Six NWC Teams to SunDome

The Northwest Conference took five boys and three girls teams into regional play of the 2026 state basketball tournaments.  And when the weekend was over, six of the eight will play on in the Yakima County SunDome, and two are done for the season.

The headline on Friday was the Nooksack Valley boys win over Fort Vancouver.  The #16 Pioneers eliminated the #9 Trappers, 52-45, in a game played at Camas High School, in Vancouver, just a 285-mile trip, each way.

The Pioneers held a five-finger or less lead through nearly all of the first half.  The Trappers took a late two-point lead, but the Pioneers tied the score at the half, 25-25.

The game stayed tight through the next eight minutes, until the Pioneers struck gold. 

On the Pioneers’ final possession of the third quarter, a missed shot resulted in a Trappers rebound, but senior guard Jayden Anderson got in the way of the Trappers outlet pass.  Anderson deflected the ball toward the right corner.  He secured it and nailed a 3-point shot at the buzzer, to give the Pioneers a 41-37 lead.

Anderson started the fourth quarter with a lay-in, and the Pioneers quickly built a 47-37 lead with 6:44 to play.

At the three-minute mark, the Pioneers lead was 51-45.  They didn’t know it at the time, but that is all the scoring they would need.  In fact, the Pioneers could only add a single free throw with 33 seconds left, to cap the scoring.    

The win by the Pioneers ends the season for the Trappers, who finish with a 20-4 record. 

The Pioneers climb to 11-14 on the season, and will play their third straight elimination game, Wednesday at 200pm, in the SunDome.  The Pioneers will take on #8 Seattle Christian (17-5).  The Warriors lost to #1 Zillah, 64-55, on Saturday. 

Lynden High School hosted six regional games.  Two were on Friday night, as the home teams, the Lion girls and boys, both won regional games.

The #1 Lynden Lion girls opened the evening with a 67-45 win over the #8 Selah Vikings. 

After a tight first quarter, the Vikings took a 19-18 lead, which prompted a 16-2 run by the Lions, who led 34-25 at halftime.

The Vikings made one more run in the third quarter to close to within 36-31, just 60 seconds in, but the Lions pushed the lead back to double digits, mainly behind the scoring and defense of junior guard Finley Parcher.  Parcher scored 31 points on the night, including an 8-8 performance at the free throw line in the second half.

Senior forward Payton Mills added 16 for the Lions, and junior guard Lexi Hermanutz finished with a dozen. 

The Lions (24-0) advance to the state quarterfinals, and will play in the SunDome on Thursday, at 1030am against Mark Morris or Deer Park.

Selah will play an elimination game on Wednesday, at 200pm, against Fife. 

The #9 Lynden Lion boys were next on the floor, in an elimination game against #16 Franklin Pierce.  The Lions defense held the Cardinals to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters, and the offense rolled to a 74-30 win. 

Senior forward Ty Jorgenson slammed home a two-handed dunk on the first play of the game, and hot shooting gave the Lions a 22-6 lead after eight minutes.

Eight Lions scored in the first half, as the Lions passed over, around, and through any defense the Cardinals used.  They led by 23 points at halftime, and 26 by the end of the third quarter.  The 30 points by the Cardinals was 15 points below their previous season low in scoring.

Junior forward Lewis Whitney led the Lions with 14 points off the bench, with senior forward Spencer Adams adding 13, and Jorgenson 12. 

The Lions (18-7) will play #8 Renton (14-11), on Wednesday, at 900pm, in the SunDome, in an elimination contest.  The RedHawks lost to #1 Bremerton, 75-57, on Saturday. 

Saturday morning, Anacortes got an early taste of Yakima, as the #6 Seahawks upset #3 Selah, 52-50, at Davis High School. 

The Seahawks led at every break, and by as much as 12 points in the final seconds of the third quarter. 

But, with the Vikings slowly creeping closer in the final period, junior guard Spencer Roberts, hit a 23-foot 3-point shot with three minutes to play, to give the Seahawks a 50-46 lead.

Vikings junior guard Oliver Pepper converted a 3-point play just 18 seconds later, to get the Vikings back to within one point.

The only other points the Seahawks scored were a bucket in the lane by senior forward Brennan Morgenthaler, with one minute left.  Pepper added a free throw with 50 seconds left to end the scoring. 

Selah had one last chance in the final 30 seconds to tie or win, but the Seahawks defense kept the Vikings offense off balance, and it came down to a last second 3-point attempt by Pepper that hit the front of the rim. 

