NWC Rolls Through Halfway Point This Week

In the upcoming week, we will pass through the mid-point of the conference season.  No matter what your team’s record is now, you are still in the hunt.

Here is some of what went on in the Northwest Conference race since Wednesday. 

Lynden 79, Sedro-Woolley 71

Wednesday at Lynden, the Lions broke open a close game in the final seconds of the third quarter and the opening seconds of the fourth to get past the Sedro-Woolley Cubs, 79-71.

In a sharply played offensive first half, the game was tied at 18-18 after one quarter, with the Cubs taking a 35-33 lead at halftime.  The Cubs took a 26-20 lead early in the second quarter but the Lions responded with an 8-0 run to take a brief lead before the halftime buzzer.

Ty Jorgenson, the Lions 6-7 senior forward, playing in his second game of the season, and first with extended minutes, hit a 3-point shot from the left wing with 40 seconds to play in the third quarter, which gave the Lions a 52-50 lead.

After a missed shot by the Cubs, the Cubs were whistled for a blocking foul in back court with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.  To compound the problem, a “flopping” foul was also called on the Cubs, which was their second of the game, so by rule, a technical foul was also assessed.

At the other end, Lions senior forward Spencer Adams, sank three of four free throws, then the Lions had possession at the sideline. 

The ball found Lions senior reserve guard James Ellis on the right wing.  With time running down, he drove his defender to the hoop and scored a lay-in despite the help defense of Cubs 6-5 senior forward Isaac Johnson.  It was essentially a five-point trip for the Lions, giving them a 57-50 lead at the end of the third quarter.

But it didn’t end there.

The Lions also had the first possession of the fourth quarter, and sophomore guard Jayden Navarre gave the Lions a 10-point lead on a 3-pointer from the top of the key. 

After that, Adams, who had a rough shooting night to this point, nailed back-to-back threes in between two empty possessions by the Cubs, and in the blink of an eye, the Lions had a 16-point lead, 66-50, with still 6:32 left in the game.

In all, the Lions ran off a 17-0 stretch starting with the Jorgenson 3-pointer.  Fourteen of those points were scored in 99 seconds.

But the Cubs were not done.  Behind the shooting of senior forward Ethan DeJong and senior guard Cliff Tadema, the Cubs ran off 11 straight points to cut the lead to five, before Adams hit his third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter, boosting the Lions lead back to eight points with 3:30 left. 

The Cubs got as close five points on a Tadema 3-pointer with 1:20 left, but the Lions put the game away in the final minute.

Jorgenson was the difference maker for the Lions.  He had played his first meaningful minutes of the season on Monday against Mount Vernon, playing just four minutes in each half.  The Lions coaching staff has brought him along slowly after a serious injury in the summer.  He played in every quarter against the Cubs, showing great improvement in just two days.

The Lions worked the ball to Jorgenson in the key, where he scored the Lions first six points of the game.  The exceptionally athletic forward got loose for a break-away dunk in the third quarter, and added two more buckets in the key, as well as that 3-pointer.  He finished with 17 points.

Adams scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half as he recovers from a shoulder injury.  Navarre added 16 for the Lions, and 12 for junior guard Gordy Bedlington.  The unsung hero may have been Lion senior Brody Price.  The 6-0 guard had eight points and ten rebounds (7 offensive) while chasing DeJong around all game. 

Speaking of which, DeJong’s exceptional game was certainly on display.  He went four points beyond his 29-point average.  He hit 12-20 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line, as he cashed in on multiple 3-point plays.  He also led the Cubs with seven rebounds and five steals, without ever looking tired. 

The Cubs scored 21 points in the fourth quarter with DeJong responsible for 11 and Tadema with 10.  Tadema scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half.  Johnson also had 11 for the Cubs.

Blaine 71, Mount Baker 61

Also, on Wednesday, Blaine got a 71-61 win at home over 1A rival Mount Baker, as the Borderites finished with five players in double-figures.  When six players hit at least one 3-point shot, that kind of thing will happen. 

The Borderites led from start to finish, mainly because they knocked down eight of their eleven 3-point shots in the first half, sending them to a 38-22 lead at halftime.

The Borderites built a 21-point lead late in the third quarter, before the Mountaineers began to chip away with some 3-point marksmanship of their own, hitting five in the second half. 

