in football, with their 60-30 victory over Tumwater.
The Seahawks will trade their cleats for sneakers and get five days on the court before traveling to Mount Baker for a conference game on Saturday, December 9.
Nooksack Valley, who made it to the state semifinals in football, will open their basketball season on Tuesday, December 5, at Cedar Park Christian. The next night, they will take on Sedro-Woolley, in the Cubs den, in the first conference game for both teams.
The week began with Mount Baker splitting a pair of home games, losing to Coupeville on Tuesday, 58-52. The next night, they got into the win column with a 61-51 win over South Whidbey.
The Mountaineers have a very young team, with only one senior. Against Coupeville, Baker got 39 of their 52 points from sophomore Carter Hill (21), freshman Kell Reardon (10), and sophomore Peyton Abitia (8).
Against South Whidbey, the active and athletic 6-5 Reardon dominated the key, scoring 15. Junior guard Luke Smith chipped in 11.
Lynden got rolling on Wednesday with a 77-50 win over Tamanawis, BC. The Wildcats are among the top teams in the big school category in British Columbia. They possess good fundamentals, along with size and strength, but lose in the speed factory when playing teams south of their border.
The Lions never trailed, taking a 19-point lead by halftime. Junior Brant Heppner scored from inside an outside, knocking down three 3-pointers in the first quarter, and netting 22 points on the night.
Senior forward Anthony Canales proved, again, that you can still score a lot of points “two-at-a-time.” He used his slithery moves and leaping ability to create room in the mid-range area for most of his game-high 29 points.
Saturday was “Let’s Play Two” day.
A trip to Shoreline was the first part, as Lynden Christian and Kings began their season with their non-conference rivalry. These two have played each other in the 1A state championship game in each of the last three tournaments, with the Lyncs winning the last two.
The Knights lost their all-state guard, Cam Hyatt, in a move to Ohio. The Lyncs did not have 2023 State Tournament MVP Jeremiah Wright, as he recovers from a football injury. They were also missing Kayden Stuit, who was on a football recruiting trip. Stuit did not play basketball last season.
The Lyncs used their strong guard play to defeat the Knights 69-57.
The Lyncs led most of the way, even 17-9 late in the first quarter, only to be tied at 17-17 early in the second period.
Kaden Veldman, a 6-2 freshman, got the start for the Lyncs and contributed with six early points, which his team needed until those guards found their shooting eye. And that, they did.
Senior Dawson Bouma and junior Gannon Dykstra found their rhythm, especially in the second half. Their game is to break you down off the dribble, then use their strength and athleticism to drive to the rim or create space for mid-range jump shots. Three-pointers are not out of the question, but most of the damage they did was going to the hoop.
Bouma had eleven points in the first half as the Lyncs held a 32-28 lead. He scored twelve more in the third quarter alone, even scoring ten of the Lyncs twelve points in one run. Four of those field goals were lay ins in the half-court offense. The Lyncs led by six after three quarters. Bouma finished with 29.
Dykstra, who had seven points over the first three quarters, came through with nine more in the fourth quarter and finished with 16. He netted a prefect step-back three-pointer from the left wing with 4:10 left, that gave the Lyncs a 59-51 lead. He hit another big shot at the end of the shot clock with 1:40 left, giving his team a ten-point lead.
Senior Nick Linhardt is the Knights “Steady Eddie,” scoring 15 points in a variety of ways. The Knights leading scorer on this day was 6-2 sophomore Dozie Asinobi, with 18. He found ways to maneuver his thin frame between players for a variety of inside scores.
We will see if they meet again on the first Saturday in March.
Then it was home for a quick laptop charge, and off to Blaine to see the Borderites and the Archbishop Murphy Wildcats. Both teams were 1-0, but the Wildcats took this one, 59-46.
The Borderites played well through the first half with balanced scoring and a 26-24 lead.
They kept Wildcat big guys, 6-7 junior Mateen Usui and 6-5 sophomore Jack Sievers in check. It was sophomore guard Ira Smith, whose eleven first half points kept the Wildcats close.