The Seahawks (21-4) advance to the state quarterfinals.  They will play on Thursday at 715pm, against either Tumwater or West Valley-Spokane. 

The Vikings (21-4) will play in an elimination contest against Columbia River at 345pm on Wednesday. 

Speaking of West Valley, the #13 Eagles eliminated the #12 Lakewood Cougars, 69-63, in overtime, Saturday, at Mount Vernon High School. 

Cougar junior Drew Egger hit a free throw to give his team a 55-53 lead with 4.6 seconds left in regulation. 

The Eagles inbounded and made two passes up the court, and sophomore Jordan Johnson hit a tough running eight-foot shot on the left baseline at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. 

The Cougars could not keep up with the Eagles in the extra period, as the Eagles took a six-point lead with two minutes left, and held on from there. 

Senior guard Caleb Greenland hit a 3-point shot in the final seconds to get the Cougars to within three points, but they could get no closer. 

Early on, the Cougars had a difficult time scoring against the strong, aggressive, and athletic Eagles.  The Cougars trailed 21-10 with 5:26 to play in the second quarter.

But a simple lay-in by Cougar reserve forward Whitney Gaines, triggered a 13-2 run by the Cougars, and the teams were tied 23-23 at halftime.   

Junior guard Derek Willson had a big second half, scoring 12 of his 16 points completing a variety of excitingly difficult lay-in maneuvers. 

The Eagles knew all about Caleb Greenland.  They had their best defenders rotating on the Cougar’s all-time leading scorer.  Greenland finished his Cougar career by scoring 24 hard-earned points. 

The Eagles and Cougars were very similar teams, in which both have only two seniors, and each has a group of interchangeable players. 

But it’s the Eagles (16-7) who will move on.   They will play #5 Tumwater, in an elimination game, Wednesday, at 715pm. 

The Cougars finish their season with a record of 17-8.

As fate would have it, as the Pioneer boys as the #16 seed defeated the #9 seed, the opposite happened to the Nooksack Valley girls.  As the #9 seed, the Pioneer girls came out on the short end of a 43-36 score to #16 Kings Way Christian.

The Pioneers took a 28-24 lead into the fourth quarter but were outscored 19-7 over the final eight minutes. 

Senior Payton Bartl had the only hot hand for the Pioneers.  She hit five 3-point shots and scored 17 points.

The Knights got 18 points from 6-0 junior, Addison Bagley.  They also got 13 points from 8^th grader, Gisele Diehl.  The Knights have two 8^th graders and a freshman in their starting lineup. 

The Knights (17-6) will play Lakeside in an elimination game, Wednesday at 900pm.  The Pioneers miss out on a trip to Yakima, as their season ends with a record of 14-11.

Still in the 1A girl’s tournament, the #3 Lynden Christian Lyncs outlasted the #6 Bellevue Christian Vikings 45-36.

The Lyncs had a healthy 28-16 lead at halftime, but the lead slipped to 37-32 after three quarters.  With six minutes to play, the Lyncs led only 37-36. 

After building the lead to 40-36, sophomore guard Tyra Dykstra, hit a 3-point shot with 1:50 to play to give the Lyncs a more comfortable seven-point lead. 

Sophomore guard Kiana Skogstad led the Vikings (16-7) with 12 points.  They will play an elimination game in the SunDome on Wednesday at 345pm against Wapato. 

The Lyncs (22-3) got 13 points from senior guard Ella Fritts, and 12 from junior forward Jocelyn Eshuis.  They move on to the quarterfinals and will play either Montesano or Annie Wright, Thursday at 715pm. 

The #2 Lynden Christian boys also moved on to the state quarterfinals with an 84-63 win over #7 Chelan. 

The Lyncs used a 9-0 run in the first quarter to create some distance from the Mountain Goats.  But late in the second quarter, with the lead at ten points, senior center, Hayden Herwerden and junior guard Harvest Howell hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 44-28 halftime lead. 

The Lyncs were led by the devastating guard play of juniors Dawson Hintz and Gunnar Dykstra, who scored 31 and 24 points, respectively.  Hintz’s 31 came in the first three quarters. 

Chelan will play in Wednesday's elimination round against Cascade Christian at 1030am.  The Lyncs will play at 200pm on Thursday, against Nooksack Valley or Seattle Christian.

Check back Tuesday morning for a preview of what is to come next week in the Yakima Valley SunDome, home of the 1A and 2A Boys and Girls State Basketball Tournaments.

And don’t forget about printing those programs starting on Monday.  Instruction link on the front page.

~  Ted House