When senior guard Jordan Bailey knocked one down from the volleyball line with 1:05 left in the game, the Mountaineers trailed by only six points, 65-59.

The Mountaineers could not get closer as Blaine senior forward Landon Melton hit six straight free throws in the final minutes to keep Mount Baker at arm’s reach.  Melton led the Borderites with 19 points.

Senior guard Daniel Banks was next with 14 points.  Junior guard Dawson Dohner finished with 13, then it was 11 for junior forward Peyton Bouma, and 10 for senior guard Milo Dahl.

Mount Baker was led by Bailey’s 17, which included five threes of his own.  Senior guard Payten Abitia scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.  Junior forward Kell Reardon added 10. 

Ferndale 50, Mount Vernon 47

The Ferndale Golden Eagles put up a couple defensive stands in the final minute to hold off the Mount Vernon Bulldogs, and get a 50-47 win in The Palace.

Ferndale’s brutal early season schedule may be paying off.  Their seven losses are to teams who have a combined record of 54-19, as of Thursday.

Sedro-Woolley 76, Lakewood 67

On Friday night, the Cubs returned home to host the Lakewood Cougars.  The Cubs overcame a 13-2 lead by the Cougars in the first four minutes and won 76-67. 

The Cougars had their full court defense in full force.  Their first four shots were lay ins because of that quick, full court assault.  They went on to take a 13-2 lead in just four minutes.  But, over the next four minutes, the Cubs found their footing, and trailed by just two points, 16-14, at the end of the first quarter.

This was a battle of high scoring forwards from the outset.  The Cougars senior Caleb Greenland and the Cubs senior Ethan DeJong, each scored ten points in the opening quarter.  Greenland was hot early, tossing in a couple 3-point shots, while DeJong closed the quarter with a flurry.  In the final minute-plus, DeJong had a 1-hand tip-jam, followed by a two-handed follow at the rim, then a baseline runner at the buzzer.

The Cubs really rallied in the second quarter when senior guard Cliff Tadema scored ten points, including two 3-pointers, as the Cubs outscored the Cougars 23-10 in the quarter, to take a 37-26 lead at halftime. 

Once the Cubs were able to neutralize the Cougars back court pressure, they were able to run their offense and knock down shots, while it seemed like the Cougars could not make even the easiest looks go their way consistently.  From trailing 13-2 to leading 37-26, that was a Cubs run of 35-13.

The second half started even worse for the Cougars as Tadema stole the third quarter inbounds pass and took it for an uncontested lay in, which sparked a quick 7-0 run for a 44-26 lead.

Game over?  Not quite. 

After the Cubs built the lead to 19 points, the Cougars began to chip away, cutting the lead to 11 points, but still trailed by 14 at the end of the third quarter. 

After a nearly six-minute stalemate, a 3-point shot by Lakewood’s sophomore guard Carter Langum cut the Cubs lead to six with 2:10 to go.  The Cougars added a free throw by junior guard Drew Egger with 1:58 to play.

Then, after the teams traded empty possessions, they traded buckets.  Greenland scored on a drive down the middle to get the Cougars within three.  Senior forward Isaac Johnson hit a jumper for the Cubs, then Greenland answered that with another bucket to cut the Cubs lead to 70-67 with 55 seconds left.  Missed shots by the Cougars allowed the Cubs to run off the final six points of the game for a nine-point win.

DeJong’s 31 points led the Cubs attack, but it was the shooting of Tadema that switched the momentum of this game.  Tadema scored all 22 of his points after the first quarter.  In fact, 17 of his 22 were scored in the middle two quarters.  Johnson hit a couple of crucial shots in the fourth quarter and finished with 11.

Greenland led the Cubs with an impressive 28 points.  He scored ten in the first quarter, and 12 in the fourth quarter.  Langum was next with 14. 

I talked about the Cubs-Lions game earlier.  Last season, 364 days prior to that game to be exact, the Cubs hosted the Lions.  The Lions rolled to a 14-point halftime lead and built the lead to 21 points in the third quarter.  But the Cubs made a significant run, closing the gap, and putting the Lions lead in jeopardy.  The Lions did hang on for an eight-point win.  But here’s the point: I think that comeback built the Cubs confidence, and in their next game, the Cubs won at Lakewood by seven points.  That win was the first of six straight wins by the Cubs, which propelled them deep into the 3A District Tournament, where they came up a basket short of the state tournament.