However, as the Borderites went cool from the floor in the third quarter, the Wildcats began to look to Usui more in the middle of the Borderites zone defense. If he wasn’t scoring, he and Sievers were getting offensive rebounds for extra possessions.
The two combined for 17 points in the third quarter as part of a 28-8 run by the Wildcats, and an 18-point lead after three quarters.
Even with Usui scoring 16 and Sievers with ten, it was Smith who had a great floor game for the Wildcats and scored a game-high 20 points.
The Borderites got 13 from senior forward Conner Dalry, and twelve from Senior forward Noah Tavis and junior guard Josiah Weeda.
Sehome began their season on Thursday at Arlington, who had one game under their belt. These two have been playing each other in non-league games for a while, with Sehome winning at home last year, as Arlington tied Mountlake Terrace for the Wesco title in 2023. This year, it was all Eagles, 59-41. The Mariners got ten points from 6-6 senior, Braddock Duckworth.
Oak Harbor won their season opener on Tuesday at La Conner, 64-53.
Down by nine after three quarters, the Wildcats got two quick threes by sophomore guard Bryson Harris and senior forward Jackson Wesley.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the game when sophomore guard Xavier Ochoa put-back of his own miss with 5:35 to play.
From there, senior guard Jeroam Wood-Pina went on a run of his own, scoring on a drive and two 3-pointers as the Wildcats built a ten-point lead with 2:10 remaining.
The Braves got within striking distance in the last minute, but the Wildcats closed it out at the free throw line.
Ochoa led the Wildcats scoring with 16 points. Harris scored 11 points off the bench. Wood-Pina added 13, and ten for junior forward Alex Smith.
The buzzer-beater of the week happened Tuesday in Sedro-Woolley, where the Cubs were hosting Meadowdale.
The Mavericks hit a free throw with ten seconds left to take a 52-49 lead.
The Cubs worked the ball quickly up the left side, and after a few desperate passes, the ball ended up in the hands of sophomore guard Jae Thompson, inches in front of the Cubs bench. He hoisted the ball toward the rim, and as he fell to the floor, the shot hit nothing but net as the horn sounded, sending the game to overtime.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, a second miracle could not be replicated.
The Mavericks had the ball and a two-point lead in the final minute. The Cubs scrambled on defense until a foul had to be committed with twelve seconds left, but the Mavericks hit both free throws for a four-point lead.
The Cubs got a break when they were fouled on a 3-point shot with 2.8 seconds left. After splitting the first two free throws, and still down by three, the third free throw was purposely missed. The Cubs got the rebound but could not get off a shot toward the goal, taking a 65-62 overtime loss.
Burlington-Edison had a good week in winning two of three games. The Tigers beat Cedar Park Christian, lost to Lake Stevens by a bucket, in a game where they trailed by 15 at halftime. The Tigers then went west and got a win over Kingston.
Senior guard Rex Wilson, and 6-5 sophomore Logan Heigert are becoming the latest scoring duo in the league. Wilson had 23 against Lake Stevens, while Heigert scored 26 against Cedar Park.
The Mount Vernon Bulldogs will be one of the top teams in the conference. They beat Lake Steven and Everett this week. Senior guard Quinn Swanson had 33 points against the Vikings.
Bellingham got a comfortable win over Granite Falls on Wednesday. Meridian got lopsided wins over Friday Harbor and Mount Vernon Christian last week. They will have a big one at Sehome on Thursday.
Some of the other key games this week has Squalicum at Sehome for a Monday girls and boys double-header starting at 6pm.
On Tuesday, Burlington-Edison at Lynden Christian looks mighty tasty.
Monday also has Mount Vernon at 4A Jackson. Then on Friday, Jackson hosts Lynden.
Also on Friday, the Bulldogs will host the Tigers in the annual “Battle of the Bridge.”
Easy on those clutches. I expect a smooth transition to second gear.
~ Ted House