The Mount Vernon Bulldogs held off a late Lynden rally, and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Northwest Conference, with a 76-75 victory over the Lions, Thursday night at Jake Maberry Gym.
The Bulldogs win might be the result of their efforts in just the final seconds of the first two quarters.
Near the end of the first period, and Lynden leading 20-19, Bulldog junior forward Xavier Neyens, cut to the basket and took a pass from teammate Michael Johnson Jr., and scored with six seconds on the clock.
Then, Johnson stole the Lions inbounds pass and promptly nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner at the buzzer, giving the Bulldogs a 24-20 lead. Johnson scored 12 points in the first eight minutes.
Through the second quarter, the Bulldogs held a single-digit lead until, again, the final seconds proved costly for the Lions.
With 30 seconds left in the half, Neyens hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Bulldogs a 38-28 lead. This came after the Bulldogs collected two offensive rebounds on a possession that started with a minute left in the half.
The Lions then played for the final shot of the half, only to have the ball knocked loose. Neyens scooped up the loose ball at mid court, and drove the distance for a bucket with six seconds left, and the Bulldogs led 40-28 at halftime.
The Bulldogs scored ten points in a total of 36 seconds combined at the end of the first two quarters.
The Bulldogs biggest lead came with 4:30 left in the third quarter, 50-37.
At that point, it was senior guard Charlie Ayres who sparked the Lions comeback.
Ayres scored a bucket and added a free throw for a 3-point play, then followed that with a hard drive to the basket, seconds later, to cut the Bulldogs lead to eight.
The Lions comeback attempts were delayed several times by clutch shooting and free throws by Neyens, Johnson, and senior guard, Quinn Swanson.
After Lion senior Anthony Canales hit a jumper to pull the Lions to within two points, 58-56 with 6:40 left, Swanson hit back-to-back baskets to push the lead back to six.
Neyens nailed a 3-pointer with three minutes left to push the lead to seven, but Canales answered a few seconds later, to cut the lead back to four.
From there, the Lions kept the pressure on, but the Bulldogs did just enough to be on the safe side of a 3-pointer by junior forward Brant Heppner, with three seconds to play. With the Lions out of timeouts, the Bulldogs were able to let the clock run out, not needing to inbound the ball.
Canales finished with 30 points for the Lions, with 22 coming in the second half. Canales was 11-11 at the free throw line, as the Lions made all 20 of their shots from the charity stripe.
Johnson and Swanson made 11 of their final 14 free throws, combined, in the final minutes. Johnson finished with 33 points for the Bulldogs. Swanson scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, and contributed elsewhere with hustle (10 rebounds), and a passing ability equal to his shooting touch (6 assists).
Neyens finished with 16 points for the Bulldogs, while junior forward Jack Stapleton had a great night for the Lions, also with 16 points. Ayres finished with 11, and Heppner 10. Only nine players scored in the game, with no points coming from the bench of either team.
With the Bulldogs victory, and Arlington’s loss to Monroe on Thursday, the Bulldogs now have the #2 seed to the 3A District Tournament, and will hold that spot with a win over Bellingham on Friday.
With one game left in the regular season, the Lions have nailed down the #1 seed to the 2A District Tournament, and will play at Lynden Christian at 230pm on Saturday.
~ Ted House
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