That was the first conference loss for the Cougars, leaving only Lynden Christian with a perfect record in the NWC.

Girls: Lynden 69, Kings 64

These two powerful girl’s programs met at Jake Maberry Gym on Saturday.  The Lynden Lions improved their record to 13-0 on the season with a 69-64 win over the Kings Knights.

The Knights are 8-4 on the season and have played several big school teams.  They were the runner-up in last year’s 1A state tournament to Bellevue Christian.

Outside shooting was the theme in this game.  The Lions came out hot, hitting five 3-point shots in the first quarter for a 22-11 lead.  But the Knights responded and by halftime, both teams had sunk seven 3-point shots, with the Lions holding a 39-30 lead.

The Knights put the pressure on late in the third quarter and tied the score at 49-49 with 1:40 left.  But the Lions finished the quarter on a 5-0 run.  The Knights outscored the Lions 38-32 over the middle two quarters. 

In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Knights had two chances to take the lead but were denied.  Then, a bucket by junior guard Finley Parcher and a 3-point shot by senior guard, Digitu Bowler, built the Lions lead to 64-57 with 3:45 left.

The Knights kept firing and closed the gap to 66-64 with two minutes left, the Lions would finish with the final three points to stay undefeated.

This was the first time this season a team has been within 12 points of the Lions on the scoreboard.   

The Knights sank 13 3-pointers in the game to the Lions 11. 

Kaleo Anderson, a 6-0 senior guard, is a sensational player for the Knights.  She finished with 20 points.  Eleanor Gaydos, a 5-7 sophomore, kept the Knights close by hitting five 3-point shots for 17 points.  Senior forward Kaitlin Cramer added a dozen for the Knights.

Parcher took over when it counted most, leading the Lions with 28 points.  She scored nine in the fourth quarter.  Senior forward Payton Mills added 15.  And Bowler came off the bench to score 15 points and knock down four 3-point shots.

The offenses were not as proficient in the boy’s games on Saturday night.

Anacortes beat Mount Vernon, 48-42; Squalicum won at Mount Baker 59-46; Ferndale won at Nooksack Valley 58-46; and Lynden got by Bellingham, 60-49.

Lynden 60, Bellingham 49

The Lynden Lions overcame a rough shooting performance and a team on a roll, and escaped Bellingham High School with a 60-49 win over the Bayhawks.  Bellingham had reeled off five straight wins, with the last two by a single point.

The shooting in the first half was a cool as the temp in the gym.  The score was 4-4 through the first four minutes before the Bayhawks pulled out to a 16-12 lead after one quarter, behind the ten points of senior forward Joe Harward.

Bellingham kept the Lions at bay through the second quarter behind the timely shooting of junior Calvin Van Hofwegen and sophomore Emmett Vanhouten.  The Bayhawks led by as many as nine points late in the second quarter before the Lions closed the gap to 33-28 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the rolls were reversed as the Bayhawks managed only four points.  They got a lay-in from Harward at the 5:08 mark and another one at the buzzer.  The Lions scored 12 points in the quarter to take a 3-point lead.

The Lions 9-0 run late in the third quarter was offset by a 9-2 run by the Bayhawks. 

Lions senior forward Spencer Adams hit a 3-pointer and scored near the rim on back-to-back possessions to give the Lions a five-point lead with 3:14 left.  The Bayhawks would not get closer, as the Lions finished the game on a 14-3 run.

Harward scored 21 points for the Bayhawks, with Vanhouten adding 12.  Adams’ 18 points led the Lions, with junior guard Gordy Bedlington adding 13.  The Lions got a spark from sophomore guard Markus Koenen, who came off the bench to net 11 points.

While the Lyncs are the only undefeated team left in the NWC standings, the Pioneers are the only team without a conference win.  But keep this in perspective.  They have probably played the toughest schedule in the league so far and have yet to play any of their 1A group.  That starts now, as the Pioneers will play all four 1A opponents consecutively, beginning on Monday at Meridian.

2A teams own places two through six in the current standings and will continue to rotate wins over each other.  Sehome girls and boys will play at Lynden on Wednesday. 

~ Ted House