The 2A boys District Tournament has its finalists. The Lakewood Cougars advanced to the district championship game by defeating the Burlington-Edison Tigers, 60-47. They will play the Lynden Lions in the title game. The Lions beat the Anacortes Seahawks, 51-39. Both games were on Saturday night, at Mount Vernon High School.
Lakewood 60, Burlington-Edison 47
In January, the Tigers beat Lakewood, 92-85 in overtime. That number of points was not the expectation, come time for district semifinals.
The Cougars led 18-12 after one quarter, but trailed the Tigers early, 6-0, with their first points coming on a 3-point shot by senior guard, Nash Espe with 4:45 left in the opening quarter.
Once that shot went in, the Cougars defense created havoc with the Tigers offense. Senior guard Evan Stacey got his hands on several Tiger passes. In fact, he got more tips than a group of steak house servers.
The bad news really came for the Tigers just one minute into the second quarter, when they lost their leading scorer, junior Logan Heigert, to what appeared to be a very serious foot injury. Heigert was taken off the floor and did not return. He scored seven points for the Tigers in the first quarter.
In spite of that, the Tigers rallied and closed the gap to 21-19, and they stayed within a bucket or two of the Cougars through the second quarter. Junior guards Madden Whitlock and Logan Arendse combined for 13 points in the second quarter, as the Cougars led 33-31 at halftime.
In the third quarter, both teams suffered through a series of empty possessions. A 3-point shot by Arendse gave the Tigers their first lead since early in the game, 38-35, just past the halfway point of the third quarter. The teams were tied at 42-42 starting the fourth quarter.
The game changed in the first 80 seconds of the fourth quarter. Nash Espe and Stacey hit 3-point shots, sandwiched around a bucket by senior guard JJ Hoekendorf, giving the Cougars a quick eight-point lead.
From there, the Cougars slowly increased their lead, point by point, until their lead reached ten points on a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Derek Wilson, with 2:35 left. The Cougars outscored the Tigers 18-5 over the final eight minutes.
Timophy Feskov, the Tigers 6-8 senior center, led his team with 14 points. Arendse added a dozen, and Whitlock finished with ten.
Junior forward Caleb Greenland, split his 18 points over each half. Nash Espe finished with 12 points, and ten for Stacey. The Cougars, now 17-6 on the season, hit ten 3-points shots to match their ten 2-point shots in the game. Stacey and Greenland each hit three 3-pointers.
The Tigers (15-7) will play a loser out game on Tuesday at Mount Vernon High School. Tip time will be 7:00pm. They will take on Squalicum (12-10), who eliminated Sehome, 59-31, on Saturday.
Lynden 51, Anacortes 39
The Lynden Lions (23-0) advanced to the district championship game with a win over the Seahawks (13-9).
The offenses were a bit out of sync, which can be attributed to each of their defenses. There were very few open shots to speak of, as both teams struggled to find the nets. The Lions shot 36-percent for the game to 33-percent for the Seahawks.
The Lions did, however, something they do to every team, which is taking advantage in the rebounding column. The Lions secured 46 rebounds to the Seahawks 23.
The Lions took a 15-10 lead at the quarter, with senior forward Brant Heppner, tossing in nine points. The other six came from a pair of 3-point shots by sophomore guard Malachi Koenen.
Koenen is one who didn’t pay attention to the cold shooting, as he scored 15 points on the night to lead the Lions. He hit five of ten shots from 3-point land, with four in the first half.
The Seahawks knocked down only two field goals in the second quarter, as the Lions built a 30-17 lead at halftime.
The Lions had only three players scored in the first half, but seven players scored in the third quarter, as their lead grew to 45-27 entering the fourth quarter.
After the lead went to 51-31, the Seahawks scored the final eight points of the game, over the final 2:30.
Junior forward Micah Dickison led the Seahawks with 15 points. Junior guard Brennan Morgenthaler added nine points for the Seahawks, and seven for sophomore wing Lucas Roberts.
Koenen’s 15 led the Lions, with Heppner scoring 13, all in the first half. Senior forward Jack Stapleton scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Seahawks move to the consolation round, and will Archbishop Murphy (9-13), Tuesday, at Mount Vernon High School. That game will start at 5:30pm.
The Lions and Cougars will play for the district title, Wednesday at 7:45pm, at Mount Vernon. That will follow the girls championship between Archbishop Murphy and Lynden. That game will start at 6:00pm.
OTHER TOURNAMENT GAMES
In the 1A district title game, Lynden Christian 68-54. That advances the Lyncs to the District 1/2 Crossover games. The Lyncs will play the fifth-place finisher from the District 2 tournament. That game will be at Kings High School, on Saturday, February 22, at 3:00pm.
Meridian will take on Nooksack Valley for second place on Tuesday, at Lynden High School. That game is set for 7:45pm and will follow the matchup of the same teams on the girls side, at 6:00pm.
Bellingham could not connect on a last-second 3-point shot for the tie, and ended up with a 2-point score, and lost to Archbishop Murphy, 55-54, in the 2A boys tournament. The season ends for the Bayhawks with a record of 8-14.
Squalicum eliminated Sehome 59-31, ending the Mariners season at 6-17. The Storm (12-10) moves on to play Burlington-Edison.
The Sedro-Woolley Cubs stayed right with the #3 seeded Monroe Bearcats until the final seconds, losing 64-56. That sends the Cubs to a loser out game against #10 Snohomish. The Cubs will host that game at 7:00pm, on Wednesday.
Ferndale lost 62-42 to the #1 seed, Edmonds-Woodway. The Golden Eagles will play at #5 Marysville-Getchell, on Wednesday, at 7:00pm. That is an elimination game.
~ Ted House
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